Few have written more memorably about the work of poetry and the poetics of work than Juan Ramón Jiménez, winner of a Nobel Prize and discerning teacher of an entire generation of Spanish poets. In this series of aphorisms, Jiménez brings together the elements of perfect work, both in writing and in other realms. Among these elements—the wellsprings of any kind of creation—are instinct and inspiration, memory and forgetting, silence and noise, love and regret.
A treasure for poets and writers,The Complete Perfectionistincludes helpful commentary by noted translator Christopher Maurer and shows perfection as a process of “becoming” rather than an end product. In these insightful pages, a poet haunted by perfection reveals his methods of writing and revision, and measures the social and ethical dimensions ofel trabajo gustoso, or pleasurable work. This revised and expanded edition includes many aphorisms recently published in Spanish and not previously included.
Juan Ramón Jiménez(1881–1958) was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1956.Christopher Maureris professor of Spanish at Boston University and the author of numerous books on Spanish poetry.
Introduction
Self
Rhythm
Silence
The Present
Memory
Ideals
Nature
Instinct
Dream
Death
Writing
Revision
Perfection
Afterword
Sources and Acknowledgements
“This is a gorgeous little book.”
“Maurer provides ample context for Jiménez's maxims, so that we begin to know Jiménez as a person and a poet as well as a philosopher. The aphorisms are marvelous nuggets of wisdom.”
Maurer has fashioned a gem of a book, a fertile source of insights for perfection-seekers in many fields.
![The Complete Perfectionist: A Poetics of Work [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/9/6/3/2_5375563.jpg "The Complete Perfectionist: A Poetics of Work [Paperback]")