A Star for Noon

An Homage to Women in Images, Poetry, and Music with CD (Audio)

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by Gordon Parks

Bulfinch Press

Due/Published October 2000, 112 pages, cloth

ISBN 0821226851

Gordon Parks—photographer, composer of music, writer—is a man with a true Renaissance soul. In A Star for Noon he turns his gifts to the universally appealing subject of love. This gorgeous book combines exquisite female nudes with still lifes, poetry, and original music. The female nudes are both sensuous and reverential; the rich colors are complemented by still lifes of flowers and mysterious abstracts. Much of this work has never been published before, for Parks, at eighty-seven, continues to be a vital and active artist. The eighteen previously unpublished poems gently but ardently trace the arc of love—from infatuation through loss and, finally, fulfillment.

A Star for Noon engages multiple sense as the reader, not transfixed by the rich images and poetry alone, is also enveloped by the passionate music—specially composed and performed by Parks on piano with a small orchestra—here uniquely included on CD and packaged with this volume. This exceptional CD is the only music by Gordon Parks available on the market.

The publication of this book coincides with the airing of a major HBO documentary on Parks's life and work. Gordon Parks is a beloved figure in the history of the arts in our century, and the stories of his struggles against racism and in the pursuit of beauty have inspired generations.