Johnson writes in the introduction, "These poems are listenings, as poems must listen and sing simultaneously. They are a progression of hearings of Mahler's 'Song of the Earth' on records, in concert, and in my head."The only difference between this regular edition and the disavowed edition that is also held by the Sackner Archive is the inclusion of three pages rather than one blank page at the end of the book. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.