Scan barcode
susannaopal's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorites to pick up time and time again. One of my favorite collections of poems out there!
numbuh12's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This collection is definitely biased toward white men, but I still found reading it through worthwhile, and tabbed many poems I'll return to later.
samanthaodom's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
katrinky's review against another edition
4.0
Not depressing, not patronizing. Just bolstering, in the way that only bracing, honest poetry can be. And Keillor's impassioned paean to the craft in the introduction is perhaps the book's highlight: Poetry as journalism, as friend, as historian, as one of the last few places where people are still telling and being told the truth. And it's all clear enough that it could be read on the radio, to someone doing three things at once. Welcome back to my life, poetry.
sheilajoyful's review against another edition
5.0
When I took this book to the counter, the librarian told me she had read it in school. "It has good poems in it," she said. "I read them all."
I took the book home and found a poem for my pastor's scrapbook sheet (John Donne's which says that who God wants to raise, he first throws down), and a poem to read at a poetry reading (the one and only poem I ever read about monks filing in for prayer.) Poems to read aloud to my husband (did you think I would tell you which ones?) and at least one to read to my teens ("The Benefits of Ignorance"). My attention was snagged by phrases like "magnificent asparagus" and "apparent translucence" and "other forks are naked," but more often I found my attention eddying near quiet lines like this from "The Poet's Occasional Alternative," when she bakes a pie for "a talking/ tumbling audience...on/ the kitchen floor":
"everybody will like this pie...many friends/ will say... why in the world did you/make only one?/ this does not happen with poems"
and (from Robert Burns):
"But Thou art good; and Goodness still/ Delighteth to forgive."
This book has good poems. I read them all.
I took the book home and found a poem for my pastor's scrapbook sheet (John Donne's which says that who God wants to raise, he first throws down), and a poem to read at a poetry reading (the one and only poem I ever read about monks filing in for prayer.) Poems to read aloud to my husband (did you think I would tell you which ones?) and at least one to read to my teens ("The Benefits of Ignorance"). My attention was snagged by phrases like "magnificent asparagus" and "apparent translucence" and "other forks are naked," but more often I found my attention eddying near quiet lines like this from "The Poet's Occasional Alternative," when she bakes a pie for "a talking/ tumbling audience...on/ the kitchen floor":
"everybody will like this pie...many friends/ will say... why in the world did you/make only one?/ this does not happen with poems"
and (from Robert Burns):
"But Thou art good; and Goodness still/ Delighteth to forgive."
This book has good poems. I read them all.
melissafirman's review against another edition
I enjoy The Writer's Almanac podcast so one would think that a poetry collection of the works from the show would be a winner for me. And let's be clear -- it's not that this is a bad collection (there are quite a few GOOD POEMS and even excellent poems) included here. However, it suffers from false advertising. I've had this on my shelves for God knows how long -- a used book purchased somewhere for $3.00 -- and picked it up because a) January's prompt for the Unread Shelf Challenge is "Comfort" (which I'm interpreting as a "comfort read" because b) my sister died two and a half weeks ago, and a comfort read (i.e., a book of poems for hard times) sounded perfect right now.
Maybe YMMV, but halfway through this collection I wasn't finding these poems to be of much comfort. Many are downright joyous, and maybe that's comforting to some, but if you're looking for poems to accompany you as you muddle and wallow in the shit and dregs and heartbreak of life, this isn't it. Sorry, Garrison Keillor.
Maybe YMMV, but halfway through this collection I wasn't finding these poems to be of much comfort. Many are downright joyous, and maybe that's comforting to some, but if you're looking for poems to accompany you as you muddle and wallow in the shit and dregs and heartbreak of life, this isn't it. Sorry, Garrison Keillor.
cmurph93's review
1.0
I don’t think poem anthologies are for me. The changing authors made it hard time for me to connect to the poems and nothing was resonating with me.