Reviews

Good Poems for Hard Times by Hilaire Belloc, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Robert Burns, Noël Coward, Fleur Adcock, Maxine Kumin, Patricia Hampl, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, E.E. Cummings, John Keats, Louis MacNeice, David Ignatow, Philip Booth, Wendell Berry, Jane Kenyon, John Berryman, Mary Oliver, X.J. Kennedy, Liesl Mueller, Jim Harrison, William Blake, Robert Frost, Charles Bukowski, Kenneth Rexroth, Thomas Hardy, W.S. Merwin, John Donne, Carl Dennis, Edna St. Vincent Millay, W.H. Auden, Garrison Keillor, Sharon Olds, Stephen Dobyns, Hayden Carruth, Herman Melville, Raymond Carver, Grace Paley, Kate Light, Emily Dickinson, Billy Collins, Carl Sandburg, Donald Hall, Lawrence Raab, Stephen Dunn, Howard Nemerov, Rita Dove, Galway Kinnell, Erica Funkhouser, Elizabeth Bishop, Virginia Hamilton Adair

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baba4yaga's review

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

4.25

natalie_b's review

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2.5

I loved the concept but found that most of the poems did not have the vibe I was looking for. It felt a bit scrambled and not all had a hopeful energy I was looking for.

el1zabe4h's review against another edition

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5.0

Garrison Keillor has put together a beautiful assortment of poetry here. If you are new to poetry it would be a great place to begin. I discovered a couple of new poets that I've come to love. (and devoured their writing)

hyzenthlay76's review against another edition

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4.0

This is one of the most outstanding anthologies of just plain good, readable poetry I've ever encountered. I'll be revisiting it often.

meli65's review against another edition

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4.0

A divine collection of poems; it often moved me to tears.

emzy4given's review against another edition

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I tried to list my favorites and I surely missed a few. Good to read poems again.

For a Five-Year Old - Fleur Adcock
To David, About His Education - Howard Nemerov
Break of Day - Galway Kinnell
Calling him back from layoff - Bob Hicok
My Father's Lunch - Erica Funkhouser
The Happiest Day - Linda Pastan
Children's Hospital, Emergency Room - Gregory Djanikian
Toast - Leonard Nathan
A Spiral Notebook - Ted Kooser
Passing Through a Small Town - David Shumate
Wedding Poem For Schele and Phil - Bill Holm
Any prince to any princess - Adrian Henri
the lesson of the moth - Don Marquis
Disappointment - Tony Hoagland
the con job - Charles Bukowski
Ordinary Life - Barbara Crooker
Ode to American English - Barbara Hamby
After School on Ordinary Days - Maria Mazziotti Gillan
Happiness - Michael Van Walleghen
Classic Ballroom Dances - Charles Simic
The Rules of Evidence - Lee Robinson
What the Uneducated Old Woman Told Me - Christopher Reid
To a Daughter Leaving Home - Linda Pastan
No Longer A Teenager - Gerald Locklin
Minnesota Thanksgiving - John Berryman
Fareweel to A' Our Scottish Fame - Robert Burns
The Future - Wesley McNair
The Meeting - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Nothing Is Lost - Noel Coward
My Cup - Robert Friend
A Singing Voice - Kenneth Rexroth
Diner - Louis Jenkins