 "ok poems" | 2008-09-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A81TQIQRSOL36 |
| This book is just ok. I personally can't stand poems that don't rhyme...so this wasn't my book. I don't find them all to be good, although many may disagree. |
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 "Pretty Good Poems selected by a really good writer." | 2008-06-08 |
| - Reviewed By kansascityslim |
| America has no equivalent to Japan's Living National Treasures, those artisans and craftspeople whose work is considered an integral part of Japanese culture. But perhaps we should, and we would find no better person to head the list than Garrison Keillor. That he selected these poems is reason enough to read them, savor them, mull them over; and they are, in fact, pretty darned good. Right-leaning twits might disagree with my opinion of Garrison, but then I doubt they read much poetry either. |
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 "Passable Poems" | 2008-03-08 |
| - Reviewed By jtmc4 |
They are good poems in the sense that they're short and accessible, some are touching and some are funny. They're a cut above what a Reader's Digest anthology of poetry would be, but one is reminded of what such a thing would be like. Now, having said that, any anthology that includes Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, and Shakespeare is blessed regardless of company. But honestly there was hardly anything of which I thought I want to read that again, study or memorize. I think there is a certain kind of "down to earth" with "good folks" evocation that is appealing but ultimately unsatisfying.
Of course, it depends on what you're looking for.
The implied and very nearly expressed (in the introduction) frustration with modern poetry I suppose is understandable and it's too bad T. S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens don't and will never appeal to a larger audience than they do. But I think they truly are great 20th century poets, and obviously I'm not entirely alone. They require a different kind of reading than say Robert Burns, a great poet of an earlier time. Given what the 20th century was, poetry could only be real in a certain form. A great deal could be said about this but essentially the territory left to poets who wanted to said something true had to be about what humanity hadn't trashed, which is kind of esoteric, beyond their reach. What remains that can't be cheapened and profited from, Americanized? In the 23rd Psalm, at least in the versions we have in English, it begins by talking to us about the author's relationship to the Lord, then it shifts, "for Thou art with me" and is addressed to "Thou". "Thou", the greater consciousness and being, was what art was all about formerly. In many forms: gods, angels, mentors and many cultures you see it, until you get to the art we are most familiar with, "realistic" art in which all there is is "us". In the world in which all there is is us, we have to hope we'll be good: not genocidal and so forth, not too self-deluded and proud, because otherwise we are going to destroy ourselves.
So the art of the 20th century that tried to find and know the "Thou" of the Psalm necessarily involved searching, doubting and serious intent. It had to reject the tired religious fantasies and of course the frivolities of egoism. The people I mention I think came closest. It's always an approximation. It is after all inexpressible.
Besides, why shouldn't poetry involve a little mental and emotional labor? A poem that makes you cry isn't a "good poem" necessarily any more than a movie that makes you cry is a good movie. They knew how to get you, that's all. Poetry, we hope, will be more about illuminating our higher selves and our relationship with the vast what -we- don't- know above us.
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| "This book is great for relaxing" | 2008-01-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2W1AW7HJ9875U |
| I love this book. It is a wonderful book to relax with and read your favorite poems over and over. |
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| "How to tell a good poem?" | 2008-01-01 |
| - Reviewed By billjamison |
| While none of these might rate GK's brain pan sticking metaphor of "condoms on the beach, evidence that somebody was here once and had an experience but not of great interest to the passerby" and for both that metaphor and the selection I am grateful, it does prompt the question: good poems to whom? The obvious answer is GK. That means I think that you can take what you know of him from the wealth of shared experience he has made available to us over the years and figure on liking them if he would. I suppose this does not mean that some poems might still be enjoyable to children, young people, women, "working" people, poor people, illiterates, and other non-GK folk, and it most likely would not hit the mark for a critic like Harold Bloom, but since I love trying to emulate GK and find these poems poems I ought to find good, I do. They also make a great set of discussion pieces for book groups. Our book group had a wonderful time, if certainly on occasion it led us close to sin, but kept us spirited for more than our usual two hours to end the year 2007. Thanks GK for sharing these with us through the years. |
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| "Good Poems - Good time" | 2007-11-14 |
| - Reviewed By danman502000 |
Good Poems
What a good read! The poems are extremely varied both in content and age. The organization is topical and the distinct content and tone of each poem provides a really good experience. Many of these poets I have never heard of, while the great poets are well represented. The endnotes are also interesting and informative. I would certianly recommend the book |
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| "Keillor's poems" | 2007-05-13 |
| - Reviewed By zoey-oey |
| Simply the best for anyone who likes poetry, doesn't like it or doesn't know if they do or don't like it. Just read the introduction to know where Garrison is coming from--a wholly irreverent and liberating approach to poetry. Each poem in this volume is a gem that just glows with what is real and essential, sometimes extraordinary, mostly not at all so, in ordinary everyday life, but worth paying attention to anyway. I keep this next to me in the car and at red lights or very, very slow traffic flip it open for the sheer joy of it. |
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| "good read" | 2006-10-17 |
| - Reviewed By npsgrad2006 |
| Perfect for someone who avoided poetry as a high school student, but now wants to expand their horizons and explore poetry written by the great poets. |
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| "Good for self, good for teaching" | 2006-05-26 |
| - Reviewed By superduperbatman |
| I bought this book because I liked Garrison K. I also like sitting by my stereo late at night reflecting and reading good poetry passages with some tunes. What I experienced was a personal connection to many of these poems from a huge, and popular variety of poets. So I tried teaching from it in my elementary classroom for lessons. It blew the kids away, in a good, making-sense, way! It sparked conversation and insight. Highly recommended for any reason... |
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| "Good as gold" | 2006-04-24 |
| - Reviewed By addieromano |
| Garrison Keillor's resonant voice should be familiar to many people from his NPR stints, so when you read the poems in this book, hopefully, you'll hear them echo in your mind as well. Poetry needs to be heard as well as read, which is why Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" is such an important showcase for poetry. The poems in this volume are ones Keillor read on his radio shows that had an essential "stickiness, " a "memorability," that he could not overlook, so he decided to compile them for us. And thank you, Mr. Keillor for doing so. This is not your usual Anthology of Great Poets For All Ages Who Are Now Dead, no, this is a more contemporary and uncomplicated volume. Here are poems that should be able to reach everyone, not just the AmLit majors, poems you could read between meetings or classes or before you make dinner, poems that can send you or smite you or speed you to joy. These are poems that span time periods and styles and movements. Where else would you see Charles Bukowski next to Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare beside Robert Bly? Keillor shares some treasures with us, like the poems of Kenneth Rexroth, Raymond Carver, Henry Taylor, and Dana Gioia. Keillor arranges the poems by theme, like Lovers, Scenes, Snow, and even Yellow. Just some of my favorite poems in the book are Dana Gioia's "Summer Storm," Kenneth Rexroth's "Quietly" and "Coming," Lisel Mueller's "Hope," Howard Nemerov's "Vermeer," James Wright's "A Blessing," Wendell Berry's "The Peace of Wild Things," and Chuck Miller's "in celebration of surviving." Sure, there are poets you've probably never heard of before, as well as the usual standbys, but Keillor has written short bios on each so if you're curious, he has more information you can refer to. Keillor also has an index by title of poem and by author, so it's easy to navigate through this book. The introduction is a must-read because it puts forth Keillor's philosophy of poetry, so you can understand a bit more why he included Ferlinghetti but not Ginsberg or why Bukowski has several pages devoted to him but Eliot has none. I personally agree with Keillor, and other poets like Carver, Rexroth and Gioia, that poetry needs to tell a story. I don't necessarily agree with him that the poetry of Collins or Dickinson is all that hot. You may agree or disagree with Keillor's ideas concerning poetry, but regardless, he has selected some good poems, no, I would say great poems. Now go read them. |
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