Product Description
New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly has written one explosive thriller after another featuring Detective Harry Bosch. Now, in an electrifying departure, he presents a novel that breaks all the rules and will keep your heart racing and your mind guessing until the very last page.
Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write--and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allen Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy's own brother. And his last...may be McEvoy himself. Amazon.com Review
Jack McEvoy is a Denver crime reporter with the stickiestassignment of his career.His twin brother, homicide detective SeanMcEvoy, was found dead in his car from a self-inflicted bullet woundto the head--an Edgar Allen Poe quote smeared on the windshield.Jackis going to write the story.The problem is that Jack doesn't believethat his brother killed himself, and the more information he uncovers,the more it looks like Sean's death was the work of a serial killer.Jack's research turns up similar cases in cities across the country,and within days, he's sucked into an intense FBI investigation of anInternet pedophile who may also be a cop killer nicknamed thePoet. It's only a matter of time before the Poet kills again, and asJack and the FBI team struggle to stay ahead of him, the killer movesin, dangerously close.

In a break from his Harry Bosch novels--including The Concrete Blonde and The Last Coyote--Edgar-winningnovelist Michael Connelly creates a new hero who is a lot greener but noless believable. The Poet will keep readers holding their breath until thevery end: the characters are multilayered, the plot compelling, andthe denouement a true surprise. Connelly fans will not bedisappointed. --Mara Friedman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (312)

Early Connelly - Already in Stride
I have become a Connelly fan the past few years. I do most of my "reading" listening to audio books while driving.The Poet was available on an MP3 disk, which is fantastice - the whole 15 hours on 1 disk.No more fumbling to change CDs while in traffic!This is a great yarn and, I think, introduced readers to Jack McAvoy, who was delightful in The Scarecrow.A must-read for Connelly fans.

Got me Hooked
The first Michael Connelly book I read was the Black Echo, starring Harry Bosch. My husband moved swiftly on to Black Ice, Concrete Blonde and beyond, but I stalled on book one--not that I didn't enjoy it; it just felt too long and hard to follow as I read between tasks during the day. Blood Work was good, but I still wasn't hooked. But now The Poet has won. I shall be raiding my husband's bookshelves for months to come, catching up on all I've missed.

The fact that Stephen King wrote the introduction probably put me in the right mood. But Connelly's writing had me hooked right from the start. That first sentence is certainly a killer. And the voice it creates continues to speak, constantly in character, genuine, likeable, mistaken and foolish, or strong and powerful.

The story alternates between first person narrative (from journalist Jack McEvoy) and third person. And it works! I think it might be the first book I've read where the point of view switch really does add to the story. I never felt like the author was hiding things, even though he had to know what's going on. I never felt like I was being misled, even though what I thought I knew turned out to be wrong. I never felt cheated.

The reporter chases his story and investigates his brother's death, steering a path between pleasing his editor and being fair to the people he knows and loves. Meanwhile a killer steers his own path, living in shadows and seeking the limelight of fame. But is the press the right tool to shine on him?

I loved the mixed motives, tangled emotions, and honest commentary in this book. I came to care for the characters and found myself still seeking answers every time I put down the page. By the end, shocked and startled by those final revelations, I find I'm eager for more. So where's that list of which book comes where, and what should I read next.

Yes, dear husband, I'm finally hooked on Michael Connelly.

The Poet
An early gem by Michael Connelly. It cleared up some things from later books.
Highly recommend for all Michael Connelly fans and anyone who likes a good mystery.

Another Michael Connelly Hit
Michael Connelly's book, The Poet, is realistic and fast-paced, giving us insight about the dark, gritty side of Los Angeles.

Beware! Once you start reading Connelly's books you won't want to stop until you've read them all.
L. A. Starks
13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy

Dark and horrifying; A must-read for Connelly fans
The Poet is the first novel from Michael Connelly that doesn't feature Harry Bosch. Little matter, it's still a dark, disturbing, and incredibly compelling piece of work. The main character is Jack McEvoy, a Colorado reporter who is convinced that the recent death of his brother (a police officer) is due to murder instead of suicide. Same goes for several others across the country. McEvoy is just as riveting as Bosch: he's flawed, but he does all he can to solve the cases that he handles.

The book itself is a must-read for those who love crime thrillers. The tone, as well as the terrifying realism dominating the story, is disturbingly creepy from beginning to end. The subject matter (child abuse & pornography) is not for the faint of heart, so don't read this if you can't handle harsh subjects like these. On the other hand, I did have two problems with The Poet (hence the four-star rating). The first one being the major plot twist near the end, which wasn't very shocking or plausible. The other being the romantic subplot, which I have to say is really just below-average: it feels like it's nothing but filler, and there's really nothing interesting about the "supposed" chemistry between the two lovers.

The Poet, nonetheless, is one that I really enjoyed reading. Michael Connelly has just become one of my favorite authors, and I hope to read the next in the series (Trunk Music) soon.

Grade: 8.5/10 ... Read more

Product Description
Every page is stamped with Rilke's characteristic grace, and the book is free of the breathless effect that occasionally mars his poetry. His ideas on gender and the role of the artist are also surprisingly prescient. And even his retrograde comment on the "beauty of the virgin" (which the poet derives from the fact that she "has not yet achieved anything") is counterbalanced by his perception that "the sexes are more related than we think." Those looking for an alluring image of the solitary artist--and for an astonishing quotient of wisdom--will find both in Letters to a Young Poet.Amazon.com Review
It would take a deeply cynical heart not to fall in love with Rainer MariaRilke's Letters to a Young Poet. At the end of this millennium, hisslender book holds everything a student of the century could want: theunedited thoughts of (arguably) the most important European poet of themodern age. Rilke wrote these 10 sweepingly emotional letters in 1903,addressing a former student of one of his own teachers. The recipient waswise enough to omit his own inquiries from the finished product, whichmeans that we get a marvelously undiluted dose of Rilkean aesthetics andexhortation.

The poet prefaced each letter with an evocative notation of the city inwhich he wrote, including Paris, Rome, and the outskirts of Pisa. Yet hespends most of the time encouraging the student in his own work, deliveringa sublime, one-on-one equivalent of the modern writing workshop:

Go into yourself and test the deeps in which your life takes rise; at itssource you will find the answer to the question whether you mustcreate. Accept it, just as it sounds, without inquiring into it. Perhaps itwill turn out that you are called to be an artist. Then take that destinyupon yourself and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without everasking what recompense might come from outside.

Customer Reviews (67)

Lowest Price, Perfect Condition
Very solid!I picked the cheapest book, hoping that the seller was honest in the description (great condition)and it's absolutely perfect.Not a single mark or bend.

Background on This Translation
Rilke's letters to Franz Kappus were written between 1903 and 1908.They were first published in German in 1929.In 1934 H. D. Herter Norton produced the first English translation (revised by her in 1954).The second English translation that I know of was done by Reginald Snell in 1945 and published in London by Sidgwick and Jackson.The edition being offered here is the Snell translation--only his name and the original publication data have been stripped from the book.(Other than that, the book is essentially a photocopy of the 1945 edition.)

The publisher here is "BN Publishing" which I assume means "Barnes & Noble" (although the "about us" link on their website says almost nothing about them!).

The Snell translation seems to me quite adequate.Here is a sample of one sentence done by three translators:

"And this more human love...will resemble that which we are preparing with struggle and toil, the love that consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other." -- H. D. Herter Norton (1934)

"And this more human love...will be something like that which we are preparing with struggle and toil, the love which consists in the mutual guarding, bordering and saluting of two solitudes." -- Reginald Snell (1945)

"And this more human love... will resemble what we are now preparing painfully and with great struggle: the love that consists in this: that two solitudes protect and border and greet each other." -- Stephen Mitchell (1984)

Of these three, the Norton seems to me to have the best cadence, but beyond that Rilke's sense is present in all.

One does wonder, however, why BN Publishing felt free to erase this book's origins.

One other oddity to note:If you click on "see inside this book," Amazon shows you the Stephen Mitchell edition, not the Snell edition, giving this rather confusing explanation:"This view is of the Mass Market Paperback edition (1986) from Vintage. The Paperback edition(2009) from BN Publishing that you originally viewed is the one you'll receive if you click the Add to Cart button at left."

Beautiful writing, beautiful translation, some unanswered questions
This is a great book for any writer, any artist, any human being confronting the mystery of their existence.I have taken great comfort and consolation from reading Letters to a Young Poet at two different times in life.I have recently enjoyed Stephen Mitchell's translation,but I had a number of questions that went unanswered by Mitchell.

1) Whatever happened to Franz Kappus later in life?The last letter mentions him at a military post, and I know of no poems written by him later in life.I surmise that he went down into his soul, like Rilke told him to, and answered the question "Must I write?" with a "No."

2) How come Rilke made such a big deal about Jens Peter Jacobsen, when very few people are even aware of him today?

3) Why wasn't "The Lay of the Love and the Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke" included in the book?On further review, I discovered that it was a book in its own right, but I didn't get that from Mitchell's footnote to Rilke's letter.

4) Why does Mitchell frequently capitalize "Things" in the letters?Was Rilke using a technical term?Did Rilke capitalize the equivalent word?I found this to be a mystery.

5) Why wasn't Kappus's sonnet, which Rilke copied in his own hand, included in the text?Mitchell mentioned in a footnote that it was available in the original German, but omitted in the translation.But why?Was it a lousy sonnet?Is it tradition to omit this poem?The other translation I read also omitted the sonnet.

Perhaps Mitchell's translation has awakened a hunger in me for a more scholarly version of this great work.But this book will do very nicely for anyone reading it for the first time.

Should be in every poet/writer's library
Must have, the awe inspiring.. and down to earth..
and awesome story... of an inspiring writer..
a must read, and need to be in your own personal library.
Martha Smith

Fantastic classic
I jump to Rilke's 'Letter's to a Young Poet' whenever in need for artistic thresholding. His words go beyond the print everytime. Have already highlighted the hell out of some passages. A+ seller and read. ... Read more

Product Description

What happens when small-time reporter Matthew Prior quits his job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse? Before long, he wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. . . . Until, one night on a desperate two a.m. run to 7-Eleven, he falls in with some local stoners, and they end up hatching the biggest—and most misbegotten—plan yet.

Customer Reviews (39)

An emotional, poignant novel
I have to admit, a novel titled The Financial Lives of The Poets is not something I would normally rush to read. Why would I care about finance and poets? But since people I respect raved about this book, I gave it a try.

I'm so glad I did! Jess Walter has written a dazzling story of a young suburban family in the throws of the national economic crisis that threatens not only their financial stability but their very existence as a family unit.

Matt left his job as a business writer at a newspaper to follow his dream- a website devoted to financial news, with advice columns written in poetry. Even in the best of times, this sounds like a risky venture. Matt and his wife Lisa take another mortgage on their house to invest in the company, and then the housing market crashes.

Matt goes back to his job at the newspaper, only to be laid off when newspapers begin to lose advertisers and readers. Lisa works at a boring job she hates for little money and expresses her dissatisfaction by buying collectibles that she hopes to resell on Ebay. Now their garage is filled with boxes of junk she is unable to unload.

Their house will soon be in foreclosure, and their children will be forced to leave their lovely Catholic school and go to the dangerous neighborhood public school. Matt's father, who suffers from dementia, has moved in with them after he met a stripper who stole all of his money, and Lisa is contemplating an affair with her old boyfriend. What's a man to do?

After Matt meets up with some young potheads at the 7-11 one night, he becomes enmeshed in their lives. He hangs out with them hoping to forget his troubles. Eventually, as sometimes happens when under the influence of pot, a plan is created that Matt hopes will solve his money problems.

The author writes well for his characters. The disintegrating marriage of Matt and Lisa is sad to watch.
"We're in a perpetual stalemate here; lost. I can see how we got here- after each bad decision, after each failure we quietly logged our blame, our petty resentments; we constructed a case against each other that we never prosecuted. As long as both cases remained unstated, the charges sealed, we had a tacit peace; you don't mention this and I won't mention that, this and that growing and changing and becoming everything, until the only connection between us was this bridge of quiet guilt and recrimination."
While Lisa and Matt fall apart, Matt's relationship with his dad is so touching. Anyone who has someone in their own family with dementia will relate to Matt and his dad, the loving patience Matt shows his father, the loss of a once-proud man's self-reliance.

Fans of Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You should run to get this book. As a woman, I find this glimpse into the male psyche fascinating.(The cover is even reminiscent of TV's Mad Men opening credits with the falling man.) Matt's poetry is cleverly sprinkled throughout the book, adding an extra dimension for the reader. Walter's look at the economic crisis through the prism of this one family is an emotional, poignant ride.

Ripped from the headlines
For everyone who put their faith in the American dream, the bubble that would never burst, this book is for them. Matt Prior - the desperate narrator of The Financial Lives of the Poets - is truly everyman...a basically good person who is now scrambling to stay marginally solvent in the wake of the huge financial crash.

Matt hasn't had it so good recently:he left a dying career in journalism (in one of the most scathing and accurate indictments I've read about modern-day newspapers) to develop a whimsical website using free verse poetry to dispense financial advice.Needless to say, not a huge market.

On top of that, his shopaholic wife is on the verge of an affair with her hunky ex-boyfriend. His father, suffering from dementia, is sitting in the midst of his living room with the plaintive question, "Do you know what I miss?"The answer is inevitably either chipped beef or The Rockford Files.His two young sons may need to give up private school and enter a public school that's the equivalent of the Iraqi combat zone.Oh, and have I mentioned that Matt's accountant has just told him that he has "fiscal Ebola?

He truly does.Based on bad financial advice to go for forbearance, a $31,000 balloon payment to the mortgage company is overdue, leading to almost immediate foreclosure.Small wonder, then, that Matt is attracted to two young stoners whom he meets in the 711 and cooks up a scheme...why not sell pot at a profit to get himself out of the hole?

Yes, it sounds humorous - and it is.But Jess Walter revs it up a notch and addresses all the Matts in the world.Matt ruminates, "It's almost as if Lisa and I deserve this. Or believe we do.And I don't think we're alone.It's as if the whole country believes we've done something to deserve this collapse, this global warming, this endless war...We've lived beyond our means, spent the future, sapped resources, lived on the bubble."

At the end of the day, the blistering wisecracks and hold-on-to-your-seat twists and turns are secondary to the lesson imparted:that life is not meant to be fair, that our fantasies of what life "should" be is nothing compared to what really matters.Another recommended book that mines these themes:The Pursuit of Other Interests by Jim Kokoris.

Literary fiction with plenty of dark humor and raunch
The Financial Lives of Poets is the story of Matthew Prior, a newspaper reporter who quit his job to start a financial website written in poetry. Seriously. Not surprisingly, this venture has failed, and Matthew now finds his marriage less happy than it once was, his father (in the early stages of dementia) living with them, his sons wishing for electronics, their house on the verge of foreclosure, and himself increasingly desperate.

This novel took me on a roller coaster of a reading experience. I absolutely adored the first few chapters. I was reading it in public and could not stop myself from laughing out loud. The narrative began smart, funny and fresh, as when he describes the uniforms his sons wear to Catholic school:

"I think these uniforms wouldn't be so bad if they didn't make the kids all look like bank tellers on casual Friday or the employees of a discount airline or--like me..."

Throughout the book, the hilarious observations share space with thoughtful musings on life and love:

"Our marriage was typical, I think; we deluded ourselves that it was made of rock-solid stuff, but there were trace elements of regret, seams of I-told-you-so, cracks of martyrdom."

The book began delightfully, but it soon descended into a satire so dark it was sometimes depressing. The push and pull between funny and dire fell out of balance for me at times, and I enjoyed the middle part of the book less than the rest. Even while I was not enjoying it completely, I still couldn't put it down, which is more a testament to Walter's writing than storytelling ability. I also laughed out loud more with this book than with any other in recent memory.When the story didn't move me, the writing still did. By the end, I was back on board with the story too. I may not have ended up loving it as much as I did in the early chapters, but I'm still glad I read it, and I think it's a solid, if not slightly unbalanced novel. It's certainly not for everyone, but I'm glad I read it, and I will look forward to more Jess Walter novels in the future.

This book definitely isn't for everyone, but I recommend it to fans of smart, dark humor and those who don't mind a little raunch with their literary fiction.

Brilliant, funny, heartbreaking
LOVED this book. Jess Walter is a brilliant writer. His prose is funny, realistic, down to earth. He's a master storyteller; any time I wasn't reading this book (ie, at work), I found myself wondering what was going to happen next.

"The Financial Lives..." is especially of this time, and, I'd say, most of us can relate to at least one aspect of Matt's crisis: overpaid for a house, bought during the peak, financial troubles, no job and/or bad job prospects. (oh, there's more. like drug dealing.)

I felt sad at the end, but glad that Walter wrote a genuine, real story. Buy this book; you won't regret it.

I would give this book a billion stars if I could...
This book has it all--humor, suspense, and fantastic characters. It's one of the first books in a long while that I really did not want to put down for any reason.

The book follows Matt Prior, a guy in his mid-forties who had it made.He was a business reporter married to a really cool woman who is his best friend, with a house and 2 kids and all the accoutrements. Then things changed when he decided to chuck his job in order to start a website based on a dubious premise. Matt's life begins to unravel right along with the country's economy. Will he be able to save his house and his family?This book does not offer up trite and bow-tied answers to this question.

This story is a biting commentary on the recent economic collapse, and of our national obsession with material acquisition.It had the potential to be intensely depressing, so close to home does it hit. However, Jess Walter has the humor and compassion to keep you smiling--amazingly-- even as things get ever more dire. I absolutely loved the characters in this book, and the writing was outstanding. This one is a strong recommend, especially for fans of darker humor.
... Read more

Product Description
The Son of Man shall choose

When the time returns for the Poet Prince.

He will inspire the hearts and minds of the people

So as to illuminate the path of service

And show them the Way.

This is his legacy,

This, and to know a very great love.

Worldwide controversy surrounds author Maureen Paschal as she promotes her new bestseller—the explosive account of her discovery of a gospel written in Jesus’ own hand. But a scandalous headline about her lover, Bérenger Sinclair, shatters Maureen’s plans and sends her to Florence. In Tuscany, Maureen and Bérenger seek out their spiritual teacher Destino, who insists the besieged couple study one of history’s great Poet Princes: Lorenzo de’ Medici, the godfather of the Italian Renaissance. Bérenger is a Poet Prince of the ancient bloodline prophecy, and even across the centuries, his fate is intertwined with Lorenzo de’ Medici’s. Bérenger must uncover the heretical secrets of the Medici family—and the shocking truth behind the birth of the Renaissance—if he is to fulfill his own destiny. These heretical secrets were hidden for a reason, and there are those who would stop at nothing to prevent Bérenger’s assumption of his rightful role.

The Renaissance comes vividly to life as Maureen decodes the clues contained within the great masterpieces of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s friends: Donatello, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. Maureen uncovers truths connected to the legend of Longinus Gaius, the Roman centurion who used pierced the crucified Jesus with his spear. Could Longinus Gaius, doomed to live forever, be someone she knows? Could his infamous Spear of Destiny, sought even by Hitler, be the key to Bérenger’s fate? As Maureen and Bérenger race to find the answers, someone is after them, hell-bent on settling a five-hundred-year old blood feud and destroying the heresy once and for all.  

Rich in Kathleen McGowan’s signature insights into art, architecture, and history and set in the beauty of Renaissance and present-day Italy, this is a spiritual detective story of the highest order.

The Truth Against the World! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

DAYTON SAYS:BUY THIS AUDIO BOOK
I am sure others will review this book and write more eloquently than me.I will state, however, that I consider the book to be well-written, and it touched me deeply in myriad ways.I am reviewing the book in its audio form, and so I will state that Cassandra Campbell narrated the book in a world-class manner. Her voice is easy on the ears and very convincing.

If you are familiar with the first two books of the Magdalene Line (The Expected One and The Book of Love), and if you liked them, then you will, in my opinion, consider this offering even a notch higher in quality and storytelling. I believe that through what was probably a huge amount of research on the part of the author, we have to stop and, at least, consider her beliefs and the arguments she presents to defend same. Even the author's notes at the end were enjoyable. WARNING: If you are somewhat dogmatic in your religious beliefs, then you might have trouble with this book, but take a chance and just consider ... what if? If a Pope (in real life) can sanction a murder (noted in the book and other historical documents), perhaps there are other things that are not quite as they should be.As "they" say ... follow the money. Perhaps it falls upon our generation to ferret out as much of the truth as possible, and the truth will, indeed, set us free.

There might be others who will review this book and give it low marks.That is their right.However, perhaps one should consider their motives.It is easy to be cynical of love.Only the brave push through the sorrow to attain it.And, as far as Kathleen McGowan's skill as a writer is concerned, she is very skilled.Everyone who reviews this book is entitled to their opinion, but I know a great writer when I read one.

Now for my soap box:as with many of the more recent audio books, I am disappointed that there is less and less ... or none ... incidental music.I believe we are being short-changed by the publishers.Music is every bit important in an audio book as it is in a movie.It actually rests the ear, and allows us to listen longer to the book.But, though this audio book does not have any incidental music, do not let that keep you from making the purchase.

I anxiously await the fourth book in the Magdalene Line.

Disappointing
I liked McGowan's first two books so much that I willingly paid the inflated publisher's price for this one.Fool me once -.

This book was so tedious thatskipped about a third of it.It pains me to say that a condensed version would have been better.If she is going to continue with this theme (which I like), I will not only not pay an inflated price, I will wait for it to drop below 9.99 before I try again

A really great read..
A wonderful addition to the series. I would highly recommend this for those who love a good mystery as well as a good conspiracy.

Inspiring
All three of Kathleen McGowan books are treasures. For me her books have pulled back the curtain that hid the truth about an incredible man, a man of love, his works and his family. I have a much greater understanding of how and why 'The Church' went so wrong. A quote from The Book of Love, "Is it possible, I wonder, to maintain a Church with the power and structure to influence a flock that covers all Europe and more, and yet is based entirely on these ideas of love that you have? This is quite a dilemma, because I do not think that such a thing is possible. Love knows no reason,Matilda. It knows no logic, no strategy, no law except its own. It is not something that can be controlled, administered, or passed into law. It cannot be taxed or profited from...." page 283

The Poet Prince a wonderful continuation of how those still having the knowledge of Jesus' original teachings made a difference to help this planet out of darkness. Many tears shed.

Poet Prince, not royal
"The Poet Prince" was well researched and gave Lorenzo De Medici a human face. The title misleads if one has not read the prior novels in the "Expected One" line.Lorenzo was not of royal birth, though his family could be compared to the Kennedys of modern America. He helped create a Camelot in Italy and to boost the arts to greater achievements.Ms. MacGowan kept me up way past my bedtime for a week.Great read! ... Read more

Product Description
From the nuts and bolts of craft to the sources of inspiration, this book is for anyone who wants to write poetry--and do it well. In this fortuitous collaboration, two spirited poets, themselves teachers of poetry, offer guidance to aspiring beginners and those who have already published. Brief essays on the elements of poetry, technique, and suggested subjects for writing are each followed by distinctive writing exercises. ("Compare an actual family photograph with one that was never taken, but might have been.") The ups and downs of the writing life--including the inevitable visitations of self-doubt and writer's block--are here, along with tips about getting published. A special section contains twenty-minute writing exercises, and valuable appendixes cover further reading and marketing advice. On your own, this book can be your "teacher," while groups, in or out of the classroom, can profit from sharing weekly assignments. Numerous examples of contemporary poetry, chosen for relevance and freshness, illustrate salient points and stimulate the imagination. By calling on their own experience and focusing on living American writers for their models, the authors introduce you to poetry as it is right now.Amazon.com Review
"We wanted to create a book," say poets KimAddonizio and Dorianne Laux in their introduction to The Poet'sCompanion, "that would focus on both craft and process."The book they have created is an impassioned exploration of poetrywriting that addresses subject matter, craft, and the writinglife. The reigning wisdom is that poets, like other creative writers,should write what they know. "The trick," say the authors,"is to find out what we know, challenge what we know, own what weknow, and then give it away in language." Elsewhere they addthat, while "as poets, we need to write from our experience... that experience may be mental, emotional, and imaginative as wellas physical."

Addonizio and Laux are lively spokespersons forthe poet's life; they pepper their thoughts with well-chosen poemsfrom their contemporaries--including David Bottoms,Jack Gilbert,Linda Gregg,and JaneKenyon--and they conclude each short chapter with an invigoratingcollection of ideas for writing. These "ideas" culminate ina terrific section of writing exercises at book's end: write a poemdescribing "your most acutely embarrassing moment";"write a poem of praise for an unlikely group of people, things,ideas"; "write a poem about the last time you saw a lovedone you lost." I found myself a bit frustrated by the brevity ofthe discussions (most chapters are under 10 pages) and a bit put offby the first person plural narrative (do Addonizio and Laux reallyagree on everything they say they agree on?), but these are merequibbles. This is a fine book indeed.--Jane Steinberg ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Great for beginning poets
I'm taking a poetry class this semester, and as a beginner, I find this book to be really helpful. Some chapters are more discussion and others are descriptive of techniques, forms, etc. The best features are the exercises found at the end of each chapter; there are usually about 10. There are also a variety of 20 minute exercises at the end of the book. I've done several of those, and have found them to be very helpful. This is one I will be keeping and using after my class is over.

an experience of creation
This is the best written evocation of the act of creating / casting your spell with words. It instructs and imparts structural direction while constantly casting an extraordinarily wide net for the reader to work within. Whether you just love reading poetry, or do write poetry, or aspire to writing poetry, reading this book is exhilarating.

A great buy for any aspiring poet
this is a brilliant book for anyone struggling for ideas for poems or anyone wanting to try out poetry.it goes through technical aspects as well as poetry topics and each chapter ends with a list of ideas for poems using various techniques.I really enjoy dipping into it every now and then, I find it undemanding yet detailed enough to get me thinking and writing - highly recommended.

Actually helpful
I usually am skeptical about books that teach you how to write, as i have read some that were far from helpful.The Poet's Companion has some good chapters and many very awesome and moving poems to elucidate the principles discussed.

My Favorite Creative Writing Text
I love this book for my undergraduate poetry workshops. It's smart but clear and not at all pedantic. A Poet's Companion is written by good poets, who include good poetry. This isn't so easy to find . . . ... Read more

Product Description
The first anthology to gather poems by the forty-three poets laureate of the United States.As a record of poetry, The Poets Laureate Anthology is groundbreaking, charting the course of American poetry over the last seventy-five years, while being, at the same time, a pleasure to read, full of some of the world’s best-known poems and many new surprises. Elizabeth Hun Schmidt has gathered and introduced poems by each of the forty-three poets who have been named our nation’s poets laureate since the post (originally called Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress) was established in 1937. Poets range from Robert Pinsky, William Carlos Williams, and Elizabeth Bishop to Charles Simic, Billy Collins, and Rita Dove. Schmidt’s spirited introductions place the poets and their poems in historical and literary context and shine light on the interesting and often uneasy relationship between politics and art. This is an inviting, monumental collection for everyone’s library, containing much of the best poetry written in America over the last century. 43 black-and-white photographs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A wonderful collection!
This volume introduced me to great American poets that I was not previously familar with! This is a great collection! I can now appreciate to a greater degree my own American heritage. ... Read more

Product Description
These have been called the most famous and beloved letters of our century. Rainer Maria Rilke himself said that much of his creative expression went into his correspondence, and here he touches upon a wide range of subjects that will interest writers, artists, and thinkers. This edition includes a new foreword by Kent Nerburn, author of Small Graces and Letters to My Son. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Absolutely worth the buy
I've never read such a thin book with an immense amount of thought-provoking material in it.

It's intense, it's soul-finding.

A read to inspire
I give this as a gift to fellow poets but in all honesty this book will inspire anyone in any field. A beautiful journey of wisdom and perspective.

This book will remain a fixture on my bookcase and in my heart. I purchased this book many moons ago and never read it. I had many an intention to read it just never did...until Aug 2009.

It didn't occur to me until I finally opened this book that I had yet to open it until the time was right. I unconsciously was saving the words of this book to savor when I needed them the most.

The passages contained in this book, without question, are brilliant words of wisdom to light the creative path in the dark times of self doubt. This book will remind creative types like myself that the path you are on is worthy of footprints, most importantly your footprints.A Song Beneath Silence (2nd Edition) (Volume 2)

Amazing Book!
I highly recommend this book to all writers, poets and artists of any sort. This will bring you new inspiration but one that you had all along.

Much ado about nothing.
I heard so many great things about this book that I was expecting so much more than it delivered.I think the writer is full of himself and is trying to elevate his miserable introverted life into something redemptive and grandiose.I found only a few snippets of anything that resembled wisdom; the rest was so much hot air.
~Peter

A true classic
This book is a true classic.I would recommend for anyone who enjoys poetry and the struggle in finding the perfect words. ... Read more

Product Description

Calling all poets!

Customer Reviews (10)

Kind of long
Child will need a long attention span for all the poems. Best for older than 4 yr old. Love the words and rhyming.

The Latest Fancy Nancy Book
Jane O'Connor has written another Fancy Nancy book, //Poet Extraordinaire!//, complete with fancy vocabulary and Nancy Clancy's rhyming name.Like usual, each fancy word is translated into simpler words or explanation. In this book, Nancy says her teacher, Ms. Glass, reads poems everyday and encourages her students to write their own poems.When Ms. Glass gives the class a poet-tree assignment, Nancy's whole family gets involved, but everyone, it seems is having a good time composing poems except her.She searches and waits for inspirations.She is STUCK.

In the book, O'Connor mentions different kinds of poems, such as couplets and limericks, and the fact that some poems do not even have to rhyme.She also shows a couple of acrostic poems.Poems can be so fun with or without the rules.With all these in mind, however, Nancy is still somewhat stuck until, finally, she writes a poem true to her character.

Any girl who is familiar with the Fancy Nancy collection would enjoy Nancy turned poet-extraordinaire! The illustrations are exquisite and full of fancy expression...with glitter, of course. Also in the book, O'Connor quotes poems in a special "Nancy's Favorite Poems" booklet.

Reviewed by Sophie Masri

Make Sure It's Age Appropriate
As a poet myself, I was very excited to see this new Fancy Nancy book.I also have a daughter named Nancy, so all of the Fancy Nancy titles find their way into our collection.Still, some titles go over better with my daughter than others.This one is a harder sell than some of the others.

The main reason, I think, is that my Nancy is only just turned 4 and this title, though listed for ages 4 - 7, is a bit difficult.It takes the concepts of poetry (like rhyme, inspiration, writer's block, etc.) very seriously which I like.It also offers some very high level example of poetry and poetry styles which, again, I like.Still, it makes the going harder for a young girl who is looking mainly for a fun story at bedtime.Given a choice, my Nancy prefers the simpler, more story-oriented tales.

Still, I think in time my Nancy will really come to appreciate this book.It is a good introduction to poetry with a fun guide in the guise of Nancy Clancy.For now, I will put it aside and try it again later.

Pretty and interesting book for the granddaughters
My granddaughter couldn't wait to get this book.It's very pretty, interesting and it makes reading that much more exciting.Builds a great beginning. Thank you Amazon

Full of Poems
Reviewed by Sophia McElroy (age 7) for Reader Views (05/10)

This is a book full of Fancy Nancy poems. I think it would be fun to write poems too. I liked this book because it had all kinds of poems that Fancy Nancy and her friend Bree wrote. This was a really fun book to read. My favorite poems were "Diddle Diddle Dumpling," "Dig In," "Horrible Hiccups," "Fighting With my Brother," "Guess Who," "Five Little Pumpkins," "Picking Berries" and "Polliwog School." I love all of the artwork!I would like to make a book of poems just like Fancy Nancy.

I have read two other Fancy books, "Fancy Nancy: Let's get Fancy Together, "Fancy Nancy: Everyday is Earth Day." Fancy Nancy is really fancy; I always learn some cool new words! I have liked all of her books and recommend "Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire!" as well. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (33)

fantastic insight on Wabi-Sabi
This book really made clear to me what Wabi-Sabi is.
It inspired me tremendously for creating my own work as an textile-artist.
It deepened my interest in meditation and a more accepting view on life itself.
No text overkill, clear lay out en chapter content.
I strongly recommend this book for everybody who wants to understand Wabi-Sabi.

Femke van Gemert, the Netherlands

Great book for those who are already aware
You cannot learn Wabi-Sabi from a book anymore than you can learn to love music from a book. Wabi-Sabi is the name the Japanese have given to this state of mind, and Zen is the means by which they arrive at it. However, it was not unknown the the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The following paragraph is taken from Book III of his Meditations:

"This also thou must observe, that whatsoever it is that naturally doth happen to things natural, hath somewhat in itself that is pleasing and delightful: as a great loaf when it is baked, some parts of it cleave as it were, and part asunder, and make the crust of it rugged and unequal, and yet those parts of it, though in some sort it be against the art and intention of baking itself, that they are thus cleft and parted, which should have been and were first made all even and uniform, they become it well nevertheless, and have a certain peculiar property, to stir the appetite. So figs are accounted fairest and ripest then, when they begin to shrink, and wither as it were. So ripe olives, when they are next to putrefaction, then are they in their proper beauty. The hanging down of grapes--the brow of a lion, the froth of a foaming wild boar, and many other like things, though by themselves considered, they are far from any beauty, yet because they happen naturally, they both are comely, and delightful; so that if a man shall with a profound mind and apprehension, consider all things in the world, even among all those things which are but mere accessories and natural appendices as it were, there will scarce appear anything unto him, wherein he will not find matter of pleasure and delight. So will he behold with as much pleasure the true rictus of wild beasts, as those which by skilful painters and other artificers are imitated. So will he be able to perceive the proper ripeness and beauty of old age, whether in man or woman: and whatsoever else it is that is beautiful and alluring in whatsoever is, with chaste and continent eyes he will soon find out and discern. Those and many other things will he discern, not credible unto every one, but unto them only who are truly and familiarly acquainted, both with nature itself, and all natural things."

If you have spent much time outdoors for love of nature, you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi.

If you have had youthful, mind-altering experiences by which you came to see incredible beauty in ordinary things like a weed or a rock, you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi.

If you are an artist who draws inspiration from the natural world, you are likely already aware of Wabi-Sabi.

A book such as this can drive away the very spirit that it is trying to invoke by trying to capture it with intellect and reductionism. However, I think this book strikes a nice balance between simply pointing-the-way (like a Zen master) and attempting to offer some explanation. The photographs are the best, and most revealing, part of the book. Read the text, but don't think on it too much.

a great concept seldom mentioned in our USA culture
Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic, individual and ethereal. The author recognizes that true Wabi-Sabi is indefinable and that writing about it is not keeping true to that idea. However, his descriptions of meanings and how this concept seems to have developed are delightful and honor the spirit of Wabi-Sabi.

If you have not heard of this concept and value the impermanent, incomplete and imperfect, you will enjoy this book.

A New View
This is a beautifully written book! It has inspired me to try my hand at Wabi Sabi - the art form / it also has provided me with a new tag line for the way I work and live. Doors will open ...

wabi sabied
OK for a beginning understanding but very over done.The concept is lost because it is too well defined. Wabi sabi takes right brain intuitive thinking which cannot really be explained.Through book study one can begin to map out a foundation. The rest is gained through feeling and insight. It is creative spirit.I do not think wabi sabimeans rustic. The term does not categorizein such a materialistic manner. ... Read more

Product Description
The definitive account of the life, work, and legacy of Claude Lévi-Strauss, father of modern anthropology and one of the postwar era's most influential thinkers.

When Claude Lévi-Strauss passed away last October at age 100, France celebrated the life and contributions of not only a preeminent anthropologist, but also one of the defining intellectuals of the twentieth century. Just as Freud had shaken up the antiquarian discipline of psychiatry, so had Lévi-Strauss revolutionized anthropology, transforming it from the colonial era study of "exotic" tribes to one consumed with fundamental questions about the nature of humanity and civilization itself.

Remarkably, there has never been a biography in English of the enigmatic Claude Lévi-Strauss. Drawing on a welter of original research and interviews with the anthropologist, Patrick Wilcken's Claude Lévi-Strauss fills this void. In rich detail, Wilcken re-creates Lévi-Strauss's peripatetic life: his groundbreaking fieldwork in some of the remotest reaches of the Amazon in the 1930s; his years as a Jew in Nazi- occupied France and as an émigré in wartime New York; and his return to Paris in the late 1940s, where he clashed with Jean-Paul Sartre and fundamentally influenced fellow postwar thinkers from Jacques Lacan to Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes. It was in France that structuralism, the school of thought he founded, first took hold, creating waves far beyond the field of anthropology. In his heyday, Lévi-Strauss was both a hero to contemporary intellectuals and an international celebrity.

In Claude Lévi-Strauss, Wilcken gives the reader a fascinating intellectual tour of the anthropologist's landmark works: Tristes Tropiques, a literary meditation on his travels and fieldwork; The Savage Mind, which showed that "primitive" people are driven by the same intellectual curiosities as their Western counterparts; and finally his monumental four-volume Mythologiques, a study of the universal structures of native mythology in the Americas. In the years that Lévi-Strauss published these pioneering works, Wilcken observes, tribal societies seemed to hold the answers to the most profound questions about the human mind. Following the great anthropologist from São Paulo to the Brazilian interior, and from New York to Paris, Patrick Wilcken's Claude Lévi- Strauss is both an evocative journey and an intellectual biography of one of the twentieth-century's most influential minds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Simply amazing
The other reviewers have said plenty. This book is just incredible. What a vision of ministry! This should be required reading in every seminary. It practically makes you want to get up and preach!

Pastors will profit from reading this book
I read this book in almost one sitting. I was braced by it, finding many of its insights both instructive and helpful. I would recommend it to any pastor or aspiring pastor.

There are several of these insights worth pointing out. The phrase "it's just church" stood out to me. Barnes is right, it seems to me, in reminding us not to expect too much from the church, as if the church is Christ. He helped me in this connection to see the value of the distinction between the "visible" and "invisible" church, a distinction that in my opinion ecclesiology needs to recover.

I was especially impressed by his observation about the contemporary obsession over identity. I determine who I am by what I do; I cannot have a secure identity unless I find a profession that fulfills me. Whenever ones see the language of "calling" or "vocation" in the NT, it is always in reference to belonging to Christ. Our calling is to enjoy communion with Christ. This recognition could relieve the pressure under which many people labor in their pursuit of that spouse or that profession they believe constitutes their "calling."

The idea of pastor as minor poet is very helpful. When Barnes describes the task of the pastor as discerning the grace of God in the ordinary routines of people's lives, I found myself concurring with him. He's right in stressing that a pastor connects with people when he is able to participate in their mundane conversations about concerns which strike the idealistic recent seminary graduate as petty. The grace of God is found in the "petty." Christ is at work in the ordinary routines of people's lives, sanctifying them precisely in and through their routines. The examples he gives from his own pastoral experience were moving. I found myself almost moved to tears when he narrated the experience of the single working mother in one of the early chapters.

I do have a few points of criticism. It is important to acknowledge that there are legitimate human needs and that there is a legitimate place for their fulfillment. We shouldn't relegate them to "presenting needs" or dismiss them as "symptomatic" of a deeper need (communion with Christ). I don't think Barnes would disagree with me here, but I do find the use of this language problematic. It seems to draw more inspiration from popular psychology than the New Testament. Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar--sometimes a desire for a spouse and family is just that. Sometimes what a person needs most urgently is a job. A related point is that to view legitimate needs through this lens can reflect and perpetuate a status quo politics. High unemployment or dissatisfying work can be a call to institutional and structural reform to which we respond because we are concerned about justice in the here and now. To respond to this call by saying something to the effect that regardless of what are the real conditions of our lives we can always be be content that we are loved by God in Christ can be a form of escapism, against which the church and its leaders need to be vigilant.

A Rare Book
This is a rare book.

Rarely do I read a book in its entirety on my weekly Sabbath. Rarely do I identify so strongly with an author or book. Rarely does a book make me feel less alone, even hopeful, as a pastor. Rarely do I finish a book with the intention of reading it again.

But The Pastor as Minor Poet, by M. Craig Barnes, is that book.

Subtitled "Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life," the book is divided into two sections: The Call of the Minor Poet and The Craft of the Minor Poet. Although I was disappointed when the first section ended, because I had gotten so much out of it and wasn't ready for it to end, the second section quickly dispelled my disappointment, finishing the book just as strongly as it had begun--which is something else that makes this book relatively rare.

If this is the first M. Craig Barnes book you read, it will be quickly obvious that he knows the joys and frustrations of the pastor's life (he is currently senior pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA). It will be equally clear that he knows preaching. And people. And pain.

As one reviewer has written, it "offers a hope and a vision for ministry that is at once vocationally satisfying and Scripturally faithful." It is honest, entertaining, captivating, timely, and deep. And rare.

If You Have A Pastor You Should Read This Book
Being familiar with Barnes' unique writing ability I was curious about this one.I wanted to read the book before giving it to my pastor.It should be required reading for everyone who attends church.You will have a new appreciation for these men/women that have received the calling to "feed" His "sheep."I will be praying more regularly for pastors everywhere and will be delighted to hand a copy of The Pastor As A Minor Poet to my own pastor -- with a thank you and, of course, a poem.

Excellent Preacher - Excellent Pastor - Excellent Writer
I've known Craig Barnes as an excellent preacher, holding audiences at multi-day conferences spellbound for 45 minutes or more each time he spoke. He now teaches pastors the art of pastoral leadership while continuing to serve as preaching pastor of one of the great Presbyterian churches in the United States. He practices what he teaches and preaches. This is a book for pastors about pastoring - not so much about pastoral skills as about the pastor as person in the daily work of pastoring. He writes (as he preaches) with great humor and wit, but never for its own sake. His stories focus his point making it real in the pastor's life. Dr. Barnes lets us in on his very human feelings about difficult parishioners, but he never leaves it at that. The "minor poet" is enabled to artfully move beyond personal feelings to healing relationships. This book will encourage every pastor. It is highly recommended as a gift to the pastor you love. ... Read more

Product Description
Kenneth Bailey draws on more than twenty years of experience with Middle Eastern peasant culture in his study of the literary structure and cultural milieu of sixteen of Jesus' most significant parables as they are recorded in Luke. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

An eye opener
WOW - cultural differences and contexts make us miss the real meaning of what Jesus was trying to say. Dr Bailey really brings truth to life!

Excellent Resource
Very well researched.This book provides new and fascinating insights into the parables that are difficult to grasp on your own.

Well worth the time and effort
You will be glad you spent the time to work your way through Kenneth Bailey's works.You will learn the structure of Jesus's parables and the genius of the New Testament writers.You will learn what was on the heart of Jesus, and your heart will be moved as you read the parables through new lenses.Your faith will also be strengthened as you realize that these were not made up stories put in the mouth of Jesus by the church decades later, but these were true-to-life stories for the time of Jesus Himself by Jesus Himself.
Jonathan Williams

Indispensable source for cultural and historical insights pertaining to many of the parables in Luke
Dr. Kenneth Bailey spent most of his life in the Middle East and as result has a great appreciation and understanding for its culture and its spiritual history.This book is actually two previously released books combined that examine in extensive detail the parables of Jesus in the book of Luke in their first century Palestinian context.

The first fifty or so pages in the first book goes into exhaustive analysis of the structure of parables showing that they have four basic types of patterns and there is sometimes a predictable symmetry to them.This segment is highly technical and can be overwhelming for the layman.But once you get through that part of the book and begin the chapters dedicated to each parable, it becomes a literary treasure, revealing the hidden cultural nuances in the setting of first century Palestine and unlocks many spiritual truths for 21st century Westerners.

Overall I strongly recommend this book - especially for someone who gives sermons or leads a Bible study on these parables.I only have a few minor criticisms.One is that I strongly disagree with Bailey's exegesis on the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward in Luke 16 and also but to a much lesser degree, his exegesis on the Parable of the Fig Tree in Luke 13. My other criticism is that Bailey does not cover every parable in the book of Luke.Fortunately he covers most including the Prodigal Son.In spite of these two issues, I still enthusiastically recommend this book.

Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes
An interesting view of the parables found in the Gospel of Luke from a literary and cultural perspective. It helped me understand some of the more obscure parables and gave a fresh perspective on the familiar ones.
Although some of the language studies lost me, the literary form and cultural perspective can be very enlightening. ... Read more

Product Description
THE MUST-HAVE RESOURCE EVERY POET NEEDS

Poets of all skill levels have turned to Poet?s Market for more than two decades for all the information they need on publishing poetry. Whether you?re targeting magazines and journals or book/chapbook publishers, the 2010 Poet?s Market gives you up-to-date contact and submissions information for more than 1,000 listings. This new edition includes:

• Features on the realities of poetry publishing, mistakes to avoid, identifying scams, and promoting your work.
• Articles on translating poetry, electronic poetry, chapbooks, poetry readings, and more.
• Information on workshops, organizations and online resources that help poets perfect their skills and network with fellow poets and editors.
• Thorough indexes to make choosing the best potential markets easier.
• And?new this year?access to all Poet?s Market listings in a searchable online database!

Customer Reviews (7)

Poet's Market... Any Year
Poet's Market publishes an issue each year in September for the following year. It is the go to manual for magazine, Chap books, and computer publication venues of your poetry.Each entry gives every detail you could need. Genre, submission criteria, and other of interests info. The Poet's Market changes from year to year as does the market. An excellent manual to have for newly published poets to find the niches that adores your hearts yakitty-yak. (Yes, I am a published poet many times over)

Very Useful
As always this book has come in very useful. A wealth of information all compiled in one place. Much easier than scouring the internet or looking through random magazines to find the information that this book lists in one place for you.

2010 Poet's Market
The information given in the Poet's Market is very useful as far as what one needs to know to get published.However, a lot of the page number references are not correct.For instance on page 2, third paragraph, it indicates (See the Subject Index beginning on page 539) which in fact it is page 540 and in paragraph 5, same page it indicates that the Book/Chapbook publishers section on page 331 which in fact is 333; and the Contests & Awards section following on page 367 which in fact is 370. ALL OF THESE PAGE NUMBER REFERENCE MISTAKES WERE FOUND ON PAGE 2 AND THERE WERE MORE ON OTHER PAGES AS WELL!!

It appears that when revisions were made that page number references were not changed accordingly.

I am not trying to nick pick; however, when I pay $20.00 for a book I expect better than this.

Fantastic!
Product arrived earlier than expected, and has been very useful in my venture into publishing. Definitely recommend this book and ordering directly from Amazon to avoid complications!

aspiring poet
I want to get published someday.I think this book will help.I have been writing since middle school. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Finally Comes the Poet
The biblical studies of Walter Brueggemann have enabled many of us to better grasp, often in remarkably fresh ways, the message of God's Word.In Finally Comes the Poet:Daring Speech for Proclamation (Minneapolis:Fortress Press, c. 1989), originally given as the 1989 Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School, he reflects on the Old Testament mode of proclamation, suggesting it frequently takes the form of poetry rather than prose.Thus preaching, in a biblical mode, means speaking as a poet so as to facilitate forgiveness, communion, obedience, and relinquishment.
Brueggemann says "The task and pos¬sibility of preaching is to open out the good news of the gospel with alternative modes of speech--speech that is dramatic, artistic, capable of in¬viting persons to join in another conversation, free of the reason of technique, unencumbered by onotolgies that grow abstract, unembarrassed about concreteness" (p. 3). Too many of us, too often, live in a world squashed flat by prose, subject to logical analysis but lacking imagination and life.It's a world whose soil has been sterilized by sin, needing the rich humus of living organisms, of spontaneity and life.Amidst the "numbness and ache" of a world alienated from God, the preacher stands and points toward "the other side," another reality, which heals and quickens the human heart.
To do this well, preachers must be more than psychological technicians or scholarly analysts.To absolve the guilt of sin, to recon¬cile man with God, demands more than clever epigrams or catchy recipes."Unless we speak poetically, God's self-giving transformation will be hard as a form of cheap grace that costs God noth¬ing" or, conver¬sely, "as a form of works righteousness" (p. 37), neither of which actually cleanses sin's guilt.Most of us, hearing sermons, need neither more information nor admonition--we need strength, courage, a sense of direction and empowerment.
When we preach, according to model Hebrew prophets like Jeremiah, we try to sensitize hearers to the presence of God."The act of preaching is not instruction, rational discourse, or moral suas¬ion.It is the invitation and permit to practice a life of doxology and obedience" (p. 68), the crea¬tive call to enter God's sacred space and time--sabbath time--where praise and yielding satisfy the deepest yearnings of the spirit.Praise and yielding facilitate communion.Both involve attention, hearing, responding."We are created for listening.It is our proper busi¬ness.We are made for communion, but the communion for which we are formed is not that of mindless camaraderie" (p. 81).That's because "Listening of any serious kind is difficult" (p. 81).Indeed:"Listening is difficult for us because the modern world is or¬ganized against serious speech, against authorita¬tive speech, against listening, against passionate discourse that binds us one to another and causes one to yield to another.The notions of self-suf¬ficiency and autonomy that govern our consciousness make listening difficult and obedience nearly impossible" (p. 82). Though the heirs of Descartes may declare "I doubt, therefore I am," biblical people say "I listen, and therefore I am" (p. 82).God's people must hear His voice, a voice medi¬ated through the preacher, breatheing life into us hearers, obey¬ing the One who calls us to participate in His life.
Those of you who've read Brueggemann need no encouragement to read more. He has the unusual capacity to write as a scholar without compromising his competence while communicating with the general reader.He also has the ability to utilize sophisticated analytical methodologies in approaching the text without desiccating it with hypercritical questions.In suggesting that preaching is more an art than a science, more than poetry than prose, he enables us both to hear the biblical message more accurately and (hopefully) preach it more power¬fully.
To cite Walt Whitman's lines, which give the book its title:"After the seas are all cross'd, (as they seem already cross'd,) / After the great captains and engineers have accomplish'd their work, / After the noble inven¬tors, after the scien¬tists, the chemist, the geolo¬gist, ethnologist, / Finally shall come the poet worthy of that name, / The true son of God shall come singing his songs.

The Dynamic ofPreaching as Poetry
I will not attempt to repeat what other reviewers have said, only to add that Walter Brueggemann was my Old Testament professor,mentor, and friend at Eden Theological Seminary, where he was either the first or most imaginative scholar to see the dynamics of poetry for motivational preaching and as a catalyst for change.Because of this, "Finally Comes the Poet" is my primary text in the course "Preaching as Storytelling" at Florida Christian University/Theological Seminary.We live in such a drab, prosaic society that we have lost the rich symbolism and imagination of poetry or at least played it down in our society, witness the lack of emphasis upon "right brain" electives in our schools and the stress on science, mathematics, and other "left brain" functions.The richness of language in poetry breathes fresh air into our Biblical insights and into our sermonic/psychological grasp of reality.

Fresh words urgently needed today
It is impossible to overstate how important this book is for us who yearn for the Gospel to be once again spoken with ardor and relevancy to our 'fearfully complacent' congregations/nation. This is the eighth of Professor Brueggemann's books I have read, and he is a critically needed prophetic voice in our very own wilderness.

O. T. Prophet-- N.T. Poet--Totally PoeticPreacher--Revised
"Finally Comes the Poet" is surely one descriptive title of my most read of Bruegge's theological mines. For those who need to read theological mines, it takes away despair as few poets do!

Sir Walter stirs up one's creative juices simply in describing, the "generative power of biblical texts to summon and evoke new life." He considers "preaching to be a poetic construal of an alternative world... whose purpose is to cherish and open the truth." This theme appears in nearly every class of Brueggemann!

My review is unnecessary after comments of Fred Craddock from the book jacket. "Here we have what we have come to expect from Walter Brueggemann; a fired imagination, harnessed & disciplined-offering what the gospel offers, that is an alternative world."

Brueggemann names powerful titles of healing from Biblical texts in his chapter: "Numbness & Ache or The Strangeness of Healing: 1) We likely cannot work alone for own healing. It may require a priest. 2) Healing requires the submission of some thing of value. 3) Healing is the enactment of atonement. 4) The act of putting away the poison of guilt is done not by ourselves but on our behalf by the priest.

I place this up to, "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth; The Psalms of Life andFaith; Spirituality of the Psalms; Introduction to the Old Testament, Struggling with Scriptures, and Commentary On Jeremiah!" It is difficult to place a listing at one perspective of necessity, life-style or precious moments of grief, joy, or pain or peace...Today this is my current list!

My continuing prayer for all who read his poetic thots, "May we be challenged by Sir Walter, one neat OT prophet-poet-preacher." Although his words were created for Yale Lyman Beecher Lectures of 1989, they are proof he is totally at home in both Old & New Testament! Amazing to be sandwiched into those elite lectures after Dr. Craddock in 1978, John Claypool, 1979 and earlier than Barbara Brown Taylor in 1997!

Hooray for Creative Poets who preach the scriptures! Retired Chaplain, Fred W. Hood ... Read more

Product Description
“The more you transform your life from the material to the spiritual domain, the less you become afraid of death.” Leo Tolstoy spoke these words, and they became Henry Stuart’s raison d’etre. The Poet of Tolstoy Park is the unforgettable novel based on the true story of Henry Stuart’s life, which was reclaimed from his doctor’s belief that he would not live another year.

Henry responds to the news by slogging home barefoot in the rain. It’s 1925. The place: Canyon County, Idaho. Henry is sixty-seven, a retired professor and a widower who has been told a warmer climate would make the end more tolerable. San Diego would be a good choice.

Instead, Henry chose Fairhope, Alabama, a town with utopian ideals and a haven for strong-minded individualists. Upton Sinclair, Sherwood Anderson, and Clarence Darrow were among its inhabitants. Henry bought his own ten acres of piney woods outside Fairhope. Before dying, underscored by the writings of his beloved Tolstoy, Henry could begin to “perfect the soul awarded him” and rest in the faith that he, and all people, would succeed, “even if it took eons.” Human existence, Henry believed, continues in a perfect circle unmarred by flaws of personality, irrespective of blood and possessions and rank, and separate from organized religion. In Alabama, until his final breath, he would chase these high ideas.

But first, Henry had to answer up for leaving Idaho. Henry’s dearest friend and intellectual sparring partner, Pastor Will Webb, and Henry’s two adult sons, Thomas and Harvey, were baffled and angry that he would abandon them and move to the Deep South, living in a barn there while he built a round house of handmade concrete blocks. His new neighbors were perplexed by his eccentric behavior as well. On the coldest day of winter he was barefoot, a philosopher and poet with ideas and words to share with anyone who would listen. And, mysteriously, his “last few months” became years. He had gone looking for a place to learn lessons in dying, and, studiously advanced to claim a vigorous new life.

The Poet of Tolstoy Park is a moving and irresistible story, a guidebook of the mind and spirit that lays hold of the heart. Henry Stuart points the way through life’s puzzles for all of us, becoming in this timeless tale a character of such dimension that he seems more alive now than ever.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

A burden to read
I bought this book with a great interest in the subject matter, and tried very hard to like it. Instead, I found myself slogging and trudging through "The Poet's" boundless self-absorption. Unfortunately, one finds oneself wishing early on that the title character's tuberculosis would just hurry along with its business. His time spent ruminating endlessly on the meaning of life (and death) would've been so much better spent living it - as the brilliant man he undoubtedly was, he could've accomplished so much. I haven't been this exasperated with introspection since Eat, Pray, Love. At least SHE enjoyed life.
Even when stunned from his endless reveries, Henry Stuart still manages to contemplate the joy out of everything.
Some nice descriptions of the Mobile area in here, and some interesting quotations to ponder if you're inclined. For the most part, this book is mind-numbingly boring.

the best of the best
The Poet of Tolstoy Park is a gem. The writing is wonderful and heart rending. I have read the poetry at many celebrations and funerals. This is one of the few books I would read over and over again and give to all my friends.

Lyrical, uplifting true story
This book is a treasure.It's the kind of art I'm always on the lookout for:positive, helpful, realistic guidance for living a good and decent life.This story is based on a real man who became mortally ill and made significant changes in his life in preparation for his imminent death.

The protagonist, Henry, decided to live like he was dyin' (to paraphrase Tim McGraw).But then, to his and everyone else's surprise, he didn't die.And Henry's new lifestyle had a positive effect not only on himself, but also everyone around him.

We can all be so much more than we are.If media concentrated the same resources on informing us about inspiring real-life role models like Henry instead of infamous persons, it would be easier for us all to wake up and heal the world.A great book for anyone who wants to learn to live with the spirit of a true artist.

This book is beautifully written by an intelligent, thoughtful writer.Highly recommended.

An older "Thoreau" faces mortality
Sonny Brewer's book is a puzzle to me. It's a book which moves slowly and inexorably, yet most pleasurably towards its inevitable end. I was initially put off by all the minute detail, which seemed unnecessary, given the everyday nature of what was being described. Here's an example:

"Henry was washing his breakfast bowl in a white porcelain-coated metal bucket ... Henry lifted the bowl from the water in the bucket and slung droplets from it onto the ground. He reached a small white cotton towel down from where it hung on a holly branch near the well, dried the bowl, and returned the towel. He took the clean spoon from his pants pocket and placed it inside the bowl and was taking steps toward the barn to put the dish away ..."

There's a lot of this kind of picture-making detail in the book, but you kind of get used to it after a bit and fall willingly into the slow cadences and rhythms of a timeless tale about life, death, relationships. Henry Stuart knows he's dying. He just doesn't know when. And of course no one does, and therein lies the unifying theme, I think. It's not about how long we live or when we die, it's about how we spend our time while we're still here. At first Henry thinks he needs to be alone - and perhaps he does - but then he realizes that other people are important too, and ends up becoming an important and integral part of the Fairhope and Montrose community. I thought of Thoreau and Walden while reading this book, of course, but I also thought of the southern novelist, Reynolds Price, whose dignified and stately style Brewer's gentle story brings to mind. So yeah, I enjoyed the story. On a more irreverent note, I was kinda wishing, waaay in the back of my mind, that maybe ol' Henry and Kate (some thirty years younger)would get together a la "Murphy's Romance." (Remember James Garner and Sally Field?) But I suppose that woulda spoiled the dignified and artistic tone of the book. But who knows? Maybe Hollywood will add that twist by the time it gets to the screen. Great story, Sonny. You have a voice that deserves to find an audience. - Tim Bazzett, author of ReedCityBoy

The Poet of Tolstay Park
The Poet of Tolstay Park

Henry Stuart is 67 and suffering from a life-threatening illness.Being a retired professor, a widower, and father of two grown sons, most people in the same circumstances would have hunkered down in the "familiar" to wait for the end.Not Henry Stuart however. He didn't want his sons to go through the heart wrenching experience of seeing their father go from a strong, curious, stubbornly independent person to wasting away.He didn't want them to do the caretaking inherent in what was expected to be a difficult dying.Neither did he want his good friend a minister who continuously nagged Henry to worship God his way to witness his ending.

In an overwhelming time of crisis and confusion Henry trusted himself to make decisions that were best for his life, not by anybody else's yardstick.Many including his two sons and best friend thought he was losing his grip.Used to Henrys frequent divergence from the usual and customary, Henry's decision to leave Idaho and move to a ten acre lot in Alabama was beyond what they were able to support.

What is intriguing about Henry Stuart's story is that he, albeit somewhat eccentric has a sustenance, a depth that he is courageous enough to plumb in order to remain true to his philosophy of living.Henry is an ordinary man who has an extraordinary measure of courage and strength of identity. In the face of death he decides he will live each day in the freedom he chooses. In order to do this he steps outside roles that would interfere with his plans.He releases his sons from roles of caretakers as well as his best friend.As he takes this action he releases himself from the role of "sick person".He doesn't deny his illness but he won't allow it to take over his living.

Henry did not take the path of least resistance as we humans are wont to do.Most of us in such a crisis would busy ourselves using our energy to avoid pain and try to get as comfortable as possible.Henry on the other hand decided to follow a different path whether it be bitter or sweet.His choices caused him much emotional and physical pain but on another level he experienced a bittersweet freedom especially of a spiritual nature.He expanded his ideas regarding the meaning of life; especially his life and his place in the world around him wherever he happened to be.

He became engaged in new and surprising ways in his chosen community.He did not limit the parameters of his life due to his illness.He shared of himself in whatever and whenever he saw a need, making an indelible impression on many lives.

As the story progresses Henry lived many years beyond his terminal medical diagnoses. As his life continued he was in turn he was a mentor, builder, cantankerous obstinate old man, generous, a philosopher poet depending on who was describing him. Lives were changed by encountering Henry for the better from beginning to end.What a life?What a story?What a reflection on living and dying?

As a Mental Health Professional I loved this story of a courageous, compassionate spiritually evolved man who did it "his way".I highly recommend this book as a story of triumph in adversity.


For related topics go to www.LifeResourceCenter.net or contact ly@peoplepc.com
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Customer Reviews (10)

Book in poor condition
The book I received is so heavily marked up with everything from annotations, pen, pencil, and highlighter that it is hard to even read. I am using this book for professional purposes and it's condition is extremely disruptive to my use. Whomever the previous owner was had no idea how to take notes.

No Help for Anyone Interested in Superior Contemporary Poetry
As ever, venerable Establishment icon Vendler pays standard attention to varieties of poetry standard by the fifties or earlier, but seems unaware that anything else (visual, infraverbal and mathematical poetry, for instance) exists.She's competent at what she limitedly does, however, so her book would probably be worth getting for apprentice readers and writers of poetry--until commercial or academic publishers of books like hers accidently publish one by someone knowledgeable about the best poetry composed since 1950.

Poems, Poet, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology
This is a wonderful book. Vendler is a major academic and student of poetry and adds a voice of clarity and insight to the mysterious art of painting with words. This book demystifies the process of creating poetry so that the reader can fully appreciate what a poet does, revealing the real magic, which is clearly the intent of this book.

Vendler has been accused of being dry because she deconstructs and analyzes so well, but cogent analysis does not rob great art of its power; it only reveals its true genius at deeper levels. Vendler herself is an excellent and engaging academic writer, which makes this well organized book very readable and a useful reference.

A necessary book by a leading authority for anyone who is serious about poetry.
Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology

AText for the Autodidact, also
Helen Vendler's "Poems, Poets, Poetry" is an excellent introduction for the person studying alone. As a retired physician living in a remote rural area this book has been a Godsend. It leads the reader through chapters of gradually increasing complexity until one has gained an excellent understanding of poetry and poetic forms. Each chapter contains a fine range of poems related to the chapter topic. This allows the reader to build up a wide general knowledge of poems of various ages and types. A valuable anthology follows the chapters of textual instruction.

This is the best, regardless of the edition
Helen Vendler knows poetry from the outside in and the inside out; this book will not only clue you in to how poetry works, why people write poetry, what makes a good poem, but will bring together the intrapsychic, social, political, and historical links that make poetry survive after a number of millennia. If you're a student who is assigned a book of poetry as an introduction, and it isn't this one, ask for a change.I don't know if the author is a poet, but she's the only critic and this seems to be the only textbook that seems to answer the question, "Why do people write poetry in the first place, and why do they feel so compelled to do so. ... Read more

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There was once a little brown bat who couldn't sleep days-he kept waking up and looking at the world. Before long he began to see things differently from the other bats, who from dawn to sunset never opened their eyes. The Bat-Poet is the story of how he tried to make the other bats see the world his way.

Here in The Bat-Poet are the bat's own poems and the bat's own world: the owl who almost eats him; the mockingbird whose irritable genius almost overpowers him; the chipmunk who loves his poems, and the bats who can't make beads or tails of them; the cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and sparrows who fly in and out of Randall Jarrell's funny, lovable, truthful fable.

Customer Reviews (12)

Fun story
This book has become quite collectible for the illustrations from Maurice Sendak.He made very detailed black and white drawings of the forest and the animals.The story is about a young bat who could not sleep in the daytime like he was suposed to, and he got to see how different the world was when the other bats were fast asleep. He then tries to explain to the other bats what it is like, and he even makes up some poems. It is not a poetry book, but a very funny adventure.

The Bat Poet
I was recently at the desert visitor's center in Borrego Springs, California and attended a talk at the center by a park ranger about bats.A lady present had a book she wanted to tell everyone about.It was the Bat Poet.I am an educator (retired) with a major in English and have a special interest in children's literature.I am especially interested in older published works for children, so of course, I was interested in the Bat Poet.I enjoyed reading the book and plan to share it with my grandchildren and great grandchildren at certain ages.

I felt like a kid again with a book I love
This is my favorite children's book read as an adult!I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to enjoy this book as much as I did.Of course Maurice Sendak's illustrations are wonderful and added to the overall experience...what a special book!

The Bat Poet
The book arrived in about 8 days.The cover was torn and not in great shape, and the book does show its age, but it's a 1964 edition.It's a neat little book written by Randall Jarrell and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.I really wanted the book for one of the poems in the book.I couldn't find the poem on the Internet since it's not titled in the book. It is a poem that the bat makes up about the owl. Jarrell's choice of words creates such a wonderful mind picture of the bat's reaction to the owl.I just love the poem.I read it in college and never forgot it.This book won't get sold or given away.

A WONDERFUL LITTLE BOOK.
Randall Jarrell has given us a beautiful little story here of a bat and Maurice Sendak has given us some wonderful illustrations in the form of black and white drawings.There is not much to not like about this work.The children love it, and the adult reading it to the children will find it just as interesting and hypnotic as the child, if not more so, but on a different level.The text is wonderfully simple and a pure joy to read.I recommened this one highly. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Poets, English/ Biography/ Early works to 1800; Poets, English/ Early modern, 1500-1700/ Biography; Poets, English/ 18th century/ Biography; Poets, English; Poets, English - 18th century; Poets, English - Early modern, 1500-1700; Literary Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Biography ... Read more

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In The Poet and the Murderer, acclaimed journalist Simon Worrall takes readers into the haunting mind of Mark Hofmann, one of the most daring literary forgers and remorseless murderers of the late twentieth century.

He was a young Mormon boy who loathed what he believed to be the hypocrisy of his faith, and who devised secret ways to infiltrate and undermine the church. Mark Hofmann began his career by forging and selling rare Mormon coins, and quickly moved on to creating false, highly controversial religious documents that threw the Church of Latter-Day Saints into turmoil. But it was his infamous Emily Dickinson poem that would prove his greatest deception, stunning the art and literary worlds and earning him thousands from the most distinguished Dickinson scholars. It would also prove his ultimate undoing, when his desperation to keep his greatest forgery a secret drove him to commit ever more heinous crimes-including acts of shocking violence.

Filled with the page-turning suspense and tantalizing sleuthing techniques of a literary thriller, The Poet and the Murderer gives us an unforgettable portrait of a deeply irreligious man and a brilliant con artist whose greatest talent-and greatest tragedy--was his ability to conceal his mad genius behind the unique gifts and enduring celebrity of others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (50)

Look at the LDS come running.
Please ignore the Mormons with an axe to grind.

Cult members get defensive when the truth is brought forward.

This is an excellent read.

A Badly Researched Book
This book tries to be an expose of two institutions:auction houses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).I do not work in the auction business, but I have been attending the church for more than fifty years.I was stunned by the unbelievable inaccuracy of the "facts" that the author presented about my religion.

For example, Worrall states, categorically, that Mormon women are told to obey their husbands.This is not true.I've been married for 32 years and have never believed that I owe my husband my obedience.My husband does not believe this either.I have never heard a church leader preach that wives should obey their husbands.In fact, quite the opposite is true.I have repeatedly heard church leaders teach that in marriage, husbands and wivesare to work together as equal partners.(You can go to [...], click on the library tab and type in the words "equal partners" to bring up several sermons on the subject.)

Worrall asserts that Mormon children are taught from an early age that they must repeat the words, "I swear that the Book of Mormon is true."I was raised by very devout parents in a family of seven children.They never asked a single one of us to repeat those words or anything like those words.I have raised my own two children in the church.It never crossed my mind that I should teach them to say such a thing.None of my nieces or nephews have ever been told to say this.I have sat in many children's church meetings and never heard a child repeat that phrase or be told that they should do so.

Worrall declares that Mormons practice a special, secret handshake that we use to identify each other.This is not only false, it's funny.I have never used a special handshake to identify another church member.I don't know of any church members who do this.If I was asked to prove my membership in the church with a special handshake, I would fail miserably.If I want to know whether someone is a member of my faith, I simply ask them.

Worrall also implies that the church is to blame for Mark Hofmann's decision to turn to a life of deception, fraud and murder.Worrall seems to think that Hofmann's character was warped by the oppressive religious beliefs he was taught as a child, which obviously led to his life of crime.However, thousands of people have been raised in the Mormon Church, decided at some point that they were not true believers and have left the religion.They manage to do this without defrauding or murdering anyone.MarkHofmann's downfall was not that he was raised in the church--it was that he pretended to believe in a faith that in reality he despised.Hofmann's fatal flaw was not his religious upbringing, it was his hypocrisy.

Worrall criticizes the church for demanding blind faith from its members.In reality, when I was a teenager, I was told over and over that I could not live my life on blind faith (which was referred to as "borrowed light").I was asked to do my own praying, my own studying and my own meditating on the doctrines of the church. I was told that I had to develop a personal conviction of what was true and what was false.

As I read Worrall's book, I kept thinking,"I don't know what religion he is describing, but it is not the church I have attended for over five decades.Where in the world did he get such misinformation?How did he do his research?"

Unfortunately, there is no way to answer that question.Worrall's book has no footnotes, no bibliography and not even an index.When it comes to his reasearch on the Mormons, there is no way to know what his sources were, to evaluate or critique them.Ironically, Worrall's lack of documentation indicates that he expects me to believe what he writes, simpoly because he wrote it.In other words, I must accept this book on blind faith.

Not a completely horrible read
The material about the non-Mormon forged documents is interesting, but the previously reported information about the Mormon-related forgeries was mostly derivative even to the point of perpetuating the same errors and prejudices from other books on the subject.

Additionally, the author sometimes shows an ambigous feeling about the criminal to the point of actually excusing his criminal acts on his being raised a Mormon. The fact is, criminals are criminal by choice and nothing can excuse someone who perpetuated the fraud, forgeries and murder that Mark Hofmann chose to do.

Great promise marred by sloppy work . . .
Having read most of the other books dealing with the Mark Hoffman affair, I was interested in this interesting approach.Indeed, there is much to be admired in this account.Although I am a faithful adherent of the LDS faith, I am willing to accept alternate interpretations of LDS church history.

Unfortunately, Worrell make too many statements about the LDS church, LDS history, and LDS temple worship which are demonstrably false, including details of a sensitive nature I'd prefer not to go into, but which careful research would have clarified.It seems he either simply skimmed material or read a schetchy account, and then with a somewhat hazy view in his mind simply made up the details in an attempt to clarify the issue.

Given these lapses, I can't help but question details in his discussion of Dickenson, Sotheby's, the Amherst community, etc.

This is unfortunate, really, as the topic of Hoffman's non-LDS materials needs further discussion; unfortuantely, I doubt the quality of work done in this book as evidenced by the mishandling of the LDS materials.A much better approach for that aspect may be found in Robert Lindsey's "A Gathering of Saints."

Forgery Explained
I found it be a terrific book, well written, flowing, and plenty of information about forgeries and past histories. If nothing else, I discovered plenty of information on Emily, her family, and the area and climate around her home.There's always been plenty of information about Mormonism, and it's to the individual ot make up his/her mind about the religious aspects.I enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. ... Read more