Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Penguin Books (2003), Edition: Reprint, 476 pages
Description
Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by the narrator for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m." The title Good Poems comes from common literary parlance. For writers, it's enough to refer to somebody having written a good poem. Somebody else can worry about greatness. Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" is a good poem, and so is James Wright's "A Blessing." Regular people love those poems. People read them aloud at weddings, people send them by e-mail. Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence. It features the work of classic poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost, as well as the work of contemporary greats such as Howard Nemerov, Charles Bukowski, Donald Hall, Billy Collins, Robert Bly, and Sharon Olds. It's a book of poems for anybody who loves poetry whether they know it or not.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member krookey
As good as its word: Good Poems delivers. I like to open to a random page and read.
LibraryThing member tgoodson
It's a nice collection, and it's really nice Garrison Keillor found a way to make money off material in the public domain.
LibraryThing member susanbevans
This is a wonderful collection of poetry selected by Garrison Keillor. I picked this one up at the library to help me find some not-so-well-known poems for my blog in honor of National Poetry Month. After reading each and every poem in the book and having a hard time choosing between them for the
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blog, I know that this is a book that I must own! Show Less
LibraryThing member madamejeanie
I'm not usually a big fan of poetry. Maybe I have too much of a linear
thinking brain. I never really understood poetry that didn't rhyme or have
a recognizable meter because, to me, it simply looked like someone was
writing down esoteric sentences with just a word or two on each line,
sometimes
the words. That sort of thing goes past me so fast it parts my hair.
So, me picking up a poetry book is an unusual thing to begin with. I only
did it because it had Garrison Keillor's name on the cover of it. These are
poems he's read on the early morning Public Radio program /The Writer's
Almanac/. He's divided the poems he's chosen here according to subject
matter: lovers, work, failure, snow, everyday life, beasts, trips, elders,
death and transcendence, and the color yellow. An eclectic group of
subjects and a very eclectic group of poetry. Some by Shakespeare, some by
Browning, one or two by Keats, but mostly authored by poets I've never heard
of. Some rhyme, some don't. I liked some and not others. But that's how
it's supposed to be with poetry, I think.
Anyway, if you are into poetry, you might want to give this one a try. I'm
not into it but I did finish it. It gets a 2.
thinking brain. I never really understood poetry that didn't rhyme or have
a recognizable meter because, to me, it simply looked like someone was
writing down esoteric sentences with just a word or two on each line,
sometimes
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like stair-steps, to more or less make a design on the paper with the words. That sort of thing goes past me so fast it parts my hair.
So, me picking up a poetry book is an unusual thing to begin with. I only
did it because it had Garrison Keillor's name on the cover of it. These are
poems he's read on the early morning Public Radio program /The Writer's
Almanac/. He's divided the poems he's chosen here according to subject
matter: lovers, work, failure, snow, everyday life, beasts, trips, elders,
death and transcendence, and the color yellow. An eclectic group of
subjects and a very eclectic group of poetry. Some by Shakespeare, some by
Browning, one or two by Keats, but mostly authored by poets I've never heard
of. Some rhyme, some don't. I liked some and not others. But that's how
it's supposed to be with poetry, I think.
Anyway, if you are into poetry, you might want to give this one a try. I'm
not into it but I did finish it. It gets a 2.
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LibraryThing member realbigcat
Garrison Keillor has put together a wonderful collection of poems. These poems were featured and read by Keillor on his PBS radio show The Writer's Almanac. The poems are ordered well under groups like elders, lovers, snow, everyday life and others. He has picked poems from the classic poets and
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the new voices in poetry. If you a poetry lover nad looking for a great collection then you'll love this book. Also, check out his collection titled, Good Poems for Hard Times, another collection that is just as enjoyable. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
"This is not Introduction to Poetry (MWF 9am Chemistry 150, 3 cr) and I am not the Maud Hill Hallowell Professor of American Lit, and your name isn't Daphne Foxcroft. It's simply a book of poems... that somehow stuck with me...." from Keillor's intro to this book. Recommended.
LibraryThing member itbgc
I read the entire book and only really liked two poems. A few seemed okay at best. I guess I'm just not a poetry type of person.
LibraryThing member sarah.cline
collection of poems from Garrison Keillor, with everything from D. H. Lawrence’s Piano and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s What lips my lips have kissed, to Philip Appleman’s O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie and Thom Ward’s At Twenty-Three Weeks She Can No Longer See Anything South of Her Belly.
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From the sublime to the ridiculous, Keillor has compiled this anthology to remind us all that good poems are always good for the soul. Show Less
LibraryThing member kenkarpay
You hear Garrison Keillor when you read the poem's in this collection edited by Keillor.
LibraryThing member Murphy-Jacobs
My copy of this book is fluttering with many little Post-it Flags. The spine is creased from folding it flat so I could copy out a poem to share with someone. I read my favorites many times. It's good to have poetry, especially poetry like this which reads aloud well.
LibraryThing member dgregoryburns
An enjoyable collection
LibraryThing member JudyCroome
An interesting division of poems, although at times the poems within the section didn't quite reflect the respective section title.
An anthology containing some poems I couldn't relate to, some good poems and some beautiful poems, outstanding in their simplicity and imagery, such as "When one has
A nice addition to my poetry collection.
An anthology containing some poems I couldn't relate to, some good poems and some beautiful poems, outstanding in their simplicity and imagery, such as "When one has
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lived a long time alone" by Galway Kinnell (echoed with mysticism); "Rain Travel" by WS Merwin (vivid imagery of lying awake listening to the night time rain) and "The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry (expressing a deeply spiritual communion with nature) were particular favourites.A nice addition to my poetry collection.
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LibraryThing member laserone
Love this book.
LibraryThing member dmturner
A go-to anthology of short, clear poems. Nothing difficult but all good and some excellent.
LibraryThing member Tom.Wilson
My favourite contemporary anthology of poetry. What more can I say?
LibraryThing member JRobinW
This is what I have always wanted in a compilation.
LibraryThing member markm2315
Hard to rate something like this - some of the contained poems are among the great works of literature. I somewhat preferred his other anthology Good Poems for Hard Times.
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Poetry — 2003)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Poetry — 2002)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2002
Physical description
8 x 1.5 inches
ISBN
0142003441 / 9780142003442
Local notes
Located in Poetry