New & Selected Poems

Description

This is the definitive selection of work by one of the wittiest, most inventive poets currently writing. Ron Padgett, author of Great Balls of Fire, Triangles in the Afternoon, and other highly acclaimed books, stands alongside his fellow New York School associates John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and James Schuyler as a major voice of American modernism. His work runs the gamut from popular humor to intellectual elegance to wild richochets of the imagination. The heady circumvolutions of his poems are nevertheless surprising and frequently breathtaking in their ability to blend comedy and pathos in a graceful, mercurial lyricism.

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Customer Reviews

Yankee dada
It is characteristic of Padgett's modesty that this *Selected* is about as long as many of his other books; it is characteristic of his generosity that the volume is so satisfying, seems so capacious despite crossing the wire at well under 120 pp. One reason to buy this book is that so much of Padgett's ouevre has crawled into the world under tiny, independent auspices that can't keep him on the shelves; Godine is an appropriate middle ground -- good at keeping books in print -- but that's no reason to be complacent. Padgett is the ultimate answer-man to people who claim to not like poetry because it's too solemn, not interesting, not concerned with the real world, real issues -- blah, blah, blah. He represents a unique grafting of a European dada sensibility onto the body of a thoroughly American dispenser of crackerbarrel wisdom, weather superstitions, etc. Better than any other poet I know, Padgett manages the trick of being ever-amused, following the crazy synapse-jumps of his sharp but highly distractable attention, without sacrificing any of his capacity to render the pathos of the human condition. He is also the funniest poet currently alive on the planet, one whose irony never stands in the way of direct treatment of the thing or direct expressions of emotion. From "Tone Arm": "You people of the future / How I hate you / You are alive and I'm not / I don't care whether you read my poems or not". It would be their loss; don't let it be yours.

2000-04-06 (Gaithersburg, Maryland) | Helpful Votes: 10 | Rating: 5

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How to Be Perfect

Product Details

• Notes: Maker New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• ISBN13: 9781566892032
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• Quarters: NEW

Description

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Customer Reviews

How to Write a Perfect Book
Well, it helps to be Ron Padgett to write a perfect book. Only a profound balance can produce such wheeling, such elegant levity, such pithy silliness. The long poems in this various, rich collection are astonishing, their invention never brags about itself, their goofiness is always paralleled with a deep humanity and underthrum of mortality. I think there should be a statue of Ron Padgett as big as the Statue of Liberty um somewhere!

2009-02-05 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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pitch-perfect humor. and contains a warm heart.
This for That

What will I have for breakfast?
I wish I had some plums
like the ones in Williams's poem.
He apologized to his wife
for eating them
but what he did not
do was apologize to those
who would read his poem
and also not be able to eat them.
That is why I like his poem
when I am not hungry.
Right now I do not like him
or his poem. This is just
to say that.

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superb! the great doctor-poet lives!

2008-05-29 | rawr! (NY, NY USA) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 4

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How to be PErfect
If you like good poetry that speaks to all of us, is accessible, and moving, I recommend this book. Poetry is such a gift, it's like a short story in a few lines.

2007-12-21 | poetry lover (Illinois) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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The Teachers and Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms

Description

In this revised second edition of the popular Handbook, 19 teaching poets have written 76 entries on traditional and modern poetic forms. The Handbook succintly defines the forms, summarizes thier histories, quotes good examples, and offers professional tricks of the trade on how to use each form.

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Customer Reviews

Excellent Book!
This book is excellent as a reference guide and text for both teachers and poets. This handbook defines the forms,summarizes their histories,and shows great examples. It is a bible for Formalist poets.

I have used the book for years while teaching my poetry classes. It is much less expensive and has more practical substance than many college texts I've used. The text formant is friendly to the eye and easy to follow. Ron did a great job editing this book.

I highly recommend it.

2009-03-19 | Sharon Palmeri | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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A good teacher/student guide
I found that this is a good guide for teachers of poetry who desire to offer form poetry to students with little exposure to various forms. As one who has researched many forms, I was hoping to find unique forms within this book, which was not the case. It is a good foundational book for students and teachers, but for poets familiar with the more common forms and seeking to expand into new areas of poetic form, it is probably not the best of guides, which is why I have rated it a little lower.

2008-10-19 | Larry (Kansas) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Instructive and inspirational
This is a very useful book for quickly looking up various forms of poetry. I teach English and often times it is very nice to have a simple reference book available that explains and shows the varieties of poetry.

2007-08-03 | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Simply the Best Poetry Handbook
No adequate superlative exists for this poetry handbook--simply the best on the market. Rarely does a writing handbook work for all age groups, but this solid one does. Even elementary teachers could use some of the poetic forms, such as couplets, haiku, and nonsense poems, for their classes, and, yet, professional writers can dip into this densely rich (yet compact) volume and pull out an appropriate form from the 75+ forms offered.

I have used this handbook for my college creative writing classes since 1998; as writing fads come and go, this poetry handbook endures because it offers a simple, yet interesting, approach to writing poetry: a short history of the form; a brief explanation on how the form works; when appropriate, a sample poem (or verses) showing the form in action; and, in some cases, a diagram for the more complicated forms, such as the sestina and pantoum.

Semester after semester, my students praise this book, and many decide to keep it for their libraries, instead of reselling it to the college bookstore. I keep searching, but I have not been able to find its fiction handbook counterpart. Ron Padgett has done a fine job of compiling the forms, researching their histories, and finding stellar sample poems to show how the forms work. I hope this handbook NEVER goes out of print!

2005-03-08 | Jennifer Semple Siegel (USA) | Helpful Votes: 19 | Rating: 5

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a useful addition for the writer's toolbox
This is a wonderful reference book for poets who want to expand their repertoire. Over seventy poetic forms are covered, and each section includes: an explanation of the form, discussion of any variations on the form, at least one literary example, and reference to other prominent examples and/or poets who use the form.

I've used this book for many years as a jumping-off point when in search of inspiration or when playing around with a different poetic form. It's easy to read and can be used by people with a variety of experience, from beginners to professionals, and from school-aged to the time-ripened crowd.

2004-10-03 (USA) | Helpful Votes: 12 | Rating: 5

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You Never Know

Description

Ron Padgett's playful work is all circumstance without the pomp. You Never Know captures the joy and curiosity of a writer whose easy, nonchalant style displays the unfeigned fascination of the forever young. Padgett peers under rocks, skips over fences, and scans the sky to lend a capricious view to puckish poems that breathe with celebration.

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Customer Reviews

delicate and witty poetry by Ron Padgett
The book contains delicate and witty poems. It was also a pleasant surprise to receive my order earlier than expected.

2009-12-23 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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How can ever Padgett book be his best?!
Since the 1960s, Ron Padgett has been writing some of the best, and funniest, and most challenging poetry in the English language. My favourite of his books have been The Tulsa Kid and Toujours L'Amour, but I've loved everything he's written (even the small-press oddity Poems I Guess I Wrote). His direct language, his enthusiasm for goofiness, his smart playfulness -- all this stuff moves me and inspires me.

But with You Never Know, Padgett moves beyond the 10th rung of a 10-rung ladder. He's still nuts, and often hilarious, but this whole mortality thing has got him doing stuff so perfect, so condensed, so magical... geez.

You know, people generally hate poetry. But shove a book like this in their shaking paws and they might have second thoughts.

It's a lovely looking book, too, but it would've looked better mimeographed and stapled down the side with a line drawing by Joe Brainard on the cover.

Yeah! Resoundingly.

2002-10-29 (Toronto, Canada) | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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How can every book be Padgett's best?
Since the 1960s, Ron Padgett has been writing some of the best, and funniest, and most challenging poetry in the English language. My favourite of his books have been The Tulsa Kid and Toujours L'Amour, but I've loved everything he's written (even the small-press oddity Poems I Guess I Wrote). His direct language, his enthusiasm for goofiness, his smart playfulness -- all this stuff moves me and inspires me.

But with You Never Know, Padgett moves beyond the 10th rung of a 10-rung ladder. He's still nuts, and often hilarious, but this whole mortality thing has got him doing stuff so perfect, so condensed, so magical... geez.

You know, people generally hate poetry. But shove a book like this in their shaking paws and they might have second thoughts.

It's a lovely looking book, too, but it would've looked better mimeographed and stapled down the side with a line drawing by Joe Brainard on the cover.

Yeah! Resoundingly.

2002-10-26 (Toronto, Canada) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Hallmarked with a very special wit
The poetry of Ron Padgett is hallmarked with a very special wit and an artfully conversational American approach. You Never Know offers a complete spectrum of his style, which has a penchant for surprise and discovery, all in service to acknowledging the simple magic of everyday life. Poet As Immortal Bird: A second ago my heart thump went/and I thought, "This would be a bad time/to have a heart attack and die, in the/middle of a poem," then took comfort/in the idea that no one I have ever heard/of has ever died in the middle of writing/a poem, just as birds never die in mid-flight./I think.

2002-06-05 (Oregon, WI USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Great Balls of Fire

Description

It's impossible to characterize Ron Padgett's poems except to say that there's never a dull moment. His versatility in this collection is stunning, what Kirkus Reviews calls "a sustained virtuoso performance, a staggering display of poetic forms and voices, a literary arsenal. " His sense of humor and experimental daring make this an excellent choice for both collectors and readers who want a taste of something different, yet intelligent and often just plain fun. I can vouch that intense discussions have centered on some of these poems, such as the sonnet with a single repeating line, or the staged prose poem that depicts "true " love as the ironic paradox it is.

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Customer Reviews

A pleasure.
An excellent collection of poetry that will not bore. Of special interest to those with a knowledge of France and its literature.

1997-11-18 (Charlotte, NC) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Poems I Guess I Wrote

Description

Eighteen poems ranging 1965-1999 that have two things in common: they're written by Ron Padgett but he's not completely sure. No, he did write them, but as he explains, "Like the surrealist poet Robert Desnos, who could go into a trance, write a poem, and, on awakening, be baffled by his own scribblings, the author of these poems, looking through old folders and notebooks, has discovered poems that, though undeniably his own, he has little or no recollection of having written. Nevertheless the author is mysteriously attracted to these forgotten trysts with the Muse and willing to collect them here—perhaps presumptuously—under his own name, with the hope that the reader, with a memory better than the author’s, will not later think of them as Poems I Guess I Read."

The book's a wonderful little shadow recapitulation of nearly the entire length of the author's career. With a cover and five drawings by Padgett's frequent collaborator, the marvelous George Schneeman.

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