books & gifts

[novapsyche]

I love the Ann Arbor District Library's free book cart. Today I picked up Milton's Paradise Lost & Complete Poetry and Selected Prose, Aristotle's Poetics, Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy & The Case of Wagner, and Dante's Inferno. I'd just mentioned to lameautarch that reading Kafka's Metamorphosis had rekindled my desire to read more classics, so this happy find goes far in satisfying that hunger.

In a complete change of subject, I wanted to correct my list of Christmas gifts: sarahmichigan gave me, in addition to the book of stamps (which will definitely come in handy), an attractive pocket-sized notebook and two gel pens. I don't know if she knew I loved gel pens, but I certainly do. It was a splendid gift package and I thank her for it.

In addition, lameautarch purchased The Poet's Companion by Kim Addonizio & Dorianne Laux, a how-to poetry primer with many creative exercises. He knew how much I wanted it because we were wandering around Borders together and I jumped up and down when I saw it on the shelf. I am very grateful to have the title in my poetics collection.

Edit: Now I have another book on my to-acquire list: Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within by Kim Addonizio. Damn you, Amazon.com!

Comments

[blue-thundering.livejournal.com]

I am terribly intrigued by The Poet's Companion -- and as a general rule, I don't really like "How-To" Books for writers, so that's really quite intrigued.

Have you finished it yet? If not, what's stood out the most so far? What was the initial draw, for you?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I respect Addonizio & Laux for their poetry first and foremost. In fact, it was Addonizio's name that attracted me to The Poet's Companion in the first place.

I'd initially found it at a local library back in 2003, when I first decided to get serious about writing poetry. I didn't make it through the whole book and still haven't, but I can tell you what the draw is: the simplicity with which the authors break down the writing process. They do so with ease but also energy. As a reader, I could tell that poetry--its language and its craft--excites these women, even now as advanced as they are in their careers.

They somehow translate the sense of eagerness normally felt in live workshops onto the page. That was my initial impression seven years ago, at least.

[davidfcooper.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. Sounds like a book I should get.