Customer Comments

Wonder how your favorite poem was made? These essays give you insight into the process and architecture of poems, in the words of their makers.

This collection so captivated me, I literally could not put it down. When I sat down to read it, I didn't get up until I'd reached the end. These are poems of subtle beauty and power from a skilled new poet.

An excellent collection of exercises for writing and improving your own poems. For the novice and the experienced poet alike. Includes exercises of varying length and scope from well-known poets who also teach.

A look at the enigmatic poet through the lens of a masterful poet in her own right. Should we expect anything less than luminous from Susan Howe? This critical exploration of Dickinson's poetry and life steers clear of the tiresome myth-making to which so many biographies and pseudo-critical works on Dickinson fall prey. Its slim size belies a wealth of wide-ranging reflection on the poet's influences and intentions, locating her within her own life and times as a poet of great genius and innovation. If, as Howe writes, "every poet is salted with fire," then this book is doubly ablaze.

This book is geared to middle readers, but could easily be found on a middle-aged reader's wish list. Portlanders especially will connect to recognizable landmarks, thinly veiled under the subtly fantastic spell Meloy casts. I'm sending a copy to relatives with 8 and 9 year old daughters as a gift: I think the whole family will enjoy it. Looking forward to the next two in the trilogy.

The way we read matters. Though the internet and the e-reader put the world's libraries at our fingertips, how we read on the screen is neurologically different than how we read on the page, and the difference has serious consequences. Carr's book is an informative portrait of our changing brain in its rapidly-evolving, media-saturated environment. Do you have trouble reading for sustained periods of time? Does your mind seem 'hungry' for distraction, given to multi-tasking even when there's no need to divide your attention? Do you get the sense that you're losing your capacity for deep reflection and thought? The Shallows provides a careful overview of the science behind the suspicion. In the tradition of Marshall McLuhan, Nicholas Carr offers an important (and surprisingly entertaining)warning for our times. Read it while you still can.