Synopses & Reviews
Like a flash of lightning it came to himand#8212;the unathletic high school student Ted Kooser saw a future as a famous poet that promised everything: glory, immortality, a bohemian lifestyle (no more doing dishes, no more cleaning his room), and, particularly important to the lonely teenager, girls! Unlike most kids with a sudden ambition, Kooser, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and thirteenth poet laureate of the United States, made good on his dream. But glory was a long time coming, and along the way Kooser lived the life that has made his poetry what it is, as deeply grounded in family, work, and the natural world as it is attuned to the nuances of language.
and#160;Just as so much of Kooserand#8217;s own writing weaves geography, history, and family stories into its measures, so does this first critical biography consider the poetand#8217;s work and life together: his upbringing in Iowa, his studies in Nebraska with poet Karl Shapiro as mentor, his career in insurance, his family life, his bout with cancer, and, always, his poetry. Combining a fine appreciation of Kooserand#8217;s work and life, this book finally provides a fuller and more complex picture of a writer who, perhaps more than any other, has brought the Great Plains and the Midwest, lived large and small, into the poetry of our day.
Review
"Few of us can write as well as Ted Kooser, but we should, like him, overcome the stumbling block of perfection. We all have stories to tell of a place and a time and a people, and our children and grandchildren ought to know those stories, book-worthy or not. His book is one model, and a good one, of how we might go about doing it."—Tom Wylie, Bloomsbury Review Dan Coffey - ForeWord
Review
"Kooser gratefully squeezes every drop from his memories of these long-departed people and what they told him of even longer-departed forebears. . . . A tiny gem of remembrance that resonates with certain passages of Willa Cather, James Agee, and Wendell Berry."—Ray Olson, Booklist Los Angeles Times
Review
"In this brief book, just 72 pages long, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and former U.S. poet laureate describes his family in precise, evocative prose."—Publishers Weekly Ray Olson - Booklist
Review
"Kooser's book is a gift—his irises are open wide, and his book will open those of his readers, to fully appreciate the fragility of life and a family's love."—Dan Coffey, ForeWord Publishers Weekly
Review
"I recently transplanted the tubers of some of my grandmother's prize-winning irises from her Nebraska garden into my backyard; her garden is diminishing now, as she cannot care for it as she once did. Kooser's book reminds me why I love irises above all flowers—they are as frivolous as any other flower, I suppose, but they are packed with history, because they multiply and the only way to keep them thriving is to divide and share them. When irises bloom, they are young again, just as the people Kooser writes about are when he shares his precise observations. Any reader who has ever considered writing his own family history can read Lights on a Ground of Darkness and be inspired."—Jenny Shank, NewWest.com Tom Wylie - Bloomsbury Review
Review
"Written in a prose as spare as a winter sunset, [Lights on a Ground of Darkness] is an elegy, not just for Kooser's forebears but for all of us."—David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times David L. Ulin
Review
andquot;The Life and Poetry of Ted Kooser is an invaluable resource and entertaining work for poetry lovers of all kinds.andquot;andmdash;Travis Amundson, Nebraska Lifeand#160;
Review
andquot;Stillwell shows us that that effect of Kooser's poems is the result of a prosody as carefully cultivated as that of any fine poet. As she unfolds the events of Kooser's ordinary life, she examines each of his collections and his few, short prose books to disclose the large aim of his writing, which is to demonstrate and affirm the interconnectedness of people and their natural contexts.andquot;andmdash;Ray Olson, Booklist
Review
andquot;Aand#160;fine, authoritative first biography of the former U.S. Poet Laureate.andquot;andmdash;Tom Lavoie, Shelf Awareness
Review
"[The Life and Poetry of Ted Kooser] is more than just a biography. It offers a window into much of Kooser's life and highlights his writing throughout."and#8212;Jill Martin, Seward County Independent
Review
"Stillwell has accomplished a nice piece of very readable scholarship."and#8212;Nancy S. Gillis, Nebraska History
Review
andquot;Working far outside the dominant literary establishmentandmdash;both geographically and in terms of current fadsandmdash;Kooser modestly yet powerfully turns us toward the mystery, heartache, and beauty at the heart of ordinary life. Stillwellandrsquo;s excellent study helps us to understand how and why he does this.andquot;andmdash;Scott Kinckerbocker, Western American Literature
Synopsis
The stories of poet Kooser's family had been handed down orally until, as his mother lay ill and dying, he felt an urgency to write them down. With a poet's eye for detail, the author captures the beauty of the landscape and the vibrancy of his mother's Iowa family.
Synopsis
Like the yellow, pink, and blue irises that had been transplanted from house to house over the years, the stories of poet Ted Koosers family had been handed down until, as his mother lay ill and dying, he felt an urgency to write them down. With a poets eye for detail, Kooser captures the beauty of the landscape and the vibrancy of his mothers Iowa family, the Mosers, in precise, evocative language. The center of the familys love is Koosers uncle, Elvy, a victim of cerebral palsy. Elvys joys are fishing, playing pinochle, and drinking soda from the ice chest at his fathers roadside Standard Oil station. Koosers grandparents, their kin, and the activities and pleasures of this extended family spin out and around the armature of Elvys blessed life. Kooser has said that writing this book was the most important work he has ever undertaken because it was his attempt to keep these beloved people alive against the relentless erosion of time.
About the Author
A Nebraska native, Mary K. Stillwell has studied writing in New York and, with Ted Kooser, on the plains and earned her PhD in plains literature from the University of Nebraskaand#8211;Lincoln. She served as coeditor of
Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry and has published her poetry widely in literary magazines and journals as well as a number of anthologies. Her full-length collection of poems is
Moving to Malibu.