The edition I have of this book was published in 1915 shortly after the poems were serialized in
" Reedy's Mirror".
The book begins with the poem "The Hill" which introduces the reader to the town cemetery. The residents of the cemetery tell the tale of their lives in remainder of the poems. The author does a good job of telling a short story in two or three paragraphs of verse. There are separate stories from a husband and wife, members of a family or different people involved in the failure of a bank. There is a mixture of humor and tragedy as the
the history of the town unfolds.
Towards the end of the book the author runs out of "A" material and I did not care for the last poem "The Spooniad" a nine page contribution attributed to a town resident. All in all it is an entertaining book for the short time it takes to read. ( )

An amazing collection of poems, ostensibly the voices of the dead in Spoon River cemetery. Each person has something to say about his or her life, and as you read, you find the poems interlacing and telling more of a story than any of the poems can tell singly. I've loved this collection for years. ( )

I had to memorize and perform a monologue from this, so I have a special relationship with this book. ( )

Masters created a town of Spoon River and lets us look into the goings on there. This is nothing unusual in fiction. However, in this case we see the town through the voices of the dead. Every piece in this collection of free verse is that of one of the former inhabitants speaking from the grave. Some are funny, some of gut-wrenchingly sad, some are inspiring. Some connect together so a bit of a story emerges; many stand along. ( )