Truly remarkable book. From a time when thinkers, ponderers, and wonderers had time to think and write Whitman evoked thoughts and feelings from deep within in his Leaves of Grass. It seemed like a sentimental good-bye to pastoral America while recognizes the rush of forces that was to come. His selected prose was a look at another time so different yet with people's lives so similar to our own. It took two years of bathroom reading to finish this and it was well worth the effort. ( )

You may like Walt Whitman or you may not, but you can't claim to know American literature if you've never read Whitman. There it is. Get used to it. If it helps any, remember: you only have to do it once. Wear a bib, you won't get any on ya! ( )

Best read on a sunny September or October day when you're ripe for peak experience, dilation of the soul. Full of promise, power, gusts of the sublime; home.

If there was a single book I could have on a deserted island it would be "Leaves of Grass". It is beautiful, inspired writing. It's been analyzed by many so I'll spare you any grand statements or a lot of detail, but for a taste of the themes Whitman puts across:

- All men are brothers. The book celebrates the common man, and embraces the man that society has cast out or looked down upon.

- Delight and oneness with nature. Delight in the small things in nature.

- Spirituality achieved not by subjugating the senses or pleasures but by embracing them, and living life to the fullest.

- The belief in the innate power, spirituality, and goodness of man.

All of this is done in a very natural, unpretentious way ... I believe Whitman was truly inspired when he initially wrote this book, and was not regurgitating someone else's philosophy or metaphysics.

There are so many wonderful passages and quotes, maybe someday I'll include some here but for now I'll just say I highly, highly recommend this book.

Read it outside, under a tree. ( )

I hated "Leaves of Grass" when I was an English major in college. Over the many intervening years I have grown to appreciate Whitman's work more and more. I know it was just me, but I had to grow up to realize the genius of his words. ( )