recent poetry purchases

I was at a huge bookfair today sponsored by a local YMCA. I picked up a couple books containing poetry.

1. Love's been good to me by Rod Mckuen (only 50c, and after the good poem that got posted on an other thread recently, I decided to take the risk)

2. The Essential James Joyce which contains a selection of poetry, as well as Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Exiles in full, plus extracts from Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake. Only 25c. Some people may legitimately question the relative pricing.

Living in the same city as gavroche, I must cash a check I received today first thing tomorrow morning and head to the book fair. I am crazed with anticipation at finding such good deals.

Most recently I picked up Return to the City of White Donkeys by James Tate.

Prior to that were Here, Bullet by Brian Turner and Conductors of the Pit the second edition, an anthology, and the source of some of my favorite poets, edited by Clayton Eschelman.

And waiting for me on the hold shelf of my book storke is the Book of Forms as suggested in the forms/constraints discussion.

The book fair compelled me to attend. I got Samuel Taylor Coleridge's complete works in paperback. Also, the first book in a two volume set of William Wordsworth's poetry, which is OK with me as his earlier work is stronger than his later, IMO.

I also bought some anthologies: An Introduction to Poetry, Ninth Edition edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, The Generation of 2000 edited by William Heyen, and The Mentor Book of American Poets. I successfully avoided picking up the one volume of Rod McKuen poetry I saw (whew!).

The complete number of books purchased: 13. Cost: $10.50. Yea.

Great deals! Congratulations! Gavroche, let me know what you think of the McKuen book. That's one I haven't read. And Poemblaze, don't let your heart be troubled. I'll loan you one of mine. :)

The last few I bought were Alexander Pope: Selected Poems (I think it was $1.00) and; Carpenter of the Sun by Nancy Willard, (I think it was around $2.00). I got those at my favorite used book store. I also just bought There are men too gentle to live among wolves by James Kavanaugh. I got it from Amazon and paid a bit more for it, though it was still a good deal. I haven't read it yet (except the one poem I bought it for), so I don't know if I will like him. But I like some of Pope's work (though rigidly formal :) ) and the Willard one has been a very nice surprise.

I haven't yet listed the (standard) anthologies gathering dust on my shelf, but want to say what brought me to poetry was the "Read Together" project sponsored by Copper Canyon Press several years ago. They sent as many copies as you requested (free) so you could host a reading of Pablo Neruda poems. We all had a wonderful time, and ever since I have (for small contribution) gotten the CC Press catalog, which has enough good poetry to keep me happy until the next catalog arrives. Esta1923

I have found one poem in the McKuen collection that made it worth what I spent for it. Excelsior. The poem is at the bottom of the linked page. (Its value for me is not that I consider it great poetry, but that he was able to make me convulse with laughter. I have to hope that was his intent.)

By the way, the link is to McKuen's official site, and his 'blog' which apparently has been online since 1998. However, it is maintained by someone other than McKuen.

I've also learned that McKuen is partially responsible for the 70s hit, Seasons in the Sun. (It's not in the collection, but it was mentioned in the About the Author) It was originally written in French by Jacques Brel, but McKuen translated it into English.

Esta1923 - I love the CC Press catalog, too. It has emptied my pockets on several occasions.

Gavroche - I think he was serious, but I had tears in my eyes and may have missed a word or two. If that is the highlight of the book, I guess I'll give it a pass.
But thank you for sharing. :)

Gavroche:

Thank you for sharing Excelsior. Now I know McKuen has gonads. The poem does leave me wondering if they are green and have been used at Wimbledon.

Gavroche, McKuen translated quite a few of Brel's chansons and they were recorded by many different artists during the 60s and 70s. Sadly, this is the only introduction to Jacques Brel many English-speaking people of that era ever had-a truly terrible disservice to a great songwriter.

So interesting to see what everyone's recent purchases are. One of my favorite questions to ask during a lull in a conversation is, "Read any good books lately?"

My most recent poetry purchases are The Poetry of Pablo Neruda and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Coney Island of the Mind. The Ferlinghetti is a new favorite of mine, as it is a 1st edition copy, signed by the author. I got it for a criminally low price and am thrilled with it.

gavroche and Poemblaze: I was at the same YMCA bookfair, and I think I did pretty good this year. (I went back twice). Not that I'd pick quantity over quality, but I got about 40 new (used) books for $25 and some change. No poetry, though.

Today I did pick up a copy of John Berryman's Dream Songs at a used bookstore. Now I can stop borrowing it from the library.

I'm about to start a module on poetry next week and one of the poets that really has hit home with me is Paul Muldoon. He's imaginateive, witty, sarcastic, playful and brings a great deal of humour to poetry.

We're going to strudy 6 books in total, but I'm looking forward to lectures on this particular one.

If being given books counts as a purchase, I "purchased" a 1959 edition of Louise Bogan's Collected Poems. Also, George Barker's At Thurgarton Church. Thirdly, Water Street by James Merrill, published by Atheneum in 1962. Finally, Poems by Allen Tate, the 1961 Swallow Press edition. Am familiar with all but Barker, but will start reading him and see what I've been missing.

Poemblaze, how do you like Bogan?

I hit the used bookstore today and found Lord Weary's Castle/The Mills of the Kavanaughs by Robert Lowell; The Sonnet: An anthology edited by Robert M. Bender and Charles L. Squier; The Yale Edition of the Shorter Poems of Edmund Spenser edited byWilliam A. Oram; Homage to Mistress Bradstreet and other poems by John Berryman; A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti; and (believe it or not) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and illustrated by Howard Simon. Not a bad days work and all less than $9.00.

Enjoy Bogan's poetry. Good solid use of established forms, great word choice most of the time.

Has anyone had a chance to check out Anne Carson's Decreation?

Hi LeahH, I have not read Carson, so looked up her book and was very interested in the subject matter. I would particularly like to read what she wrote about the medieval heretic (can't remember her name now, Marguerite Perotte or something like that.) Have you read it yet?

Carson is a wonderful writer. I find her verse uneven, though sometimes spectacular - but the prose in EROS, THE BITTERSWEET makes it one of my favorite books

My wife just bought A Blizzard of One by Mark Strand for me on Valentine's Day. The things I like about Strand's poetry is that each piece seems so carefully crafted and sounds so good in my mouth as I say it. (I find myself reciting them aloud as I read the book.) That and while each piece invites me inside by being very readable, I feel like there is so much in each one that I can go back again and again.

Bookstopshere, Eros, the Bittersweet is one of two tiny books i had to pay almost $100. for about 15 yrs ago in Japan. It hooked me standing in a bkstore. I keep hoping for something else of Carson's i like half as much. I read something on the net that suggests she had something really good again -- maybe it is that Decreation! But i hope opera is plural for work and not the art form which i detest!

Ah, the other tiny book was Michel Serres Detachment. Talk about a prose poem!(No one aty LT has the book up! yet china loam and the other three essays are beautiful! What a shame!)

Rise, Ye Sea Slugs!

Most recent purchases: Lizzie Borden in Love: Poems in Women's Voices and Compulsions of Silkworms and Bees by Julianna Baggott. The Lizzie Borden book is vaguely reminiscent of Carol Duffy's The Worlds Wife (a delightful collection!) and, interestingly, Some Other Garden by Jane Urquhart (the view from Madame de Montespan, mistress to Louis XIV).

#11: What a great book purchase! two of my favorite writers! My newest poetry purchases were The Complete Works of Dylan Thomas (yesterday...it should arrive in a week or so). I'm also planning on getting the collected works of H.D. this month too.

Last poetry volumes I purchased (back in March or April) were Selected Poems of Ogden Nash and Full Woman: Fleshly Apple Hot Moon: selected poems of Pablo Neruda. Not exactly companion volumes (and touchstones are all wonky: they seem not to recognize Mr. Nash at all, and if I put the complete Neruda title in brackets, it won't load; putting it where I did, in the middle, works. Go figure.)

Edit: Oh NOW it gets Ogden.

I recently purchased Elizabeth Bishop's complete Poems at my favorite used book shop for a dollar. I couldn't believe the deal! To balance things out, I bought two poetry collections by Stephen Dunn (at regular price) from Borders: Loosestrife and Different Hours.

i haven't yet, i'm still locked on to my local library's copy, but i'm afraid i'm going to have to scrap up a few dollars and find me a copy of Mirabai's poetry. I have a steadfast rule, no purchases for myself after Thanksgiving, but watch out, if i get me a job come january, I'm gonna own this woman's poems. her writing is beautiful in a way I haven't read in, gods know, years ...
oh, and did i mention the Mirabai recommendation came right from here in LT? i knew this place was going to wind up costing me money! and now i'm going to have to look up this stephen dunn guy, see what he's got ...

what a world, what a world . . .

For all those French-speaking poetry fans:

While in Montréal last weekend, I bought the Anthologie de la poésie des femmes au Québec des origines à nos jours. It has been pretty good so far, and I think I'm going to have to get some more of Kim Doré's work, for example. Also it looks like one of the editors, Nicole Broussard, has some English language or English translations of prose and poetry on LT.

(Can't get touchstone to load right now; work is http://www.librarything.com/work/4505340 and it looks like I'm the only one who's listed that ISBN.)

Legitimate Dangers is an excellent anthology of young American poets. It is constantly growing on me as one of my favorite anthologies on my bookshelf!

I would definitely recommend it. Definitely!