Best Words, Best Order, 2nd Edition: Essays on Poetry
by Stephen Dobyns
On This Page
Description
In this new edition of Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the show more almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
If you are looking for a book on creative writing, then this is the one. Clear. Concise with very good examples and many questions to keep you thinking about what you are writing.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information

45+ Works 3,754 Members
Stephen Dobyns was born on February 19, 1941, in Orange, New Jersey. He received a B.A. in 1964 from Wayne State University and an M.F.A. in 1967 from the University of Iowa. He was a reporter for the Detroit News and has taught at several colleges and universities including Sarah Lawrence College, Warren Wilson College, the University of Iowa, show more Syracuse University, and Boston University. He has written about ten books of poetry and twenty novels. His books of poetry include Concurring Beasts, Heat Death, Common Carnage, Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides, The Porcupine's Kisses, and Winter's Journey. He has received several awards including the Melville Cane Award for Cemetery Nights. His novels include Saratoga Haunting, The Wrestler's Cruel Study, Saratoga Fleshpot, The Church of Dead Girls, and Boy in the Water. He is also the author of a collection of short stories, Eating Naked and a book of essays, Best Words, Best Order. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- First words
- How does a work of literature originate?
Classifications
- Genres
- Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature, Poetry
- DDC/MDS
- 809.1 — Literature & rhetoric Literature, rhetoric & criticism History, description, critical appraisal of more than two literatures Poetry
- LCC
- PN1031 .D58 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Poetry Theory, philosophy, relations, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 201
- Popularity
- 161,922
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.04)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1





















































