Recommend a book

[Tzara]

The rules:

• Your recommendation should be as specific as possible. "To Angeline," for example. While you can recommend books to groups ("To People Who Like Star Wars"), please try to limit the scope of who your recommendation is intended for to as small a group as possible.
• Start with WHO you are recommending the book to.
• Then explain WHAT--What is the name of the book you're recommending and the author's name.
• Tell your chosen person WHY you are recommending this book to them and why they should read it.
• GIVE enough details about the book that someone knows how to find it in a bookstore, at Amazon.com, or wherever.
• TALK about why you liked the book.
• Don't be quite this restrictive as to format, of course. Suggestions, people. Just suggestions.
• Afterthought: Recommending poetry books is preferred, but not a requirement. If you really, really think someone's consciousness would be perfectly raised by them reading Stranger in a Strange Land, then say so.
  

Loose (and first) example:

TO: greenmountaineer
WHAT: The Common Man, by Maurice Manning.
WHY/GIVE/TALK: Manning writes "story-like" poems, which are the kind of poems I associate with your writing, poems that capture what life is like in Vermont or in revolutionary France or wherever, whenever. Manning writes about life in rural Kentucky, which is where he is from. You write such good poems based around the concept of "story" that I think you'd like this book. Manning's poems sometimes seem like they're either written by a hick or are simply recording hicks, but that is part of the charm of them. They sometimes seem to me to have been written in the 1930s, they are recording what rural Kentuckians were like in the late 2000's.

Basically, I think you'd like the book because you seem to like stories.

Did I say there they're in vernacular?​

 

[DanielBoone]

I love this idea. But I don't know anyone yet.

 

[Trixareforkids]

[/list]Loose (and first) example:

TO: greenmountaineer
WHAT: The Common Man, by Maurice Manning.
WHY/GIVE/TALK: Manning writes "story-like" poems, which are the kind of poems I associate with your writing, poems that capture what life is like in Vermont or in revolutionary France or wherever, whenever. Manning writes about life in rural Kentucky, which is where he is from. You write such good poems based around the concept of "story" that I think you'd like this book. Manning's poems sometimes seem like they're either written by a hick or are simply recording hicks, but that is part of the charm of them. They sometimes seem to me to have been written in the 1930s, they are recording what rural Kentuckians were like in the late 2000's.

Basically, I think you'd like the book because you seem to like stories.

Did I say there they're in vernacular?​

Well, I don't know about GM but it's now on my Xmas list.

 

[greenmountaineer]

The rules:

• Your recommendation should be as specific as possible. "To Angeline," for example. While you can recommend books to groups ("To People Who Like Star Wars"), please try to limit the scope of who your recommendation is intended for to as small a group as possible.
• Start with WHO you are recommending the book to.
• Then explain WHAT--What is the name of the book you're recommending and the author's name.
• Tell your chosen person WHY you are recommending this book to them and why they should read it.
• GIVE enough details about the book that someone knows how to find it in a bookstore, at Amazon.com, or wherever.
• TALK about why you liked the book.
• Don't be quite this restrictive as to format, of course. Suggestions, people. Just suggestions.
• Afterthought: Recommending poetry books is preferred, but not a requirement. If you really, really think someone's consciousness would be perfectly raised by them reading Stranger in a Strange Land, then say so.
  

Loose (and first) example:

TO: greenmountaineer
WHAT: The Common Man, by Maurice Manning.
WHY/GIVE/TALK: Manning writes "story-like" poems, which are the kind of poems I associate with your writing, poems that capture what life is like in Vermont or in revolutionary France or wherever, whenever. Manning writes about life in rural Kentucky, which is where he is from. You write such good poems based around the concept of "story" that I think you'd like this book. Manning's poems sometimes seem like they're either written by a hick or are simply recording hicks, but that is part of the charm of them. They sometimes seem to me to have been written in the 1930s, they are recording what rural Kentuckians were like in the late 2000's.

Basically, I think you'd like the book because you seem to like stories.

Did I say there they're in vernacular?​

Thanks, Tzara. I agree I like story telling. I tend to use the third person singular a lot in my poems rather than the lyrical "I." However, if I were counting, I'd have to say there are more about my Jersey days than in my adopted state of Vermont.

I'm struggling with what I might recommend for you. You've been eclectic IMO over years, although you seem to be spending more time with form lately. Something by Dana Gioia perhaps?

 

[Tzara]

I love this idea. But I don't know anyone yet.

Then, Dan'l, recommend a book to a larger group of people. You should be as specific as you can be, but that may be as specific as "To people who have somehow found Literotica".

And, no, not that you've asked, I am not requiring you to recommend poetry books.

That main requirement is to tell us why you are recommending the book. We may disagree, but if you tell us enough about why you liked it, most of us will have a good idea whether we'd like it or not.

Which is the point.

 

[Tzara]

I'm struggling with what I might recommend for you. You've been eclectic IMO over years, although you seem to be spending more time with form lately. Something by Dana Gioia perhaps?

You don't need to recommend anything to me. Not the point of the thread. Have you read a book (poetry, novel, non-fiction, history, whatever) that you think would appeal to someone here, a book you were enthusiastic about? A book you simply really liked and want to recommend to our audience?

The point is to make all of us aware (and perhaps someone specific) of a book that they (her/him/I) might like.

I'm always looking for things to read. I'm looking for people to suggest things to me.

That's, I think, the point.

I hope.

 

[Trixareforkids]

Request for recommendation(s):

I've recently read two good books of essays and am looking for other good essayists. Honestly, topic/genre doesn't matter as a good writer can get me interested (at least temporarily) in anything. My essay writing skills need work so I'm seeking examples of essay writing done well.

 

[DanielBoone]

@trixareforkids two essayists I like: Diane Ackerman and Annie Dillard.

 

[greenmountaineer]

You don't need to recommend anything to me. Not the point of the thread. Have you read a book (poetry, novel, non-fiction, history, whatever) that you think would appeal to someone here, a book you were enthusiastic about? A book you simply really liked and want to recommend to our audience?

The point is to make all of us aware (and perhaps someone specific) of a book that they (her/him/I) might like.

I'm always looking for things to read. I'm looking for people to suggest things to me.

That's, I think, the point.

I hope.

Call it a strange coincidence. Before I read your post about her in another thread, I was going to recommend The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds.

I think she has a unique voice when it comes to matters of the spirit and sex.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Request for recommendation(s):

I've recently read two good books of essays and am looking for other good essayists. Honestly, topic/genre doesn't matter as a good writer can get me interested (at least temporarily) in anything. My essay writing skills need work so I'm seeking examples of essay writing done well.

@trixareforkids two essayists I like: Diane Ackerman and Annie Dillard.

In the same vein.....Barbara Kingsolver's Small Wonder.

 

[Tzara]

Request for recommendation(s):

I've recently read two good books of essays and am looking for other good essayists. Honestly, topic/genre doesn't matter as a good writer can get me interested (at least temporarily) in anything. My essay writing skills need work so I'm seeking examples of essay writing done well.

One I liked recently is George Saunders' The Brain-Dead Megaphone. Saunders is best known as a short-story writer, and his essays are sharp, satirical, and very well written. He teaches in the MFA program at Syracuse University. His fiction books are excellent as well.

And, if you've never read her, anything by Joan Didion. I'm partial to her early work--Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album, in particular--but anything she writes is excellent.

 

[Tzara]

Call it a strange coincidence. Before I read your post about her in another thread, I was going to recommend The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds.

I think she has a unique voice when it comes to matters of the spirit and sex.

Yes, I find Olds quite an interesting poet. Maybe a little over the top at times, but she's certainly a gutsy writer. Don't think I'd want to be related to her, though.

The one you mention is one I haven't read, so maybe I'll pick it up sometime soon.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

One I liked recently is George Saunders' The Brain-Dead Megaphone. Saunders is best known as a short-story writer, and his essays are sharp, satirical, and very well written. He teaches in the MFA program at Syracuse University. His fiction books are excellent as well.

And, if you've never read her, anything by Joan Didion. I'm partial to her early work--Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album, in particular--but anything she writes is excellent.

I've been meaning to read some Didion, thanks for reminding me.

 

[Tzara]

I've been meaning to read some Didion, thanks for reminding me.

Got two or three Canadian poets for you, Missy, that I'll talk about tomorrow. Ones I found at Munro's Books in Victoria, which you told me about.

The bookstore, not the poets, though you may perhaps already know the poets.

We'll see tomorrow, eh?

 

[oggbashan]

To poets and those interested in Poetry

These are two essays on Poetry:

Thomas Love Peacock: The Four Ages of Poetry 1820.

Peacock was being satirical and deliberately dismissive of modern Poetry despite being friends with Shelley and other poets of his time. He expected a response, and he got it:

Shelley's Defence of Poetry was intended to be a friendly response to Peacock, but the magazine in which The Four Ages was printed has folded. It might have been published in 1823 in yet another magaiine, shortly after Shelley's death but although the editor had revised Shelley's Defence to remove references to Peacock, that magaizine folded too. The revised Defence was eventually published in 1840. As it stands it is less of a defence against Peacock's attack, but as a justification for Poetry.

Both are worth reading as informed discussions about the art and usefulness of poetry, but remember that Peacock was writing to deliberately inspire responses (which the editor hoped would appear in future issues of the magazine). He didn't really believe in some of the things he said.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Got two or three Canadian poets for you, Missy, that I'll talk about tomorrow. Ones I found at Munro's Books in Victoria, which you told me about.

The bookstore, not the poets, though you may perhaps already know the poets.

We'll see tomorrow, eh?

Why the ? I'm always ready for new horizons. I'm a big fan of Lorna Crozier and her partner Patrick Lane, both poets and both great supporters of new poets. They have compiled two books "Breathing Fire" and BF2 of the works by new Canadian poets. Worth a look, I think.

 

[oggbashan]

Another recommedndation

Robert Graves: The White Goddess

An interesting read about inspiration, the muse (or Muses), and poetry.

 

[oggbashan]

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch: The Poet As Citizen is available to read free on line.

 

[legerdemer]

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch: The Poet As Citizen is available to read free on line.

Sounds interesting... I know of him from Helene Hanff's book. Time to go to the source...

 

[oggbashan]

Sounds interesting... I know of him from Helene Hanff's book. Time to go to the source...

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's collected lectures are easy to read even if Helene Hanff found him difficult. For his time he was remarkably advanced in his ideas about writing and literature.

One of his famous statements is "Murder your darlings".

http://grammar.about.com/od/rhetoricstyle/a/murderquiller.htm

 

[Angeline]

Frank O'Hara and bad boyfriends

I recommend this especially to Tzara because I know of his interest in New York School poets and artists. But even if you're not especially a fan or less familiar with O'Hara, this short article from The Paris Review offers insight into the men and lives behind a poem.

Yes. it's an article and not a book. It's a smaller investment.

 

[Tzara]

I recommend this especially to Tzara because I know of his interest in New York School poets and artists. But even if you're not especially a fan or less familiar with O'Hara, this short article from The Paris Review offers insight into the men and lives behind a poem.

Yes. it's an article and not a book. It's a smaller investment.

I have Frank's Collected Poems, though, characteristically, I haven't read the whole of it. Poked around here and there, as is typical for me.

Do all artists have such troubled (sex) lives?

 

[Angeline]

I have Frank's Collected Poems, though, characteristically, I haven't read the whole of it. Poked around here and there, as is typical for me.

Do all artists have such troubled (sex) lives?

They certainly seem to have troubled lives. But I get the sense that Frank was something of a hysteric about his men though I guess being a gay man in the 1950s, even in NYC, couldn't help.

 

[Trixareforkids]

Tzara, I want to thank you for recommending Maurice Manning's The Common Man. I did in fact get it for Xmas, I'm about halfway through it now and it's an absolute treasure trove. It's got me nodding (I come from WV holler people) and chuckling and thinking.

The very first piece, Moonshine, sets the tone and it just keeps getting better from there.

So I wanted to pop in and give you a quick for making the past half hour so damned enjoyable.

 

[Tzara]

Tzara, I want to thank you for recommending Maurice Manning's The Common Man. I did in fact get it for Xmas, I'm about halfway through it now and it's an absolute treasure trove. It's got me nodding (I come from WV holler people) and chuckling and thinking.

The very first piece, Moonshine, sets the tone and it just keeps getting better from there.

So I wanted to pop in and give you a quick for making the past half hour so damned enjoyable.

You're very welcome, m'dear. I'm extremely pleased you liked it.

You might also want to consider Ann Pancake's Me and My Daddy Listen to Bob Marley. Ms. Pancake teaches in a local MFA program, and I heard her read one of the stories from this book (she's a novelist and short story writer, not a poet). She was effing hilarious. I was literally laughing so hard I cried.

She's originally from WV herself, so I am assuming that her voice is authentic.

Anyway, check her out. And happy new year.