Fathers: A Collection of Poems [Paperback]

David Ray (Author), Judy Ray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 1999

One hundred and eighteen of our finest American poets pay eloquent homage to their fathers and the broader concept of fatherhood in this loving anthology.

In this splendid collection both daughters and sons introduce us and pay heartfelt tribute to their fathers. Whether writing of fathers who were heroes or anti-heros, defenders or pacifists, those who went away suddenly or those who reappeared after a long period of time, the poets here cast the net wide to harvest the infinite variety of the father-and-child relationship. This moving anthology includes:

Raymond Carver's "The Trestle", Gwendolyn Brooks's "In Honor of David Anderson Brooks, My Father", Rita Dove's "Grape Sherbert", Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays", Donald Justice's "Men at Forty", Hayden Carruth's "Words for My Daughter from the Asylum", Maxine Kumin's "My Father's Neckties", "Robert Bly's "My Father at Eighty-Fiver"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Judy Ray is the author of two poetry collections, Pebble Rings and Pigeons in the Chandeliers, and of The Japipur Sketchbook, a memoir of a year spent in India. The Rays live in Tuscon, Arizona.

David Ray's most recent collections of poetry include Kagaroo Paws: Poems Written in Australia, Heart-Stones: New and Selected Poems, and Demons in the Diner. He has twice received the William Carlos Williams Prize from the Poetry Society of America and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for his fiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (June 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209649
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209643
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,737,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A competent collection, February 19, 2012

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fathers: A Collection of Poems (Hardcover)

This collection of poems centers on the theme of Fatherhood. The husband and wife team of David and Judy Ray collect the work of over one- hundred poets. Among these poets are very well- known ones like Raymond Carver, Robert Bly, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove, Philip Levine, Maxine Kumin, Carolyn Kizer, Linda Pastan, Donald Justice, Charles Simic. The majority of the poems are by poets lesser known. Most of the poems are written by the poets about their fathers, but there are also poems in which the subject if the poet as father. Perhaps this is not my best day, and I am unfair but I did not find here the kind of poem I am looking for, the one which make me 'see' and ' feel' deeply. Page after page, competent poem after competent poem without my finding what I truly sought, the kind of inspiration and insight found in Kafka's 'Letter to his Father'.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Book, May 10, 2009

By 

Susan Lobo - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fathers: A Collection of Poems (Hardcover)

This book of poems by Judy and David Ray is a joy! Each thoughtful and thought-provoking poem catches exactly the variety of tones and shades of color that echo the parent/child relationship. Some are light-hearted; some wrenching, but all have a beauty and strength that I enjoyed tremendously. The design of the book also makes it a pleasure to hold in one's hands. I carried it with me and read bits every now an then when I had a moment, over a period of a few weeks. Each time I opened it, I knew I would find a gem. Highly recommended.