The Flying Change: Poems [Paperback]

Henry Taylor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Henry Taylor's 1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poetry, The Flying Change, he writes the poems of a country squire -- immersing himself in the beauty of the Blue Ridge mountains, pleasures for which a real farmer has neither the time or inclination. An anti-modernist in pursuit of states of grace, Taylor revels in such things as a "frisbee floating like milkweed," women's hands and "the charming old songs in their illegible syllables." His affection for his region is faithful and unmixed, and produces sweet variety in his moderate pastoral.

Review

Solidly written, hauntingly conceived . . . -- The New York Times Book Review, Peter Stitt

Product Details

• Paperback: 55 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr (February 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080711264X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807112649
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book!, December 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flying Change: Poems (Paperback)

This book reveals that poetry can be both accessible and compeling. Taylor combines a conversational style with traditional poetic forms to create a contemporary style that is a true descendent of the work of Robert Frost and E.A. Robinson. Be sure and read "Landscape with Tractor", "Taking to the Woods", & "At the Swings." I highly recommend this book. And, if you haven't read poetry in years and have found the thought of it daunting, try this book as a great reintroduction, or introduction for that matter, to what poetry can offer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Stuff, November 1, 2004

By 

Rupreckt (fetal position) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Flying Change: Poems (Paperback)

Ever since the very first time I heard a poem from this collection ("Barbed Wire" specifically), I have been wowed by the weight of darkness behind all these poems. There is a great deal of power in these words and the world it portrays is far from a happy one. However, there is a real momentum and energy to everything in this book.

And be warned, this collection is far from banal. From finding a dead body in a field while mowing tall grass to having a finger torn off while shoeing a horse, the poems in this book inhabit a very dark place. Much of this is tonally due to the fact the Taylor was an admitted alcoholic at the time of creation of most of these poems. His subsequent work is produced largely after his sobriety and a turn for the better in his personal life.

Also, the previous reviewer might do well to note that the presence of "Airing Linen" almost cost Taylor the Pulitzer. This is largely a work of form-free emotion, artistically descended from James Dickey, and should not be expected to sing like a nursery rhyme, rather to quote "Barbed Wire" it "hums like a bowstring in the splintered air"

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book of poems, January 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flying Change: Poems (Hardcover)

I loved every single one of the poems in this remarkable collection; it's no surprise why Henry Taylor won the Pulitzer. One reviewer made the comment that Taylor's work isn't Pulitzer material because it doesn't rhyme or something . . . That's truly misguided. Most of the poets who try to rhyme in this day and age really [bad at it] at it. I mean, that's putting it mildly. If you are a poet, or want to be a poet, my advice is: whatever you do, don't rhyme! Taylor is a great poet, and it's too bad he isn't discussed more.