The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart [Hardcover]

Mary D. Esselman (Author), Elizabeth Ash Vélez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

This heart-wrenching collection of poems expresses the anger, hurt, depression of loss - asking why, analysing rifts and striving for explanation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those looking to poetry to ease a recent breakup won't have to thumb through painfully irrelevant odes to joy any longer. The pocket-sized The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart, edited by Mary D. Esselman and Elizabeth Ash Velez, organizes its contents according to the stages of heartbreak ("anger," "sadness," etc.). Most are by well-known 20th-century U.S. poets: William Carlos Williams, Louise Gleck, Sharon Olds, though Donne, Shakespeare and Larkin also make appearances. Predictable selections (Margaret Atwood's "You Fit Into Me") are balanced out by a few eccentric, perhaps witty curatorial decisions, such as the inclusion of Auden's "Musee Des Beaux Arts" in the section called "Moving On."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The greatest anthology of poetry I have ever read... reminds me why I fell in love with poetry..." -- Andrew Carroll, Director,The American Poetry and Literacy Project

Product Details

• Hardcover: 236 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446678546
• ISBN-13: 978-0446678544
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,076,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hell With This Title, January 19, 2002

By 

Kathy Kretman, Director, Center for Public an... (Washington,, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart (Hardcover)

A charming collection whose only problem is the title. The title implies that the authors are angry and loveless when in fact they demonstrate a depth of understanding the full gamut of emotions surrounding the commitments people make to one another. My 20-year-old daughter (who knows less about poetry than I do) handed me me this book with the off-putting caveat "You probably won't get it, but I loved this!" I loved it too -- for the breath of the collection of poems, the witty and incisive commentary before each chapter, and mostly its affirmation of the beauty and bounty of finding love at any age and at any cost. I highly recommend that mothers give this to their daughters, fathers to their sons for Valentine's Day, but tell them first that this nifty book is, despite the cautionary title, a wise and witty book about how careful they should be to find and keep someone to love.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I read this on Valentine's Day. It helped so damn much., February 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart (Hardcover)

This collection, beautifully assembled and edited, helped me so damn much on Valentine's Day (especially hard day when you're still getting over losing someone you love). The poems are superb and superbly apt, the editors' brief essays are helpful and wonderfully understanding . Even though most of the essays are aimed at a female readership, a male reader can benefit too. Highest possible recommendation.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended, January 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart (Hardcover)

An inspired, superlative collection of poems, wittily introduced and neatly packed into a well-designed little black book.

The tellingly ironic candy hearts on the book's black cover hint that this is not a selection of drippily sentimental rhymes. The choice of works is inspired by a bright, smart, worldwise sensibility. Not only Shakespeare, Donne, Dickinson, Yeats, and Auden ... but also Elizabeth Bishop, Dorothy Parker, Louise Gluck, Denise Levertov, May Swenson, Marge Piercy, and Billy Collins. THE HELL WITH LOVE is every bit as refreshing and recuperative as a brisk walk on a clear, windy day.

A delightful gift for the heartbroken, world-weary, closeted romantic in us all. Perfect for Valentine's Day -- or 364 others.