Love Poems [Hardcover]

Nikki Giovanni (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 1997

In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, Nikki Giovanni has earned the reputation as one of America's most celebrated and contoversial writers.Now, she presents a stunning collection of love poems that includes more than twenty new works.

From the revolutionary "Seduction" to the tender new poem, "Just a Simple Declaration of Love," from the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet" to the elegiac "All Eyez on U," written for Tupac Shakur, these poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which Nikki Giovanni is beloved and revered.

Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems expresses notions of love in ways that are delightfully unexpected. Articulating in sensuous verse what we know only instinctively, Nikki Giovanni once again confirms her place as one of our nations's most distinguished poets and powerful truth-tellers.

In a career that has spanned more than a quarter century, starting with her explosive early years in the Black Rights Movement, Nikki Giovanni has earned a reputation as one of America's most celebrated and controversial writers. Her mind-speaking work has made her a universal favorite and a number-one best-seller.The love poems-the revolutionary "Seduction," the whimsical "I Wrote a Good Omelet," and the tender "My House" to name just a few-are among the most beloved of all Nikki Giovanni's works. Now, Love Poems brings together these and other favorites with over twenty new poems. Romantic, bold, and erotic, Love Poems will once again confirm Nikki Giovanni's place among the country's most renowned poets and truth tellers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The bold, romantic, and sometimes erotic poems found here include "Seduction," "I Wrote a Good Omelet," and "My House."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In one way or another, love shapes most of Giovanni's smart, to-the-point, and emotionally candid poems, but it's wonderful to have a volume devoted strictly to her love poems, especially since it contains 20 new compositions. Giovanni is one of America's most popular poets, because she speaks her mind clearly and has such a good time doing it. As she writes in "A Poem: For Langston Hughes": "wool is sheared . . . silk is spun / weaving is hard . . . but words are fun," a sentiment she brings to rich fruition in her more playful poems, rhyming wonders reminiscent of old blues lyrics where every line is a double entendre, the sort of hand-on-your-hip songs Bessie Smith and Dinah Washington sashayed and smiled their way through. But Giovanni turns more somber and reflective as she expresses the love of a daughter and mother, and a woman's deep-down love for a man that far outlasts the giddy romp of romance. Donna Seaman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (February 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688149898
• ISBN-13: 978-0688149895
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #375,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Love Poems

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A softer side of Nikki January 29, 2001

By Je'Niece N. McCullough

Format:Hardcover

I loved this book. This book contains a poem for every stage, every feeling that love encompasses. I enjoy the hard-edged angry Nikki, but I also appreciate this softer, warmer side of her. I think the fire and passion are still there, just packaged more softly. One of my favorites is "I Wrote a Good Omelet." If you've ever loved anyone or hope to someday, you should appreciate this one.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Poem is a treasure and so is Nikki March 3, 1999

By [e-mail]

Format:Hardcover

Hide "Love Poems" behind all those other scholarly, trendy, "book club-y" books - Hide it like you hide your new Victoria's Secret from you old lover - only to surprise him later. And when the time is right, do so. "Love Poems" adds a wonderful twist. It is real, seductive, poignant, and everything love is but you're afraid to stay out. loud. I LOVE IT & so does my BELOVED.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to a romantic Valentine's Day with Nikki. February 9, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

WOW! Thank you Nikki for reminding us how much we can learn from someone who has had long-lasting love. I bought this book because it was an Amazon Valentine recommendation and it made me want to throw my arms around my love the moment I finished it.

from "Love Is" :
Some people forget that love is tucking you in and kissing you "Good night" no matter how young or old you are

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful collection!! July 14, 2012

By Joyce Ĺkesson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Giovanni has earned honorary degrees and awards. Her present book, Bicycles, is a collection of poems that serve as a companion to her 1997 Love Poems.
Her poetry is romantic, bold, and erotic. She writes about the physiological reactions of seeing a lover or loved one. Tastes, hearing, touching and the power of memory are expressed in several pieces. Giovanni emphasizes that love can be experienced everywhere at all times from many sources and it can lift anyone from the depth of tragedy.
There is something for everyone in this very sweet and enjoyable collection.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful June 16, 2006

By Amy Guth

Format:Hardcover

Nikki Giovanni uses her words so sparingly and so thoughtfully that every word is like a well-thrown bomb. My copy is worn and warped, but I'd never part with it.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Giovanni's "Love Poems" a Hit January 7, 2000

By "jdcfoster"

Format:Hardcover

I thouroughly enjoyed this copulation of works by Giovanni. I had the pleasure of reading earlier offerings by her and was pleased with her style and grace. To enjoy her is to understand where she has come from and where she is going. A strong voice of today as well as in the 60's, and keeps on getting stronger. Reading this makes you want to write your own love poems, in your way and in your own style. Giovanni brings out what we thought we have either lost or forgotten about either relationships past or present, and takes us on a journey into a world she doesn't always takes us, a more private, intimate world. Though I KNOW she had reserved a lot of the more intense feelings that I hope she may share with us all,..one day.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Joy To Read! May 25, 2000

By Luis Hernandez

Format:Hardcover

Giovanni's compilation of hip love poems is one of the best I've read in years. Moving away from the politics that her poetry is often well-known for, Giovanni's quirky, witty, and romantic poems will leave anyone in the mood to get intimate! Highly recommended!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars let's not get carried away June 23, 2005

By AKA

Format:Hardcover

the difference in style and content between her love poems and her earlier works does not discredit her talent. i loved her then and i love her now. tolstoy said that all happy stories are the same and yes, love poems can be trite. giovanni, however, captures the undercurrents of what it means to be in love--the unimaginable joy, the confusion, the warm fuzzy feeling, and even the anger and frustration that come along with loving someone.

the poems are soft and mushy, empty of political conflict, but rife with passion--just like love.