Customer Reviews

The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics

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While I prefer my first edition solely because of the layout, this second edition has several advantages. Where the first edition had short chapters on metrics, sonics and tropes, the second edition has more than doubled the material included and divided it into four levels - typographic, sonic, sensory and ideational.

Then comes the glory of this book - the book of forms with a form finder and wonderfully clear definitions of the form. The language of origin of the form, the basis of its metrical scheme (syllablic, accentual etc), a description of the metric and rhyme schemes and a very clear notation illustrating the scheme are given. Variants are cross-referenced or included. This material is basically the same as in the first edition. However, this book includes sample poems based on the structure as well as references in the text (unlike the appended bibliography of the first edition) of other poems in the form.

Anyone who is serious about poetry - either as a reader or a writer - should consider Turco's Book of Forms as an essential resource.

Professor Turco taught his poetry class at Oswego State using this book - though it has been almost 9 years since I took poetry 1 and 2 with Turco, the lessons he taught me have never left me. The book, the class, the entire Lewis Turco experience is a memory I wont soon forget. When I started the class I was incensed at his pompous, know it all audacity in making us use his forms and methods and being a very strict and harsh grader. By the end of the class I had gotten the hang of sylabics, etc. and was writing poetry with the best of them and loving it. His methods WORK, dont give up half way through, and if you can take a class with him, do so - I think he may have retired.

I have used Turco's "New Book of Forms" in countless situations and needs. I teach my students from it, I use it in my writing, I read from it for entertainment and I examine it for use in historical research. It is as essential to my writing as any book could be.

The New book of forms is an excellent reference for poets. Not only does this book include hundreds of forms of poetry from many different cultures; it also give a lot of information on meter, rhyme, and voice. If you like writing poetry you'll love this book.

I've been thinking of buying a handbook of poetry for some time and decided that before I laid out any money I would survey the field at the public library. Having spent at least 10 to 12 hours in the past 3 months I conclude that this is the book to own. It's clearly and concisely written, it gives examples to illustrate the various forms and techniques (and references to further examples) and it is comprehensive. The only drawbacks are that it lacks a bibliography section where you can get a complete citation to the books and journals referred to in the text, and it lacks a comprehensive index.

I am an intermediate writer who has just begun the study of poetry in its various forms. This book was highly recommended to me by my mentor, who is a grad student in creative writing and a published poet who has won numerous awards for his poems. He said that it would answer all of my questions as to the many forms of poetry; and after receiving my own copy of this amazing book I can attest to the truth of that statement. I have not come across a more thorough book on poetic forms yet. I am thrilled to have my own copy now to learn from and enjoy!

Clearly organized and logically ordered, this book details the architecture of hundreds of poetic forms from around the world. Each poem's structure is broken down into a basic blueprint then illustrated with real-world examples. The commentary is scholarly but never so dry as to be unreadable. An excellent "bathroom book" (able to be picked up, opened to any page and enjoyed in brief passages) as well as a clearly written resource for the student, teacher or active poet looking for examples to guide.

Negatives: Mr. Turco does not often include the date a poetic form is first known to have been introduced. This would be useful information if provided.

I recommend this book to all my poetry students and use it often in my work as a writer and poet.
GregRobin Smith, Seattle, Washington.

I had Lewis Turco in 1980 in my freshman year of college at Oswego State in New York. The original book was required for the poetry class I took with him, and though it was a slim paperback, held gobs of information about meter, rhyme, prosody and all the rest. The New Book of Forms is expanded, I'm sure after his teaching proved his previous work incomplete. (I teach my self, and am always revising my curriculum...) I am using the book this year in my own creative writing class (grades 9-12) and highly recommend it.

I've never seen the original Book of Forms, so I don't know whether this update is worth buying as a replacement, but I do know that the new version is an excellent tool for people like myself who are trying to make their poetry more technical.

It goes way beyond the typical "rhyme and meter" section in a creative-writing textbook; it gives lots of examples, some of which hold exactly to the forms and some of which deviate; and it gives appropriate cross-references. It also has a general discussion/glossary of poetry, and especially of formal poetry, so that you know what Turco's talking about when he starts referring to hendecasyllabic lines and so forth.

Really, I have no complaints about it at all. Even if you only intend to buy a few books on poetry, this one should definitely make the short list.

Turco has condensed the entire craft of poetry into less than 300 meaty pages, packed with vital info. If you're looking to learn about the mechanics of poems or just simply looking for something exciting to write besides sonnets, haiku, and free verse, this book WILL have what you need. It is a veritable fount of knowledge that will keep flowing even after your Muse has hit the road.