Customer Reviews

Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Pulitzer-Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver, demonstrates that in a world of "leaves and feathers, and comfort, and instruction" (p. 3), paying attention "is our endless and proper work" (p. 27). With a poet's gift of observation, and a naturalist's eye for detail, Oliver devotes this collection of verse almost entirely to birds. Just as the recent documentary, WINGED MIGRATION, captured the truly amazing nature of birds on film, Oliver captures the fascinating beauty of birds in verse. She compares goldfinches to "fragile bells" reminding us to bow our heads and say a prayer (p. 7), herons in a frozen marsh to "blue smoke" (p. 24), little wrens to "blue sailors" (p. 46), herons on a leafy bank to a "blue preacher" and "an old Chinese poet" (p. 48), an owl to "an angel, or a buddha with wings" (p. 54), starlings to "acrobats in the freezing wind" (p. 56), and an unknown bird that has left a egg to "a tree angel, perhaps, or a ghost of holiness" (p. 60). For Oliver, "the path to heaven doesn't lie down in flat miles," it's in "the imagination with which you perceive the world" (p. 11).

G. Merritt

I purchased this book for a birder friend that never reads poetry and she absolutely loves the book! The book is filled with the sights, sounds, and imagery of nature (in both essay and poetry) as only Mary Oliver can breathe them into life through uncomplicated words and a genuine love of all things.

After reading an essay (Bird) and a poem (Crow?) in this book, I'm anxious to find and read more of Mary Oliver's work. I tend to favor essays and "Bird" was a special one. If you appreciate good writing read Mary Oliver.

This book was recommended by a priest. It has very subtle Biblical references, but you won't notice that if you are not looking. The poems and essays are wonderful and I highly recommend the book.

Before discovering Mary Oliver, I was not much of a poetry fan. However, her poems and essays, to me, are food for my soul. I am a birder, and this particular collection is one of my favorites. She writes simply and her observations speak to the beauty, the danger and the mystery of nature.

As always, Mary Oliver does not disappoint. She is my favorite living poet. Her observations of nature and her beautiful way of expressing them touch something deep inside.

I just discovered Mary Oliver. What a beautiful anthology of poems and essays. I especially enjoyed her reflections on owls. Highly recommended.

Mary Oliver's work in general, and in this volume in particular, has restored my faith in American poetry. Her poems are poems that do what poetry is supposed to do-- make you really feel something. Thank you, Ms. Oliver, for sharing your gift with us.

Of all the many poets I admire, Mary Oliver is definitely high on my list because of her amazing connections with nature, and her mysterious
and wondrous interpretations of it. A great book for bringing peace into our lives.

Mary Oliver's paeans to nature are contemporary psalms. I'd already read the book and bought it as a gift. I may need a copy for myself as well.