Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man [Paperback]

Harry Gilleland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 29, 2008

This collection of storoems and poems offers hours of enjoyment as it makes the reader think, feel, and ponder life. The next poem may make the reader laugh or perhaps will bring a tear to the eye. The various subjects addressed will both surprise and delight. This is a collection both to own and to give as a gift, as it will surely be read and re-read. It continues in the footsteps of Harry Gilleland's previous two published poetry collections.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (February 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1435712420
• ISBN-13: 978-1435712423
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,192,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harry E. Gilleland, Jr is an award-winning poet and author of six published books, three books of his personal poetry and three prose books. Harry was born in Macon, GA, and has lived since 1975 in Shreveport, LA, making him a proud and confirmed Southerner. He spent two long years living in London, Canada in the snow, ice, and freezing, and I do mean freezing, cold. He moved back south to thaw out in 1975 and has no plans to ever leave the South again. Dr. Gilleland retired in 2004 after twenty-nine years as a Professor of Microbiology at LSUHSC-S's School of Medicine. Since his retirement, Harry has devoted his efforts full-time to creative writing, both poetry and prose. Harry is quite happily married to his wonderful wife Linda, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Award-winning Poetry!, March 5, 2009

By 

Harry E. Gilleland, Jr. "Harry E. Gilleland, Jr." (Shreveport, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man (Paperback)

This book of poetry, "Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man" won the Honorable Mention award in the Fiction, Poetry category for the 2008 Reader Views Literary Awards.

One poem in this book, a free-verse poem entitled "The Assembled Waiters", won a High Distinction award (and $200 cash prize) in the 2008 Tom Howard Poetry Contest.

"Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man' is a collection of award-winning poetry!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Poetic Musings of Harry Gilleland Speak Words To Us All!, September 28, 2008

By 

Shannon L. Yarbrough "Shannon L. Yarbrough" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man (Paperback)

I was a poet long before I was a novelist or book reviewer. My first self-published book was a pop up book of poetry which was literally assembled by hand in the 4th grade for a young author's grade school event. In college, I continued to write poetry and fell in love with the words of Frost and Dickinson. Having only recently rekindled my affair with Miss Emily's words, I was eager to read more verse and from a fresh new voice. I'd had much success with the poetry I've reviewed here on the blog to date, so I knew Lulu was the perfect place to start. I didn't have to look far. Poet Harry Gilleland, Jr. had quieried us some time ago with his third collection of poetry entitled Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man.

Based on the title alone, I was expecting a book of humorous limericks and rhyming political commentary, and while there are a few of those within the pages, Gilleland offers much more than that. I was completely amazed at his vast but thorough range of subject matter. From a poem about the candiru fish (which is known to lodge itself inside someone's urethra) to another about a pack of vicious ankle biting chihuahuas, Gilleland treats his subject matter with the utmost seriousness. The rhyming technique, verse, and pattern which he uses to craft his so-called "storoems" (story poems) is so unique that you almost forget the humor just for the appreciation of his word use.

The book is divided into four styles of poetry: rhyming and storeoms, limericks (of which there are only two), acrostic poems, and free verse. Gilleland has broken up the candid poems with other verses that are indeed of a more serious subject matter such has having to put a pet to sleep or a child dealing with the divorce of his parents. But his crisp style remains tight and to the point throughout. There are no wasted words, as one of my college professors used to say.

One of the true purposes of poetry for a reader is not just to discover what the poet was intending to convey, but to find how you relate to the poem. Gilleland does a superb job of presenting an array of poems that are easy to understand and will certainly capture the attention, and the heart, of every reader. Some of his well-known subjects came right from the headlines such as the tiger attacks in the California zoo or the effects Hurricane Katrina had on New Orleans. Like conversations we share with old friends, these are events that each of us know in a different way but it's still nice to take the time to listen to someone else's view point.

I particularly liked the sections where Gilleland spends two or three poems on one specific theme. There are two poems about his dogs near the beginning. One is a cheerful poem while the other is very sad. There's another about a soldier having to leave for war, followed by another poem about the soldier in battle, then one about a soldier's death and another about Memorial Day. Each poem can stand completely on its own, but together they capture a nice vignette of words and thoughts.

My favorites were two poems about Hummingbirds. In one, Gilleland ponders the thought of the birds leaving for winter and how he anticipates their return because it means warmer weather will be returning with them. The next poem is about a daughter promising her dying mother she'll continue to feed the hummingbirds after she's gone. The appearance of a white hummingbird becomes the vision of hope and healing after a tragic event.

At 63 years of age and an old Southerner, Gilleland also ponders how the world and technology has changed our social interaction with one another in magnificent poems entitled "I Remember When" and "The Pleasure of Old-Fashioned Letters." His good nature shines in fun verse about women obsessing over their hair, and in another play on words about a man wanting to rub cream on his wife's hard and cracked "pair" in a poem called "Can't Touch Them."

Verse after verse, this poet is to be commended for his true talent with words. I dog eared a dozen pages to possibly quote in this review, but the book must really be experienced as a whole. But you don't have to take my word for it. Just read the number of reviews of praise Harry's books have already received on Amazon.com before me. Even if you don't like poetry all that much or find it hard to understand, Harry Gilleland, Jr. writes with such heart that there is truly something here for everyone. I will leave you with one verse that still resonates with me long after I closed this book...

If humans were able to see their soul
while alive, it would become certain then
that all the virtues they would extol;
the world would be filled with better men.

5.0 out of 5 stars Poems and storems that run the gamut of emotions, September 17, 2011

By 

Katherine Boyer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man (Paperback)

Harry Gilleland will give you pause as you read his Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man, a sometimes reflective, sometimes funny and always contemplative book of rhyming poems and storoems (a term evidently coined by the author). You will laugh, cry and enjoy the thoughts that he has put into poetry for you (and himself).
Mr. Gilleland covers almost all aspects of life in this book of poetry - home life, local events, world affairs and just plain old happenings. And just think - any of them could have happened to you at some time in your life.
You will want to go back to these anecdotes in poem and storoem over and over to muse along with the author. As you reread them, you will find new and interesting outlooks in the wording, the stanzas or the whole work.

Here is an example of his work from "Dog Pack Attack":

"The officer said, "In an hour or so I'll be back
at work. After all, it was just a Chihuahua pack.
Being attacked by angry Chihuahuas rankles
since mostly they do injury to your ankles."

Although this does not tell the whole storoem, it gives an insight to Mr. Gilleland's sense of humor that is written into his book of poems and storoems and will persuade you to want to read more of this talented writer's works. You cannot miss reading this thought provoking book, whether you are a poet at heart or not.
Harry E. Gilleland was born and raised in Macon, Georgia and now lives in Shreveport, Louisiana with wife, Linda. Retired from a career as a Professor of Microbiology at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, he now devotes himself full-time to his writing. He writes novels and novellas as well as poetry and prose