Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work From Tennyson to Plath (Book w/ Audio CD) [Hardcover]

Elise Paschen (Author), Rebekah Presson Mosby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

"By the time you're done, your biggest problem may be that you wish there was more."
– WALL STREET JOURNAL

"The definitive anthology of poets reading their own work."
-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"This grand immersion in poetry follows the best-selling Poetry Speaks (2001) and includes a never-before-published and truly thrilling recording of James Joyce reading "Anna Livia Plurabelle" from Finnegans Wake. Book and CDs work beautifully together, kindling deeper appreciation for the transmuting power of poetry, a practice of discipline, skill, and magic."
- BOOKLIST

"...The prose comes to life when read aloud, especially when you hear James Joyce read it himself."
– NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED host Jacki Lyden

"This tome is a reminder how the human spirit is capable of finding an outlet in oppressive times, how poetry can help explain why we do what we do as a thinking people...Certainly, in our struggle to make sense out of what we do not understand, Poetry Speaks Expanded helps on so many levels." – Carol Hoenig, THE HUFFINGTON POST

"...[A] bountiful experience: there is the thrill of discovery and re-discovery as with any good anthology, with an added emphasis on the poets' personalities and growth" – John Hammond, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

"[An] accessible, beautifully executed collection guaranteed to offer poetry fans a memorable reading and listening experience" – WORDCANDY.NET

"...[A]s I savored these beautiful poems, it reminded me of French poet Charles Baudelaire who wrote, 'Any man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.'" - Norm Goldman, BOOKPLEASURES.COM

"Light[s] up a reader's eyes." - Frank Wilson, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Hear And Read All Of These Poets (And More)
244 Poems Included In The Book
107 Poems Read By The Poets Themselves On 3 Audio CDs

Robert Graves, E. E. Cummings, Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, Gertrude Stein, Carl Sandburg, James Joyce, William Carlos Williams, Ted Hughes, Robinson Jeffers, Philip Larkin, Wallace Stevens, Louise Bogan, Melvin B. Tolson, Laura (Riding) Jackson, Ogden Nash, W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Allen Ginsberg Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Hayden, Robert Frost, Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Randall Jarrell, Jack Kerouac, John Berryman, Dylan Thomas, Robert Lowell, Robert Browning, Robert Duncan, May Swenson, John Crowe Ransom

Poetry Speaks Expanded is a fusion of the poet's words with the poet's voice, including text and recordings of nearly 50 of the greatest poets who ever lived, ranging from Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, James Joyce and T. S. Eliot to Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.

"This book has the potential to draw more readers to poetry than any collection in years."
-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW

"Readers and listeners are guaranteed to hear poems in a new way after spending time with this book and CD set."
-LIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEW

"Superb, accessible....A unique and essential purchase"
-SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Poetry
--For the first time ever, James Joyce reads "Anna Livia Plurabelle" from Finnegans Wake alongside the original text from the book
--T. S. Eliot reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
--Sylvia Plath's anger and raw emotion as she reads "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus"
--Jack Kerouac reading from "MacDougal Street Blues," accompanied by Steve Allen on piano
--May Swenson rehearsing "The Watch" prior to a reading
--H. D. reading a part of "Helen in Egypt" from a rare recording made shortly before her death
--Ted Hughes reading "February 17" during a BBC interview
--A never-before-published recording of Alfred, Lord Tennyson reading "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
--W. B. Yeats explaining his reading style and why he chooses to read that way
--Robert Frost reading "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Essays Written By Today's Most Influential Poets, Including: W. S. Merwin on Robert Graves, Seamus Heaney on W. B. Yeats, Paul Muldoon on James Joyce, Robert Pinsky on William Carlos Williams, Sonia Sanchez on Gwendolyn Brooks, Galway Kinnell on Walt Whitman, Rita Dove on Melvin B. Tolson, Jorie Graham on Elizabeth Bishop and Al Young on Langston Hughes

"The most ambitious, innovative poetry project to be published in years."
-QUALITY PAPERBACK BOOK CLUB

A Book Sense Top-10 Selection

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This second edition of the popular anthology is an accessible introduction to 20th century poetry on the page and in the air. Forty-seven poets-beginning with Tennyson, moving through Eliot, Kerouac and Bishop, among many others, and ending on Plath-are represented in this book and CD package. Attesting to the fact that poetry remains a spoken art form, this book may convince readers that well-chosen words gain vitality when heard aloud, as Allen Ginsberg's incantatory rendering of "Howl" proves. William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow," in the poet's voice, takes on a playful singsong quality. Gwendolyn Brooks, reading "We Real Cool," affects her subjects' swagger and attitude, shifting to solemnity for the grave final line: "we die soon." The book also includes useful biographical information and a literary essay on each writer by contemporary poets, who locate the poets in historical context: Anne Stevenson, for instance, comments on Plath and Paul Muldoon on James Joyce, by whom this edition also contains a previously unreleased recording of the "Anna Livia Plurabelle" section of Finnegan's Wake. Reluctant poetry readers may find themselves drawn to the printed page by the spoken work, and poetry fans are likely to find much to love here.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

Hear the Voices of poetry

Poetry Speaks Expanded is a fusion of the poetís words with the poetís voice, including text and recordings of nearly 50 of the greatest poets who ever lived, ranging from Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, James Joyce and T. S. Eliot to Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.

ìThis book has the potential to draw more readers to poetry than any collection in years.î
óPUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW

ìReaders and listeners are guaranteed to hear poems in a new way after spending time with this book and CD set.î
óLIBRARY JOURNAL, STARRED REVIEW

ìSuperb, accessible....A unique and essential purchaseî
óSCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

ìIt is the rare combination of spoken and written words that makes Poetry Speaks one of the most comprehensive and enjoyable anthologies available.î
óSALON.COM


ELISE PASCHEN is the author of Houses: Coasts and Infidelities and winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines and
anthologies. A graduate of Harvard University, she holds M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in 20th-century literature from Oxford University. Former Executive Director of the Poetry
Society of America, she is the cofounder of Poetry in Motion, a nationwide program that places poetry in subways and buses, and the coeditor of Poetry In Motion, and Poetry in
Motion from Coast to Coast. She is also the editor of the New York Times best-selling Poetry Speaks to Children. Dr. Paschen teaches in the writing program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

REBEKAH PRESSON MOSBY is known for her work in poetry audio, for producing and hosting New Letters on the Air on National Public Radio for 13 years, and for interviews with writers and artists. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her work as producer/editor of the 4-CD box set Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888ñ2006).She also edited the groundbreaking Rhino Records poetry box sets, In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Work. Mosbyís other projects include producing a Living History for Colgate University by interviewing 40 individuals with ties to the college and selecting work for the poetry room at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Dallas. At present, Mosby is teaching Radio Writing at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

DOMINIQUE RACCAH is founder, president and publisher of Sourcebooks, a leading independent publisher outside of Chicago. Today Sourcebooks is the worldís leading
publisher of poetry in book-and-audio form, and also publishes nonfiction and fiction. Raccah first envisioned Poetry Speaks in 1997 as an interactive, engaging way to
experience spoken and written poetry. In 2005 she brought poetry to younger readers with the New York Times bestseller Poetry Speaks to Children.

CHARLES OSGOOD, often referred to as CBS Newsís poet in residence, has been anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning since 1994. He also anchors and writes The
Osgood File, his daily news commentary broadcast on the CBS Radio Network. He was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2000, and the National
Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1999. Osgood received the 2005 Paul White Award, presented by the Radio-Television News Directors Association for his lifetime
contribution to electronic journalism, and the Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism Award from Arizona State University. He also has three Peabody Awards, three
Emmys, a Marconi Radio Award, and a 1999 International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS) Award for significant achievement. He is the author of six books,
including Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack and The Osgood Files, and recently edited Funny Letters From Famous People and Kilroy Was Here

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks MediaFusion; 2 Har/Com edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402210620
• ISBN-13: 978-1402210624
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 9.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #592,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enthralling Experience, December 6, 2007

By 

Kathryn J. Atwood (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work From Tennyson to Plath (Book w/ Audio CD) (Hardcover)

Although poetry was read, recited and memorized by entire families through the 19th century, during the 20th century it fell out of general popular favor. "Modern" poetry was considered too difficult for the average reader, so while it was read in schools and adored in academia, it moved out of the family parlor and into the anthology.

Enter the latest edition of "Poetry Speaks." Seeking to make a new connection with potential readers (and listeners) of 20th century poetry, Sourcebooks has again assembled a package that is at once enthralling and educational. Each poet (47 in all) featured in the volume receives a biography, an extremely readable analysis of the poet's work and several key poems. Some of the "chapters" also include a fascimilie of a poem or section of a poem written in the poet's own hand.

The outstanding feature of "Poetry Speaks, Expanded" is, of course, the set of CDs which feature each poet reading their own work. This, aside from being extremely exciting for those of us with a bit of familiarity with a particular poet, also sheds some interesting light on the poems themselves. Who knew, for example, that Tennyson meant to emphasis the word "rode" in his poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (as in: "into the valley of death RODE the six hundred) or that Gwendolyn Brooks' "we" of "We Real Cool" was a barely audible syncopated beat in her famous poem?

But the real thrill is that by listening to the poets read their beautiful poems, one gets a window into their very souls. Carl Sandburg sounds Swedish (who knew?) and musical, Robert Frost sounds weary, Sylvia Plath sounds bitter, Edna St. Vincent Millay sounds actressy, Dorothy Parker sounds melancholy, Jack Kerouac sounds cool (which is obviously to be expected from the author of "On the Road," but his beloved jazz music playing in the background helps!) and Robert Browning sounds, well, inaudible, but kudos to Sourcebooks for including him and several other 19th century poets -- they're a bit scratchy but, aside from Browning, basically audible. While listening to Dylan Thomas, one wonders if his absolutely gorgeous voice had something to do with his immense popularity, since he gave extensive readings of his work during his short lifetime.

In addition to including well known poets such as those already mentioned, "Poetry Speaks, Expanded" also includes the work of many lesser-known poets including Louise Bogan, Louis MacNeice, Muriel Rukeyser, Robert Duncan, and Robert Hayden. The book presents the material on each poet so thoroughly that it is a marvelous way to gain an introduction to the work of previously unfamiliar poets.

The poems collected here are the very best of the very best and hearing them read by their creators is absolutely breathtaking. The CD also contains brief but very insightful introductions to each poet by Charles Osgood who is very easy on the ears.

Poetry, in its essence, is meant to be heard, not merely seen, and this edition of "Poetry Speaks" has gone a long way towards making that happen.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Purchase, February 13, 2008

By 

RAB "RAB" (Mississippi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work From Tennyson to Plath (Book w/ Audio CD) (Hardcover)

This anthology is very comprehensive - both as text and audio. The quality of the recording is really good and a delight to hear. Using the text as a companion to the audio makes for a very pleasurable experience!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good poems but incomplete recordings, October 14, 2009

By 

James Brown - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work From Tennyson to Plath (Book w/ Audio CD) (Hardcover)

I was bitterly disappointed by this package, which I bought entirely for the recordings. Many of the recordings of the longer poems are cut halfway through. Some even start halfway through. Imagine buying a music anthology and finding the songs were cut halfway through. No decent music publisher would take such liberties with music, yet this lot feel able to cut poetry.

Although most of the recordings are complete, don't expect that you're going to hear all of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', 'Howl','Hugh Selwyn Mauberley' or 'She Bowed to Her Brother'.

Disgracefully, the person whom you'll hear most of in total over the 3 CDs is one Charles Osgood, who provides short, unnecessary introductions to each poet. What a waste of CD space. Who's buying the CDs to hear Mr Osgood? His intros, if they must exist, could easily have been set down in print.

I was also fooled into thinking that all the contents of the book - a worthy selection - would be represented on the CDs. Wrong. Only some poems from each poet are. While Robert Frost has 5 recordings, most poets only get 2-3. Don't expect to hear '13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird' (Wallace Stevens) or 'My Last Duchess' (Browning). Disappointingly also, Stein's 'If I Told Him' doesn't feature (it does on other poetry CD compilations).

If you want to be sure what you're getting and to listen to these poets read their poems through from beginning to end, then you need to look elsewhere.