The Postal Confessions [Paperback]

Max Garland (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Reading Garland is like stepping into a very clean antique store filled exclusively with objects from 50 years ago. Each glittering glass plate or well-worn baseball evinces nostalgia for those who lived in its era, and often sentiment overrides historical accuracy. If Garland's poetry contained only snippets of a rosy past, this collection would have fallen into mawkishness. But he balances his warm pieces with cooler observations of more recent days that, for instance, comment on his failing health or call seagulls "angels, if it weren't / for the little black executioner's hoods / they wear, the hysterical laughing and crying, / the waves pulling the islands apart." Overall, the poems are presented as if Garland were trying to illustrate the progressively realized tragedy of innocence lost: the first is a heartwarming description of looking at old pictures of parents; the last, a heart-piercing commentary on the gap between God's finger and Adam's reach on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Elizabeth Gunderson

Review

Apology To The Boy In The Photographs
Aria For The U.s. Mail
Baby Boom
A Barn Near The Grahamville Fork
Because You Left Me A Handful Of Daffodils
The Bells
The Bombers, A Greek Love Tale
A Brief Lecture On The Tear
Cappuccino At The Marconi Hotel In Venice
Carp Remains Near Kentucky Dam
Cave Country
Classic Migraine On The Ferry From Ocracoke Island
County Night
Dreamwork For The Elegy
Dressing
Driving Through Coldwater
Fedoras
The Ferry From Patras
For A Snow In Late December
For A Woman In The Middle Of Winter
For An Evening In Late Summer
For An Ohio River Baptism
For Johnson County Snowfall
Genealogy
Homage To White Bread, Circa 1956
Hydrogen
In The Time It Takes You To Say This
Initiation, 1965
Introduction To The Phenomena, Circa 1959
Kegler
A Lesson In Love
Lessons From A Fifties Childhood
A Little Advice For The Snow
A Little Baptist Harmony, Please
The Meaning Of Baseball
Memories Of Pentecost
Mirror
The Missiles, 1962
The Morning After
The Muffins
The Nap Situation
An Oral History Of The English Language
Ornament
Outline For A Baptist History Of Highway 305
The Postal Confessions
Reminiscence On The Nature And Cause Of Flowers
Requiem For A Boom Town
Revisiting The Sistine Chapel
Self-lecture On The 8th Of September
Sermon On The Heart
Sermon On The Sweet Corn
Shoreline
Strawberries
The Termite Confessions
Thirst
Uncle
The Widow Visitations
The Woman On The Road From Kamari
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870239821
• ISBN-13: 978-0870239823
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,379,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where are you Max Garland?, April 27, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Postal Confessions (Paperback)

I first discovered Max Garland in The Carolina Quarterly and fell in love with the two poems published there from this collection. When I ordered the book from The U. of Mass. press (this was 5 years ago, before amazon)I was amazed. EVERY poem rings true. It's the kind that lifts your heart high and then gently puts it down in a better place. It has everything that most contempory poetry lacks , economy and beauty. Not a wasted word. I am honored to be the first person to have reviewed this book. My only question is "Where are you Max Garland", it's been five years already!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Postal Confessions is one of the five that I keep in my magazine rack to read over and over., July 5, 2011

By 

Phyllis M. Teplitz ([e-mail]) (San Rafael, Ca) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Postal Confessions (Paperback)

The Postal ConfessionsMax Garland has a unique voice. His poems never fail to surprise and delight me. Each one delivers intimacy, emotion,
and extrodinary style. He has taken me to new poetic heights. You might not have heard his name before, but after you read The Postal Confessions, you'll never forget it.The Postal Confessions