Raven's Rants: The First Five Years [Paperback]

Jonathan Bailey (Author)

Book Description

Raven's Rants started out in November 1997 as just another personal poetry home page. However, it quickly grew into one of the largest and best-known dark poetry sites on the Internet achieving both a large, dedicated following and a place in countless academic papers, including several doctoral dissertations. With it's themes of love, heartbreak, and coming of age in today's world, Raven's Rants has drawn readers in from over 200 countries.Now the works of Raven's Rants are available in a print collection. The entire first five years of the site's history, including all of the poetry, rants and most of the short stories, are presented here, reedited, revised and revamped for the print medium. You're invited to explore the Internet phenomenon that's been turning heads for the past half decade and let yourself in on the Internet's worst kept secret. It's waiting for you within these pages Reader Opinions"The emotions and issues Raven presents and discusses are some of the most thought provoking I have ever happened upon."-M. K. Strickland"It was like I was reading something that had sprung up in my own mind, almost in my own exact words."-Trevor Gerard

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Raven is the author and Webmaster of ravensrants.com, one of the Internet?s largest and best-known single author gothic poetry sites on the Internet. He currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina with his better half, Crystal, and their collection of misfit toys.

Product Details

• Paperback: 466 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (December 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059529541X
• ISBN-13: 978-0595295418
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yikes!!! This is awful juvenaila., July 3, 2006

By 

R. H. Schmitt "misanthrope" (The Compound, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raven's Rants: The First Five Years (Paperback)

I can't believe the reviews I'm reading. This...this is what passes as good poetry? It's not poetry but rather some arrogant, self-glorifying, shallow junior-high kid's diary. "Dear Diary, Raven is sad. So sad. Um....and dark. Yeah, that's it. I'm really, really, really, dark. So sad and dark. I'm so sensitive that life affects me more than it does other people. They just can't understand what deep, sensitive people like me and my readers go through..." Good God, save me from this shallow, poorly written drivel. How can you reviewers really read serious living poets like Paul Muldoon, Christian Bok, Seamus Heany, Billy Collins, Alicia Ostriker, C. K. Williams, and so many others who are really producing work that illuminates and transcends and still call at this confessional tripe by the sacred name of poetry. I'm just dumbfounded. I can actually feel the intelligence being sucked out of my brain as read a Raven "poem" featured on the website about being "haunted" by memories of an ex. Hideously clunky, devoid of anything new, entirely confessional and specific to the author. It is as if it were written by a high school freshman.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power and Pride, December 3, 2004

By 

Blackwillow "Katrin" (QLD, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raven's Rants: The First Five Years (Paperback)

I have not actually read Ravens book but i go to his site at least once a week. His work is amazing and truly accompanied by depth. They are beautifully mastered peices and are told in raw human emotion. If ever i was a writer i would wish to be that of the pride and power Raven has in his pen. His site is truly applauded by myself and many others and sorry to say Mr Olsen but you don't know what your on about. It may take a certain perspective to see the beauty in Ravens work and you obviously don't have that perspective. I pray to whatever god you follow that you will one day get it and be able to enjoy the powerful writings of Raven.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Congratulations Raven, April 27, 2004

By 

"shy_violet78" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raven's Rants: The First Five Years (Paperback)

When I first visited www.ravensrants.com, I was impressed with the authenticity and candidness that Raven used to express universal emotion through his poems. He truly has a gift for expressing emotions through masterfully woven words. Though most of his poetry does focus on the pains felt in life, pain which I'm sure almost everyone has felt at some point or another, a few do deal with love and more positive emotions.
Over the past three years, I have read almost everything on his website. The short stories are inspired with unique concepts and twists. His essays, shoots, and rants touch on subjects that not everyone wants to pay attention to and usually take the side which goes against popular culture.
Raven is a master of the English language and his interersting perspective on life is inspiring. He tries, and in many cases succeeds, in showing different angles to a common story. Congratulations Raven on your success.