New and Selected Poems 1974-2004 (Poets, Penguin) [Paperback]

Carl Dennis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Poets, Penguin | Publication Date: March 30, 2004

The New York Times has called Carl Dennis’s poetry “wise, original, and deeply moving.” A poet with a growing audience of admirers, Dennis writes in a clear, classically simple language that is both personal and universal. Making use of a rich variety of genres—advice, meditation, elegy, and prophecy—his poems take unexpected turns as they explore their subjects, catching the reader off balance in a way that is liberating. This new anthology gathers the best of his eight previous books along with a generous sampling of new poems.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coming off the 2002 Pulitzer for Practical Gods, Dennis's eighth book of verse highlights a career's worth of modesty of style, which seeks to make sincerity, goodness, and humility aesthetically interesting, partly through sinuous syntax, and partly through the wisdom it offers. That style finds tests and triumphs in this selection from three decades of work, to which a sheaf of fine new poems is added: one defines death as "The point when friends stop phoning us for our opinions,/ Or to tell us what they always intended to say." "Books likely to last," another new poem confesses, "Can only acknowledge that nothing lasts but wishes." Such acknowledgments give Dennis his bread-and-butter, and have done so since his earliest books: one 1970s poem offers "Useful Advice," another hints at "the truth/ About the shortage of teachers everywhere." ("Aunt Celia, 1961," on the other hand, promises "A life without remorse, that's something/ I'm willing to predict for a generous/ Brave young man like you.") Dennis's goals place him near (and should attract fans of) Robert Pinsky and Robert Hass. His various characters sometimes sound too much alike, and his insistence on reason and humility may narrow his tonal range; nevertheless, this retrospective shows Dennis at his best.
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From Booklist

Having published eight volumes of poetry and won not only the Ruth Lilly Prize but also a 2002 Pulitzer, Dennis has more than proven his "staying power" as a writer, as well as the steady appeal of his honest, accessible, and heartfelt poems. Beginning with his newest poems and jumping to the chronologically arranged selected poems from 1974 on, this collection shows that although Dennis' subject matter has digressed, his poetic voice and his writerly intention seem to have remained the same. Dennis writes in such an open way, considers such normal human feelings as love, loss, or regret, and asks such pertinent questions as "Is there a god?" that readers cannot help but be pulled in--feeling, asking, discovering, and experiencing right along with the poet. This is a solid, pertinent book and a fine addition to any contemporary poetry collection. Janet St. John
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142000833
• ISBN-13: 978-0142000830
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CARL DENNIS, POET, May 12, 2007

By 

William J. Bly "Bill" (Tulsa county, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New and Selected Poems 1974-2004 (Poets, Penguin) (Paperback)

Carl Dennis is a fine poet whose work is as refined as a painting by Vermeer. The elegance, the simlicity is from a master poet who writes and rewrites constantly. He is a born poet as David Smiith was a born sculptor.
I had the honor to be a grad student of Dr Dennis in '77 and '78
at the University of Buffalo, and he demanded perfection. Every great teacher demands perfection, they are the teachers we learn from, not those who chose the easy path as second-rate instructors.
Dr Dennis, whose respect once earned, is a friend forever, yet you
earn that respect with hours upon hours of writing and rewriting.
He does not put up with grad student nonsense, nor does he allow his own work to be inferior. His poems seem as cut diamonds,with an elegance of rare gems, and literary gems they are; living on their own, within the pages of poetic perfection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection not to be missed, April 26, 2009

By 

Daniel R. Greenfield "Dan" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: New and Selected Poems 1974-2004 (Poets, Penguin) (Paperback)

I read a good deal of modern and contemporary poetry, and have pretty good familiarity with many contemporary poets, but I had never heard of Carl Dennis before picking up this book. Once I picked it up, however, and began to read these poems, I was hooked, and could not put it down. Each poem was a wonderful treasure, and I looked forward to slowly and carefully reading each one. I was totally amazed by these works.

The poems are thoughtful, philosophical, lyrical, filled with evocative imagery, and at the same time displaying the rich variety of enigmas hidden in life and the passage of time. Some of these poems have brought tears to my eyes, others have left me shaking my head, surprised that someone could write so well. Images from some of the poems will not go away, and they have stayed with me many months later. Each poem is its own separate world, and each one brings you in, charms you, and leaves you changed somehow, seeing the world in a different, more wonderful way. In short, this is a collection not to be missed.

The only criticism to be made about Dennis' style is that there is occasionally a tendency for him to be too preoccupied with appealing to a popular audience by introducing elements of humor. Some of us do not care for humor in poetry; it seems to trivialize it so. We also do not care for the poet presenting himself or herself as just another Joe or Jane. The poet who sees his/her world in a self-deprecating, humorous way has traded depth of vision for entertainment value. Dennis has avoided this fault in most of his poems, but the temptation appears to linger on the sidelines in just a few.

5.0 out of 5 stars Carl Dennis New and Selected Poems, November 6, 2010

By 

Anthony Dimatteo (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: New and Selected Poems 1974-2004 (Poets, Penguin) (Paperback)

Carl Dennis is a major poet of our times. These poems show why. Inconspicuously meditative and philosophical, they ripple with the day-to-day idiom of American English, striving for the clarity they have apparently earned with ease as well as seeking for the wisdom that they yield to diligent readers.