Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs [Hardcover]

Amy Hempel (Author), Jim Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 1995

The dogs of America's most respected writers and thinkers have miraculously found their voices, and the exciting list of contributors includes William Wegman, Thom Gunn, Cynthia Heimel, John Irving, Rick Bass, Susan Minot, Edward Albee, and many others. Along with their verses, each author also provides a photograph or drawing of his or her bardic beast.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Who would have thought that writers have eloquently poetic dogs, even writers who are famous for prose rather than verse, like Natalie Kusz, Gordon Lish, Bob Shacochis, Cynthia Heimel, and Roy Blount Jr.; even writers you hardly realize are writers, like cartoonist Linda Barry? Well, they do, and here their dogs are, holding forth (thanks to editors Hempel and Shepard's groupings of their efforts) on such subjects of canine contemplation as "Chow," "The Good Life," "Substance Abuse," and "Theology" (Kathryn Walker's Flea posits a Big Dog creator; Mark Doty's Beau practices Zen). Some of these pups are even able to address us from the grave, including the inevitable nonconformist, John Irving's Marrow, who opines that "All dogs prefer prose." Tricked out with more than a few dual-author portraits (pick of the pack--Andrew Hudgins and Rosie, giving good tongue), this is as endearing and amusing--as earthy, too--as poetry collections get. Ray Olson

From the Inside Flap

The dogs of America's most respected writers and thinkers have miraculously found their voices, and the exciting list of contributors includes William Wegman, Thom Gunn, Cynthia Heimel, John Irving, Rick Bass, Susan Minot, Edward Albee, and many others. Along with their verses, each author also provides a photograph or drawing of his or her bardic beast.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1 edition (May 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517701405
• ISBN-13: 978-0517701409
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is poetry pure and simple., September 1, 2000

By 

John Thomson (Campbell, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs (Paperback)

I fell in love with this book from the moment I read the first dog, er ... poet. I have raved about this collection ever since. What can I say? Even cat-people love it. It's true! I'm not lying! Really! A young school-teacher friend of mine has decided to use these poems to inspire her students to write poems from their own pets' point of view ... just so the kids will feel safer about writing poems. If the pet writes the poem, then it doesn't matter if people laugh at the poem; the pet won't mind. And that way, the pet can just go ahead and write all the poems (s)he wants to ... no matter what. Thank the Big Dog for bringing this back into print!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any human who loves dogs will love this book!, October 12, 1999

By 

Mary Lou "Dog Mama" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs (Paperback)

I was fully prepared to like this book, but I was quite unprepared for it to be as altogether wonderful and extraordinary as it is. These poems are brilliant, insightful, intuitive, heartbreaking and hilarious. I laughed and cried, reading and re-reading and savoring every delicious word. The picture of tiny little Sadie sitting with her Mama, the poignant beauty of the "Memento Mori" section, the hilarity of the paeans by several of the dogs to their food.... it's impossible to choose a favorite. I have called friends to read sections and entire poems to them, and they have all been as moved and delighted as I. What a joy to learn that such sensitive and talented artists are as in love with their dogs as all the rest of us, but also able to articulate that love so beautifully. This is great poetry and great literature and a delight to all the senses. "Unleashed!" will be under many of my friends' Christmas trees this year. All the poets and both the editors deserve tremendous credit. This is a winner. Paws up!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars woof. WOOF!, October 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Unleashed: Poems by Writers' Dogs (Paperback)

I had a poetry teacher once who said some poets were better than others. I argued that "better" was subjective. Now I know I was wrong. There are poets that are better than others. They're dogs!