Weather Central (Pitt Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Ted Kooser (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As the excellent critic Dana Gioia has remarked (Can Poetry Matter? [1992]), Kooser is a popular poet in the sense that he speaks of nonliterary experience in nonliterary language. You don't have to know literature or literary manners to get a lot out of his poetry; it's not highfalutin. Because he writes of such ordinary things as noticing the weather, suddenly remembering one's own past, and imaginatively projecting our human consciousness into other creatures and even things (see "A Heart of Gold," the "protagonist" of which is a bottle of beer), he runs the risk of sentimentality, of letting emotion overpower reason and observable reality. But sentimentality rarely gets the better of him, and to anyone familiar with the great, regular middle of North America--Kooser was born in Iowa but lives in Nebraska--the scenes and actions in his poetry (especially the way that, in several poems, light--the quintessential physical reality on the plains--is a virtually corporeal actor) will seem, to paraphrase Pope, things often seen but ne'er so well observed. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Weather Central, TedKooser's latest book, reinforces his title as poet laureate of Nebraska, whether the governor has gotten around to making the appointment or not. . . .His poems have the beauty and wisdom of something closely tied to the soil. . . .perfect combinations of imagery and music, American Poetry, the real thing."
--Bloomsbury Review

"A stunning book. Kooser's very best. Poems of a mature poet whose craft and vision merge in a way seldom seen today."
--Northeast

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press; 1 edition (September 27, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082295527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0822955276
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ted Kooser was the United States Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006 and won a Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems DELIGHTS AND SHADOWS. He is the author of twelve full-length volumes of poetry and several books of nonfiction, and his work has appeared in many periodicals. This is his first children's book. He lives in Garland, Nebraska.Barry Root has illustrated many books for children, including THE CAT WHO LIKED POTATO SOUP by Terry Farish and THE BIRTHDAY TREE by Paul Fleischman. He lives in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poet Laureate of Nebraska, October 30, 2000

By 

Susan J. Erickson (Bellingham, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weather Central (Pitt Poetry Series) (Paperback)

After reading Weather Central it is easy to understand why Ted Kooser is sometimes called the poet laureate of Nebraska. He writes with eloquence of barn owls, potatoes, spider eggs, sparklers, baseball and the prairie so that they matter to the reader wherever they might live. These poems do not rely on obscure references, contorted images, or pretension. They are powerful because we see that our own lives are poems that are being created each day. With 20/20 vision Kooser puts them on the page for us.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars another fine collection by kooser, October 6, 2004

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Weather Central (Pitt Poetry Series) (Paperback)

Although I didn't think this collection was quite as good as Delights & Shadows or his Selected Poems, Weather Central is a fine collection of poems. I recommend "Four Secretaries", "In Passing", "A Statue of the Unknown Soldier", and "Weather Central." The poems seem to be a bit longer than what he usually writes, though the rest of Kooser's characteristics are here. He still is plainspoken. He is still a simple poet. He's still a poet everyone can love.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Weather Central, October 11, 2005

By 

mss (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weather Central (Pitt Poetry Series) (Paperback)

Ted Kooser's poetry is lovely. "Sparklers" on page 79 is a beautifully spare poem that really spoke to me.