Whitman's Men: Walt Whitman's Calamus Poems Celebrated by Contemporary Photographers [Hardcover]

Walt Whitman (Author), Various Authors (Author), David Groff (Editor), Richard Berman (Editor), M. Beard (Photographer), J. Dugdale (Photographer), R. Flynt (Photographer)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Universe (division of Rizzoli); 1st edition (May 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789300222
• ISBN-13: 978-0789300225
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CELEBRATION OF LIFE, March 24, 2001

By 

MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whitman's Men: Walt Whitman's Calamus Poems Celebrated by Contemporary Photographers (Hardcover)

Not only is this a book of beautiful photographs beautifully reproduced, it also has many of Walt Whitman's wonderful Calamus poems from his classic "Leaves of Grass."

The seven male, contemporary photographers represented in the book are all dealing in their images with the themes set forth in Whitman's poetry: loss, love of life and nature and mankind, death, love of man for man, loneliness, companionship, etc.: a man bathing in a tin tub in a John Dugdale cyanotype; two men embracing underwater in a mysterious Robert Flynt image; a man, stripped to the waist, standing alone staring at the camera, in what seems an old, empty house in the hand-colored photograph by Mark Beard; Russell Maynor's color Poloroid of a young, male nude---all of the 76 fascinating photographs in this small, perfectly put together volume deserve to be seen, seen again and shared.

And then, of course, there are always Whitman's magnificent words: "...Doubtless I could not have perceived the universe, or written one of my poems, if I had not freely given myself to comrades, to love." VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Essence of Walt Whitman, March 4, 2003

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whitman's Men: Walt Whitman's Calamus Poems Celebrated by Contemporary Photographers (Hardcover)

As we pass through another period in our history where unspeakable wars seem imminent, the great poets of the present and past draw focus, attempting to sound the alarm that might just possibly awaken us. And always chief among those poets who felt the folly and shame of war is Walt Whitman. So it is no wonder that collections of his poems re-surface and hopefully nourish a generation of young people who face the possibility of following the lifted sword.

Whitman's voice, in this collection from the Calamus poems, is turned toward a more personal declaration of intimacy between men rather than fist-shaking against war. In a beautifully designed and curated format, David Groff has selected poems that are enhanced by Richard Berman's selection of photographic images to allow the reader to listen more carefully to the thoughts of the master. Here we are not ask to weep as with "The Wound Dresser": here we celebrate the comradery and love between the living. The sensitive photographs are the contributions of John Dugdale, Mark Beard, Robert Flynt, Bill Jacobson, Russell Maynor, Frank Yamrus and Steve Morrison, and while none of these images is "illustrational", each embellishes the poetry in a way one believes Walt Whitman would mightily approve. A beautiful volume this.