Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Stranded on a Desert Island Beginner's Poetry Writing Book, May 26, 2001
On page 261, there is a quote from the poet, Sylvia Plath: "nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing." This friendly introduction to writing poetry has everything--forms, writing and revision exercises, workshop and formal classroom advice, and some very humorous and helpful quotations from those who have been through the process. One's writing might still "stink," but this guide gives the novice poet a chance to give thought, coherence, and polish to those random scribblings.I'm a retired public acquisitions librarian who started writing poems in his forties. I could have avoided spending a lot of money and saved a lot of room on my shelves had this book been available sooner. Just a cursory look shows that it accomplishes more in less space than anything else I have on my shelves, and I'm talking well over 30 volumes on how to write poems. The explanations are crystal clear and the advice is right on target. There are some wonderful textbooks such as Mary Kinzie's, "A Poet's Guide to Poetry" and Wallace & Boisseau's, "Writing Poems," but this book is perfect for the person who has no access or wants no access to formal classes or just wants to get his/her feet wet. A competitor to the "Idiot's" series has a look-a-like volume, "Poetry for Dummies," but that volume is more of an all-inclusive reference work with a major portion devoted to the history of and facts about poetry--nevertheless also a good introductory volume. For the aspiring poet with little or no exposure to poetry writing, this has to be the first choice.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Demystifies Poetry and Inspires, May 7, 2001
This book completely demystifies the process of writing poetry. It shows how to write, what to aim for, gives some real, concrete guidelines for starting, yet doesn't encourage your poetry to be formulaic. The author so enjoys reading and writing poems that she reminds the reader what we love about them too. Title is a misnomer, though: this book is not for "complete idiots" at all; it is for anyone enthusiastic about the craft.
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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
if you can keep it in perspective...., September 25, 2004
I'm completely new to the world of writing poetry; in fact, it's one of those things I never thought I'd be picking up a book for, let alone an Idiot's guide. I'd like to learn the basics because not only am I a big word nrrd whose idea of an exciting night in is hunkering down and learning what "iambic pentameter" really means, I know darn well that all those economy of words and lyrical language skills are really going to come in handy on the fiction writing tip, too. Overall, the other reviewers here are right on the money: this book does a great job of explaining the basics, is an excellent reference for all those poetry terms you never learned, and is packed with fun exercises that are sure to get you writing. I've been very happy with this book -- I carry it around on the subway and whip it out when I have a free minute, and always have a good time when I do.
However.
There's one thing that really sticks in my craw about this book, so much so that I'm sitting down to type out this review. And that's the unrelenting admonishments designed to steer us humble students in the direction of writing "good" poetry. I'm thinking that anyone who is picking up a Complete Idiot's Guide to Poetry has probably got a heck of a long way to go before their work is what you would consider "good". I'm also pretty confident that, for anyone picking up said Complete Idiot's Guide, writing "good" poetry is probably a little further down the list of priorities, perhaps nestled somewhere between "adapting all of MOBY DICK as a fixed-form ballad" and "writing ''Twas The Night Before Christmas 2: Electric Boogaloo'".
One thing that really troubles me, here, is that the author never misses the opportunity to bring up the "good poetry" issue. Perhaps she's just had to read a lot of bad poetry, in the course of teaching or editing literary journals or whatever, and is just plain sick of it. I can appreciate that. Here's the thing, though: bad poetry is just a fact of life for beginning writers. And beginning writers, especially those who have been traumatized into not writing for one reason or another, don't need yet another negative voice in their head to concern themselves with, no matter how well-meaning. They've probably got images of their horrid seventh grade English teacher in there already, the one who humiliated them in front of the entire class or sucked all the joy out of putting words together. A concern for "good" too early in the game is misplaced, in my opinion, and I found all the comments on it to be condescending distractions that just served to get my dander up.
All in all, this book is excellent, but gosh darn it all, it would have done well with a little less schoolmarming and a little more cuddling.
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by The Poetry Center
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