The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (Paperback)

by Ted Kooser (Author) "Before we get to the specifics or writing and revision, let me say a few things about the job you're taking on..." (more)
Key Phrases: ofa poem, globe glows, ham cubes, Careful Choices, Controlling Effects, Can You Read Your Poem (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Now the 13th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, the Iowa-born, Nebraska-based Kooser has 40 years' experience in constructing verse. Like Wallace Stevens, Kooser was for many years an insurance executive, and begins chapter one with the following admonition: "You'll never be able to make a living writing poems." The soundness of that advice sets the tone for this no-nonsense book, which "advocates for poems that can be read and understood without professional interpretation." To that end, he offers plenty of examples from contemporary poets like Jane Hirschfield and B.H. Fairchild (as well as from his own work), explaining uses of rhyme, meter, imagery and other fundamentals without resorting to overly technical language. He stresses the use of judicious detail (which has its source in close observation), and shows, with subtlety, how and when one might shift from metaphor to simile, or vice versa. The last of 12 chapters stresses time as the greatest help in editing: "leave your poem alone until it looks as if someone else might have written it." Perhaps the most important feature of the book is Kooser's voice, which comes through clearly and evenly, with little patience for cant, but a clear desire to advise those starting down a largely thankless path. "The truth is," he writes, "nobody's waiting for you to press your poetry into their hands."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The work of Kooser, America's new poet laureate, will be receiving more attention now, attention that is amply deserved. As this collection of essays shows, he is a generous presence in the poetic world, one who feels that poets' "job description" (which he discusses in the book's first essay) is not to make money or even fame, but to "serve the poems we write." While encouraging poets to think of their audience as they write, and to revise toward intelligibility, he does not prescribe who that audience will be. His own work tends toward the rural and populist, but he does not disdain those whose audience will be urban and urbane. Rather, he urges poets to focus on the work of poetry rather than on the idea of being a poet. His advice, useful to poets at any level of achievement, includes both broad and specific ideas on revising, and enlightening discussion of matters ranging from the often-underestimated power of simile to employing narrative effectively. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803259786
• ISBN-13: 978-0803259782
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,306 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Advice From Ted, February 28, 2005

By	James Hiller (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (Hardcover)

Ted Kooser, our most current Poet Laureate, writes some of the most accesible poetry around today. Reflective of his Midwestern origins, his poetry is lyrical and simple, beautiful and stunning. Just pick up any of one of his many books, and delve into his works to appreciate why he has earned this national honor. Kooser, teacher that he is, has responded in kind, and written for us a wonderful manual on the art of writing poetry, "The Poetry Home Repair Manual".

The subtitle of this work is "Practical Advice for Beginning Poets", but I daresay this book can be a guide for anyone interested in the art of poetry. I myself have dabbled in poetry since high school years, and I found this guide insightful. It allowed me to reflect upon my own work, illuminating what I've been doing well and supporting change in other areas. It also ignited a renewed interest in writing poetry, which had fallen off since a recent foray into screenwriting.

Kooser writes this non-fiction book like a poet would. There are some absolutely beautiful images that Koosher paints to elaborate his points. He describes the first few lines of a poem as an invitation to a houseguest, which we welcome into the poem for a short stay. These, and others, are indelible images that you can retain as you write.

Also, fortunately, Koosher shies away from long, arduous explanations on the mechanics of writing poetry. One of the ways to turn people off quicker to this writing is to demand an understanding of meter and rhyme. Koosher's discussion is quick and painless, kuch like tearing off a band-aid. He suggests focusing on emotions and memories, yet talks about the mechanics as a way to bring it to your awareness.

Kooser has given us a gift in this book. His inital discussion in the book about making poetry understandable is right on. So much of poetry is lost on the masses because the context of the poetry is lost on the reader. You know you should understand the poem, and appreciate it, but in reality, it's way beyond anyone besides scholars.. Kooser's book itself is a well-written, understandable kick-in-the-pants to everyone who loves poetry, both the reading and the writing of it.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have book for all poets and readers of poetry, April 29, 2005

By	Elle (Ames, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (Hardcover)

This is the best book on writing poetry I have ever read. Kooser takes you by the hand and walks you through the poems, pointing out what makes each unique along the way. The book, itself, is beautifully written. Kooser makes you want to read and write poetry again.

Every newspaper in the country should publish his column on poetry! Let's start something..... Can you imagine what just might happen if we all woke up and read a poem in the morning and thought about that all day, talked about it at the office?

66 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, useful advice and guidance, March 30, 2005

By	Michael Milford (Brunswick, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets (Hardcover)

All the things you worry about doing or not doing as a poet are de-mystified in this warm book that's full of practical and useful advice and guidance. You get the feeling Ted Kooser is in the room with you as you're reading and he's got his hand on your shoulder encouraging you to write your feelings down, your observations. It don't matter if anybody but you sees it. Don't worry about forms. Put down your unique experiences and feelings. And to make it better, here's what you can do. It's kind of like a meal of comfort food. Whether one is striving to begin writing poems, or wants to improve one's poetry writing or other writing, this is a nice reference book.