davybaby's review against another edition
4.0
Ted Kooser is delightful in a similar way to Billy Collins. I don't think I like him as much, because he's not as whimsical and consistently funny, but he does have a remarkable view of the world that he shares well. Also very easy to read and grasp, I recommend him to anyone at all interested in poetry.
teaandbooklover's review against another edition
2.0
This is so close to a one star for me. So many of the poems are just sad or depressing and some were just plain weird to me. I checked this out at the library expecting to love it and then later buy it but not now.
There were very few poems I liked in this book. I'm guessing 5-8% was about it. Apparently from the other reviews people love it but I'm willing to be odd-man-out here. Just not my cup of tea at all.
There were very few poems I liked in this book. I'm guessing 5-8% was about it. Apparently from the other reviews people love it but I'm willing to be odd-man-out here. Just not my cup of tea at all.
idiedforbeauty's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
bookowl81's review against another edition
5.0
Ted Kooser is one of the finest poets we have. I enjoy his poems more than any other poet I've read in the last 15 years. He helps me connect with other people, places, and emotions. The poems remind you that other minds are roaming out there, looking for company, and feeling the same way you do. This book is a voice in the dark saying "you are not alone."
kellyd's review
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Soft, quietly amusing, mundane moments turned into art.
xterminal's review
4.0
Ted Kooser, Flying at Night (University of Pittsburgh, 2005)
For the first quarter of this book, it seemed to me something was missing. I'm still not entirely sure what it was, but then things smoothed out a bit, presumably as Kooser got older (I'm assuming rough chronological order here). From that point on, it's the same sort of stuff Ted Kooser has written for the past thirty-odd years, and it's all quite good:
“Behind each garage a ladder
sleeps in the leaves, its hands
folded across its lean belly.
There are hundreds of them
in each town, and more
sleeping by the haystacks and barns
out in the country-- tough old
day laborers, seasoned and wheezy,
drunk on the weather,
sleeping outside with the crickets.”
(“Late September”)
Kooser has a sense of the simple in language matched by very few living American poets-- Simic, Sadoff, Allbery, a few others. He's pretty much the embodiment of Williams' “no ideas but in things” charge here. An excellent book (for most of its length), and highly recommended. ****
For the first quarter of this book, it seemed to me something was missing. I'm still not entirely sure what it was, but then things smoothed out a bit, presumably as Kooser got older (I'm assuming rough chronological order here). From that point on, it's the same sort of stuff Ted Kooser has written for the past thirty-odd years, and it's all quite good:
“Behind each garage a ladder
sleeps in the leaves, its hands
folded across its lean belly.
There are hundreds of them
in each town, and more
sleeping by the haystacks and barns
out in the country-- tough old
day laborers, seasoned and wheezy,
drunk on the weather,
sleeping outside with the crickets.”
(“Late September”)
Kooser has a sense of the simple in language matched by very few living American poets-- Simic, Sadoff, Allbery, a few others. He's pretty much the embodiment of Williams' “no ideas but in things” charge here. An excellent book (for most of its length), and highly recommended. ****
danmc's review
4.0
I'd read a few of Kooser's poems in collections and his craft-focused poetry writing book The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets. I highly recommend the writing book. So I came to this collection with high expectations of that kind that can leave a person quite disappointed. But not this time!
Kooser clearly takes his own advice to write a poem as a way of communicating as clearly as possible, to write poems as invited guests of their readers. Clarity and earnestness are evident in many of his poems. My two favorites of the book are "Christmas Eve" about sitting down with his elderly father, and "The Blind Always Come as Such a Surprise", which shows the slight murky glow of his sense of humor. In a way, Kooser splits the difference between Billy Collins and Mary Oliver for me. He does not have so many overtly funny poems ("Selecting a Reader" being the delightful exception) as Collins does (such as the also delightful "Candle Hat"). Yet avoids being slight more than Collins does at times. Kooser is not quite so devoted to the clear seeing of the natural world and deep philosophical assertions as Oliver. And yet he does not slip into overly poetical (affected seeming) poems as Oliver does at times.
So "The Man With the Hearing Aid" and "At the Office Early" can step away into a bit of magical realism that I wouldn't expect from Oliver, and "The Boarding House" can tell a delightfully sweet Henry James sort of story in 52 words, and "The Ride" can use a heartfelt metaphor (a conceit, really) to mourn the passing of a friend.
Kooser's poetry feels more like craft than flowery, swiftly-executed poems. If you don't mind some traditional form and traditional conclusions, I think you will be richly rewarded for reading this book.
Kooser clearly takes his own advice to write a poem as a way of communicating as clearly as possible, to write poems as invited guests of their readers. Clarity and earnestness are evident in many of his poems. My two favorites of the book are "Christmas Eve" about sitting down with his elderly father, and "The Blind Always Come as Such a Surprise", which shows the slight murky glow of his sense of humor. In a way, Kooser splits the difference between Billy Collins and Mary Oliver for me. He does not have so many overtly funny poems ("Selecting a Reader" being the delightful exception) as Collins does (such as the also delightful "Candle Hat"). Yet avoids being slight more than Collins does at times. Kooser is not quite so devoted to the clear seeing of the natural world and deep philosophical assertions as Oliver. And yet he does not slip into overly poetical (affected seeming) poems as Oliver does at times.
So "The Man With the Hearing Aid" and "At the Office Early" can step away into a bit of magical realism that I wouldn't expect from Oliver, and "The Boarding House" can tell a delightfully sweet Henry James sort of story in 52 words, and "The Ride" can use a heartfelt metaphor (a conceit, really) to mourn the passing of a friend.
Kooser's poetry feels more like craft than flowery, swiftly-executed poems. If you don't mind some traditional form and traditional conclusions, I think you will be richly rewarded for reading this book.
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