GET TO THE HEART OF WHITMAN
589101
This reading brings out the strength and great love in W.W.'s work. This impressed me no end. Unforgettable!
2990818
What is there to say about Walt Whitman 123 years after his death and 160 after the first publication of LEAVES OF GRASS? What-
ever I say will be colored by hyperbole, because I cannot envision my life without his poetry and presence. He's that important to me. So let me begin: Walt Whitman is the poet whose works every American should not only read but know intimatey. Walt Whitman has been,  and continues to be the beacon of our democracy abroad. He wrote visionary poetry and inspiring prose, always celebrating America as a dream of justice, hope and love, never supporting empire-building or wasteful militarism. A conscientious objector to violence, he was a nurse during the Civil War, not doing routine nursing but rather consoling grievously wounded men, helping them write letters home, and, Hermes-like, guiding them across the threshold of eternity. In his old age, he exchanged his barbaric yawlp for a quiet prayer to "Thou Transcendent" and envisioned dying as a voyage of discovery. His poems are complex but not convoluted, easy to read but demand a lifetime to appreciate, provide pleasure in the moment and profound wisdom in the long run. Walt Whitman is both rhetorical and intimate, sometimes at the same time. Dead over a hundred years, he still promised us "I depart as air . . . I stop some where waiting for you."
573249
This particular Whitman coin folder is a larger size than the standard blue Whitman coin folders.  Labeled a deluxe edition, it has hopefully enough slots to collect US Presidential dollars through 2016.  Instead of being the traditional 3 fold out pages, the book has 80 slots split evenly between four pages.  The first two pages are for holding your Philadelphia mint coins, and the last two are for your Denver mint coins.

Sadly this is no extra slot for holding the reverse, but fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) the mint marks for these coins is on the edge (making the marks hard to find, and almost impossible to display in any coin collecting folder or holder.

Whitman does have a two volume set of the smaller (standard) sized books (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Presidential-Folder-Vol-I-Official-Whitman-Coin-Folder/dp/0794821812/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Presidential Folder Vol. I (Official Whitman Coin Folder)</a>), but I like the larger format of this book because I'll be able to keep the entire collection together.  The size of this book is identical to Whitman's complete&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fifty-State-Commemorative-Quarter-Folder-Deluxe-Edition-1999-2008/dp/1582380783/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fifty State Commemorative Quarter Folder: Deluxe Edition 1999-2008</a>.  In other words, this book will not be an orphan.

A tip for those of you having a hard time finding these coins: US Post Office vending machines often return change in the form of the Presidential, Sacagawea, and Anthony dollars.  The majority of the coins I've got are actually the Presidential dollars and of pretty good circulated quality.

A quick note on the size of these coins ... they are actually slightly larger than US quarters.  Despite what one reviewer said, this coins will not fit in a generic quarter book.  My dollars fit easily into each slot.

Like most Whitman books, the two different fold out flaps of paper contain interesting information on the physical parameters of the coins, their history, and summary statistics on all the US Presidents through George W. Bush.  (Carter, Bush, Clinton, and Bush are not yet eligible for being turned into coins.  But Whitman included stats about their Presidencies.)
4506685
this is sort of a Zen and the Art of Literary Maintenance.
you'll love this fast joyride if you love a certain kind of rebel-spirit literature, or if you love New York, or if you love books of self-discovery, and especially if you love all three!
through telling his own story of coming of age and let's say enlightenment, he also tells the story of Poe & Melville & Whitman & Henry Miller & Kerouac & Ginsberg.  all of those guys are in the same literary family, so if you enter the room with any one of them under your arm, this book introduces you around the party.
and it made me realize it wasn't just me!  it's funny how Tytell's life sort of follows around in the ghosts and shadows and trails of these earlier travelers, making some of the same mistakes, having some of the same doubts and insecurities, and then flashes of courage and conviction.  we like authors because they're reflecting some side of us.  i think there is some sort of spirit connection across time.  those authors in our same family tree were us in a sense.  and this book is a family reunion with all the old legendary uncles and grampas coming out of hiding and sharing their stories and suddenly you go "ah-ha!  I'm not that weird!  Check out Uncle Henry and Grampa Whitman!"
3120388
Nice to go back a few years and visit great poetry.  For any of you that would like to visit T.S. Eliot again, or those whom wish to acquaint yourselves, this book is for you.
3056858
Here are 270 pages of the most sublimely beautiful poems in English that I have ever read. Sam Hamill has brought us one step closer to the music of an ancient and culturally distant aesthetic that, until the modernist revolution of the last century, was closed to English speaking readers and writers.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact that Chinese poetry in translation had on modern poetry in English. Arthur Waley's *170 Chinese Poems* and Ezra Pound's enormously important adaptions in *Cathay* are cornerstones of modernism. Kenneth Rexroth's translations, starting with *100 Poems from the Chinese*, were equally as important to the last quarter of the 20th century. Moreover, the interest that these translations produced sparked an interest in world poetry, that completely transformed poetry in English during the last 50 years.  The obvious issue that is always before the reader of poetry in translation is authenticity. Octavio Paz said all poetry is translation. Still, as a reader, it's impossible to know what distance is really spanned in the journey from Tu Fu's mouth to my ears.
I think this book goes a long way toward settling, if not answering some of these concerns. I don't read classical Chinese, so I don't know exactly how accurate these translations are. Nevertheless, Sam Hamill's informative (though somewhat loopy) introduction makes a strong case for thier reliability. By showing his method, he inspires confidence that not only are you reading beautiful English poems, but that what you're reading is speaking to over the bridge of centuries and cultures.
The center 100 pages of this amazing book contains probably the finest translations to date of China's great 8th century poets, Li Po, Wang Wei, and Tu Fu (who is, according to K. Rexroth, the greatest non-epic, non-dramatic poet in any language in the history of the world). These treasures are surrounded by a generous selection of poems dating from the 1st century BCE to the 16th century CE.
Whether you already love poetry or you want to start loving it, don't pass up the enrichment that these poems can bring to your life.
901811
I enjoyed William Nicholson's recreation of the fabled love story of Emily Dickinson's brother Austin under the eaves and apparent approval of the poet herself. This presentation gave me a good focus on the lives of the Dickinsons, lives that were lived nearby and amongst my ancestors. The author weaves Emily Dickinson's poetry into his story in a way that I find tasteful and that helps me savor her work.

He uses as a vehicle, a young woman supposedly researching this aspect of the Amherst Dickinsons who travels from England for this purpose and whose surname also happens to be Dickinson. He has her involved in a parallel love affair that to me is not nearly as convincing.

This novel starts out with scintillating writing but part way through seems to become pedestrian, almost as if someone else had taken over the reins.

The author, who is British, occasionally slips in his attempts to represent contemporary US expressions in his dialogue. One can forgive that but it is momentarily jarring, plus I'd think it would be "vetted" for any author as prominent and respected as this one.
2016048
I've just finished reading DeAnn Louise Daigle's heart-warming poetry/memoir, "Come So Far."  It was so beautiful an experience, I could barely put the book down, and I know I will read it again and again for both inspiration and pleasure.  Each poem is a meditation on life, on its personal yet universal journey, on memory's depth and persistence.  It's a story in poetic form of paradise lost, then found again in a different guise -- first through the love of place (Soldiers Pond in Northern Maine, later in New York City,) then of one's closest kin (parents through the lens of childhood, later through finding love with her husband Jim in her adult years.)
22315
There are poems in this book that are in dialogue with the human heart.  I really couldn't put it down. After you have read this book you will understand that after a life filled with living what remains is a human heart filled with lovely things.
1496342
Reading a Gerald Stern poem is hitching a ride on a boomerang built with words. One is going to be taken on an exhilarating emotional ride through space and then returned gently to earth not quite the same person.  Many compare Stern to Whitman because of his  humanity which makes his work accessible and memorable. He is a magician who turns the  mundane into magnificence by writing with his whole being.  A master poet who doesn't tell about experiences, rather, he shares them with his readers.  Keep this book by the bedtable and dream along with these poems.
3788365
Sanford Sylvan is the perfect artist to interpret "Being Music" with his rich baritone voice and his exemplary diction.  The opening line from Whitman is "Now I will do nothing but listen."  That pretty well sums up my reaction as I've played this CD over and over.  And "Specimen Days" to another Whitman text is a rich and quite wonderful setting.  If you enjoy gorgeous vocal and choral music, I doubt you will be disappointed in the writing of Charles Fussell and the moving and lively interpretation of these artists.
3753002
In "Concentric Penumbras of The Heart", Ayaz Daryl Nielsen takes the reader on a tour through life's many phases

and does so with wonderful imagery. My personal favorites include "Before Dawn"  "The Alley Rat" and "Themselves".

I highly recommend this edition for gift giving as it will delight any fan of thought provoking poetry.

I must say that I enjoyed my visit to the "Fierce Funhouse Of Poetry". It has been time well spent.
1901518
"The Squanicook Ecologues" excels as lyric and as narrative, a rare combination of images of life.  It appeals to my heart as the readings of "Walden" and the essays of Henry David Thoreau do.  There are reasons.  The willow tree is suffice.  In French it is "le saule, (pronounced "the soul" or "the sole"), it seems to carry all the weight of the world. Do come & visit!

Richard Winthrop Green, Jr. may be her father,
But Charles Baudelaire might be her pere,
He be her daddy,
as she be his pair!
ABH
2807530
This slim paperback book from Dover Thrift Editions is an excellent starting place for those who are not familiar with the poetic works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It's inexpensive, a quick read (at only 84 pages), and contains much of Longfellow's most popular poems, plus some selected prose as well as a few more obscure works. Longfellow (1807-1882) was an absolute master of rhyme, meter, and the the actual SOUND of words, and he wrote with a strong sense of morality and ethics (one reason that he is gererally disregarded by modern poetry snobs, but loved by his faithful readers!). All in all, if you want to explore the poetic mind of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for the first time, you can't go wrong with this book! Check out his masterful choice of words and imagery in poems like "The Christmas Bells", "The Slave's Dream", "Hymn to the Night", "A Psalm of Life", "The Building of the Ship", "The Reaper and the Flowers", "Excelsior", etc., etc., etc. Longfellow enthusiasts looking for a more complete or scholarly volume should check into some of the other Longfellow books offered on Amazon, particularly "The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", although I found "Complete's" small print, (in columns, like most modern Bibles) to be a bit rough on the eyes....Either way, explore this excellent master of rhyme!
4385480
Summary:
James Whitman has depression, not just sad for a few days teenager drama, but the actual disease.  His parents, who don't believe in therapy, have kicked his sister Jorie out of the house and have no interest in letting her come back.  As James discusses this with Dr. Bird (an imaginary pigeon who does talk back), he decides that he is going to get his sister back into school and the house.  In the process, he memorizes poetry (all Walt Whitman), hugs tress (literal), joins a writing group, and attempts to deal with the realities of high school (including drinking and drug use).

My thoughts:
As a teacher, I loved how Rosko included Walt Whitman into the plot without it ever feeling planted.  The poetry flows right into the story and doesn't feel like a literature lesson.  There are plot lines that also strongly parallel Whitman's poetry which is fun to examine.  There is enough humor throughout the book that the reader does not get depressed as well.  I know that a lot of books that focus on this subject can make the reader just as sad as the character and then it's hard to pick up the book to finish it; however, Rosko manages to mix the reality of depression with highlights of goofiness.

(SPOILER)
James does eventually go to a therapist, that he pays for, and there is a change in his character towards the end of the book.  It is a gradual change and not a "poof" everything's fixed.  As I hit the ending I felt happy that progress was made, but not that the story had ended.  I felt close enough to James to realize that this book is only a small section of his life.  It will continue to live on, even if Rosko doesn't write about him again.
3572054
If you're into poetry Walt Whitman is a must have when adding to your poetry library

Reviewed by James David
Author of The Coast Guard Oracle
2584291
I bought this dime page to add to my Whitman dime book.  I have had the book for over twenty years and it has long since been full.  I had the more recent dimes stored elsewhere.  It is great that Whitman still makes the same type of book after all these years and that they make single pages that can be added.  Now all my dimes are in one place.  These books and pages are made to last.