---
product_id: 5515076
title: "Beautiful & Poess: A Guide to Modern Poetry – Smart and Funny Literary Criticism by an Award-Winning NYT Columnist"
price: "$53"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/5515076-beautiful-and-poess-a-guide-to-modern-poetry-smart-funny
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# Beautiful & Poess: A Guide to Modern Poetry – Smart and Funny Literary Criticism by an Award-Winning NYT Columnist

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desertcart.com: Beautiful & Poess: A Guide to Modern Poetry – Smart and Funny Literary Criticism by an Award-Winning NYT Columnist: 9780061673467: Orr, David: Books

Review: Great with a capital "G" - David Orr writes with the good sense of humour one would expect with a great and entertaining english teacher. Coming into this book I was hoping the author would include examples of poetry from today as well as including earlier examples from non-contemporary poets for serious reflection. Orr delivered both, exceptionally grand for my reading tastes and enriching my awareness of other great poets, like Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. For contemporary poets, just try and read the ambition chapter without getting knots of excitement for your own poetry writing. This book is wonderful for the up and coming poets of today and for those who have heard a lot about poetry but haven't really understood how it's supposed to look or feel like. Not surprisingly, both parties might be one and the same. Strong recommendation.
Review: Some literary criticism is more beautiful than the poems - I'd have given the book five stars but for the stale and standard selections of poet/poem examples for a book with such a provocative yet agreeable title. The points inside needed to be made out loud, so to speak; so there, too, if you are baffled by the oxymoron of poetry in society today, maybe its usefulness to you and others, you will like the argument by Orr. He is nevertheless stuck in a time warp or the poetry bubble when it comes to the poets and poems discussed. I realize that analysis of poetry, good analysis that is, may be in the same category: beautiful and pointless, if the dogs at the gate to the castle of the venerated stays closed. The examples discussed in this book hint that this is true. I certainly have my favorites, too, like this and other critics, with an eclectic mix of practitioners, dare I say artist masters of the genre, who invent new joy and beauty. Poetry can be so difficult that new inventions are appreciated decades later if at all. Meanwhile, they live outside the sacred bubble/castle starving in the streets. Don't think any of these are starving but still among my very very very favorites: Send in the Clown: Live Radio Broadcasts of Performance Poet Hedwig Gorski , Intoxication: Heathcliff on Powell Street , Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form , and many from overseas with their fresh perspectives, especially form god-forsaken areas of the globe we fat-cat americans can't even fathom. Maybe I want my poets to suffer first, then they will have something pointed and beautiful to say. Countless exceptions to this rule exist, such as Maya Angelou, who has suffered but does not strain too much at language to intensify its beauty. What is really the formula to create beautiful poems that are evocative, necessary, and read? The debate Orr contributes to so well at times is so much more beautiful than the poems available to us, so even if you don't read poetry, read this book.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | 0061673463 |
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,947,110 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,420 in Poetry Literary Criticism (Books) #4,796 in Essays (Books) #6,849 in Literary Criticism & Theory |
| Customer Reviews | 4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars (71) |
| Dimensions  | 5.31 x 0.6 x 8 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 9780061673467 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0061673467 |
| Item Weight  | 6.4 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 240 pages |
| Publication date  | February 22, 2012 |
| Publisher  | Perennial |

## Images

![Beautiful & Poess: A Guide to Modern Poetry – Smart and Funny Literary Criticism by an Award-Winning NYT Columnist - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51D3SlnX3WL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great with a capital "G"
*by P***S on January 18, 2016*

David Orr writes with the good sense of humour one would expect with a great and entertaining english teacher. Coming into this book I was hoping the author would include examples of poetry from today as well as including earlier examples from non-contemporary poets for serious reflection. Orr delivered both, exceptionally grand for my reading tastes and enriching my awareness of other great poets, like Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. For contemporary poets, just try and read the ambition chapter without getting knots of excitement for your own poetry writing. This book is wonderful for the up and coming poets of today and for those who have heard a lot about poetry but haven't really understood how it's supposed to look or feel like. Not surprisingly, both parties might be one and the same. Strong recommendation.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Some literary criticism is more beautiful than the poems
*by A***R on June 10, 2012*

I'd have given the book five stars but for the stale and standard selections of poet/poem examples for a book with such a provocative yet agreeable title. The points inside needed to be made out loud, so to speak; so there, too, if you are baffled by the oxymoron of poetry in society today, maybe its usefulness to you and others, you will like the argument by Orr. He is nevertheless stuck in a time warp or the poetry bubble when it comes to the poets and poems discussed. I realize that analysis of poetry, good analysis that is, may be in the same category: beautiful and pointless, if the dogs at the gate to the castle of the venerated stays closed. The examples discussed in this book hint that this is true. I certainly have my favorites, too, like this and other critics, with an eclectic mix of practitioners, dare I say artist masters of the genre, who invent new joy and beauty. Poetry can be so difficult that new inventions are appreciated decades later if at all. Meanwhile, they live outside the sacred bubble/castle starving in the streets. Don't think any of these are starving but still among my very very very favorites: Send in the Clown: Live Radio Broadcasts of Performance Poet Hedwig Gorski , Intoxication: Heathcliff on Powell Street , Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form , and many from overseas with their fresh perspectives, especially form god-forsaken areas of the globe we fat-cat americans can't even fathom. Maybe I want my poets to suffer first, then they will have something pointed and beautiful to say. Countless exceptions to this rule exist, such as Maya Angelou, who has suffered but does not strain too much at language to intensify its beauty. What is really the formula to create beautiful poems that are evocative, necessary, and read? The debate Orr contributes to so well at times is so much more beautiful than the poems available to us, so even if you don't read poetry, read this book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A fine book
*by K***A on April 22, 2011*

What a fine book. Gracefully writen. Knowledgeable. And far more complimentary than today's poetry deserves. A problem with current poetry is that most of it is just so UNmemorable. Not sure exactly when the quotability quotient of American poetry started dropping, but it happened during the lifetime of this poetry lover.

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*Last updated: 2026-02-21*