Elizabeth Bishop's poems are amazing! very tought provoking. Buy this book if you're a fan of Elizabeth Bishop, you wont regret it. it's well worth your money!

The world of poetic criticism is often murky. Having read and loved Elizabeth Bishop's poems, I was disappointed by much which literary critics have composed in regard to her fantastic work. However, Colwell's book does a fantastic job of illuminating Bishop's individual poems in light of her much larger opus--without sacrificing any of Bishop's artistic vision as so many others have done in an attempt to force the poems to "mean" a certain thing. Furthermore, Colwell's emphasis on how the body constantly influenced Bishop's poetic vision has not only prompted me to reread Bishop in a new way, but also has prompted me to reread many of the poets by whom Bishop was influenced, and thus gain a new understanding of their work as well.

This volume of poetry includes many poems that do not make complete sense. The book is passionate, and from an interesting perspective. I would not recommend this book to many children, but some could handle it. For fluent spanish speakers, I would recommend this book to you. I think it would be interesting to read the spanish and english parts for the context may vary slightly.

"Selected Poetry, 1937-1990," edited by Djelal Kadir, is a fine collection by the Brazilian poet Joao Cabral de Melo Neto. This is a bilingual edition, with Cabral's Portuguese originals and the English translations on facing pages. The translations are by editor Kadir, Elizabeth Bishop, Galway Kinnell, Ricardo da Silveira Lobo Sternberg, and others.

Cabral (as I read him through the translators) writes with a directness and clarity. Many of his poems are about poetry and writing in general. He also has a number of poems about other poets and creative artists: Marianne Moore, W. H. Auden, Mondrian, Paul Klee, etc. Especially moving is his painful, but beautiful poem about Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez ("Encounter with a Poet").

Other excellent poems include "Culling Beans," in which the title act becomes a metaphor for writing (hence the title of this review); "The Death and Life of a Severino," with its flavor of social protest; and "Weaving the Morning," a wonderful poem about roosters greeting the dawn. I recommend this book to those interested in Brazilian literature or 20th century poetry.

From the Ministry of Whimsy Press, publishers of the fantastic LEVIATHAN anthology series, comes this first in a new series: ALBUM ZUTIQUE. "A series," the back cover notes, "devoted to the surreal & decadent." Yes, yes, and so it is. But is it good? You bet. The fifteen stories contained herein are all beautifully written, truly a feast for the eyes and the mind. There were a couple stories that I'm not quite sure I got, and a couple more that I'm quite sure I didn't get, but even the few that went right over my head in terms of content were so beautifully written that I almost didn't mind. Standouts are the pair of stories by the always fantastic Rhys Hughes, and the hauntingly beautiful entry by K.J. Bishop. But there wasn't a dud in the bunch; not a one I didn't enjoy reading. So why only four stars? Two reasons. First, as I noted, there were a couple stories that I didn't get. Second, and more importantly, while this is a beautiful, beautifully produced volume, the cover price is a little steep considering the 200-page, 50k word size of the volume. Even so, ALBUM ZUTIQUE #1 is a welcome and more-than-worthy addition to my bookshelf.

Next up: ALBUM ZUTIQUE #2, which will be Rhys Hughes' A NEW HISTORY OF INFAMY. I, for one, can't wait!

Recommended

4 stars because only God gets 5 stars. This is the quintessential reference for native Hawaiian history, ethnobotany, culture, language, and lifestyle. It doesn't just cover what is what. It covers the who, what, when, where, why, and how. The depth of the coverage goes all the way to the migration routes. Unfortunately, a hard-back edition was never made. The book is worth every penny and is guaranteed to go up in value - CK

but he has become engaged to her lovely sister Nancy, who then jilts him. Why would any sane woman leave handsome, steady, totally reliable Allen or reject the opportunity of becoming lady of his manor? 73 year-old Aunt Eddie asks Jendy, who has been living in London, to come back home for a time to try to help sort out the mess. Allen's artistic, younger brother, Roderick, also has returned from living abroad in Spain. Does Roderick understand why Nancy left? Why won't he divulge the truth to Jendy? And why does Roderick allow a thrice-married harpy to invade his every waking hour with her atrocious 8-year-old daughter in tow? And what is Wally the gardener doing prowling around the estate in the dead of night? Find out the answer to all these questions in Honey for Tea...

I really enjoyed this book - which has more than one romance for the reader to relish. Although it is somewhat predictable in places, it saves a surprise for the end. There is a wide variety of characters, who are likeable and entertaining. It has english country charm, a little suspense and some laughs. All in all, great for a light and pleasurable read.

A series of poems from one of Mexico's best prose writers presented here showing his skill in the medium of verse.His best poems are the one's with intense lyrical touch; a highlight of grandeur & marvel at the poet's relationship with the creation of the word & the world around him. The best works lie in the shorter efforts.My rating for this is 3 & a half stars.

You are absolutely right, that the poems on this tape are strangely edited and that the voice reading them is NOT Bishop's. It is the actress Blythe Danner, who was trying to read them dramatically, but anyone who knows EB knows that she never read them that way, nor did she write performance poetry.

The reason this tape is so strange is that it is the audio track of a video. If you get the original Voices & Visions video, which most good libraries have, you can see the faces of Mary McCarthy, Jimmy Merrill, Octavio Paz and others as they speak. It doesn't make up for the disrespectful use of the poetry, but they did find an old blue bus with a rounded hood to use for "The Moose." It even looks a little like the real moose road in Nova Scotia. If you want to hear Bishop's actual voice, get the Random House "Voice of the Poet" tape, which is an amazing compilation of her voice over about 30 years. I don't believe she was ever recorded reading "One Art," so you'll have to read it for yourself after you hear the poet's understated, almost offhand way of reading her own work.

Is it reasonable to assume that a one-hour cassette tape entitled 'Elizabeth Bishop' includes poetry read by Bishop herself? Perhaps not. Surely, though, such a tape would include complete Bishop poems adequately read by someone. Guess again. The tape in question is a hodge-podge of comments by UNIDENTIFIED people about Bishop's poetry. Octavio Paz has an accent, so one can identify him, and I think the quavery, crusty voice is Mary McCarthy's -- but who knows for sure? An extremely self-conscious woman (unidentified) reads about half a dozen strangely expurgated poems. There is no indication either on the cassette case or on the tape itself that the poems have been edited. Why edit short poems anyway? You'll have to ask someone at Mystic Fire Audio.

The reviewers here miss an important point. If they found a book entitled "Elizabeth Bishop," they would assume it would be about her and her poetry (the tape does contain poems read by the poet as well). While the one reviewer is correct in stating this was originally a video, the audio has 90% of what the listener needs. And as for any good reader, imagination must fill in the rest. It's unlikely one will find a tape so insightful an opening into Bishop's work.

Prospective readers be aware - what I took to be a book, turned out to be a play. It was a very slim, university press edition that, in my opinion, was not worth the price.