I belong to a private online poetry group, and I turn again and again to these poems to share them with my friends. Nothing can substitute for having the collected or selected poems of a single author, but this anthology is unlike any other I've ever seen. Philip Dacey and David Jauss have selected, within the strictures of their chosen subject, an incredible emotional range, from the outright camp of Miller William's Rubaiyat for Sue Ella Tucker (Sue Ella Tucker was barely in her teens./ She often minded her mother. She didn't know beans/ About what boys can do. She laughed like air./ Already the world was crawling up her jeans...) to the hair-raising Rapist's Villanelle by Thomas M. Disch.

I would think this book would be extremely useful to a student of traditional poetry for exploring different forms; the appendices offer very clear explanations of each form and include a mini-index of the poems in the book that use a particular form. There are, for example, seven poems that qualify as hymnal stanzas, five pantoums, and all kinds of quatrains of various sorts: envelope quatrains, Sicilian quatrains, etc.

I see that Amazon charges $48 for this book. Sometimes it's hard to pass over a chunk of change that large for a book, but you've got to believe me, this one is worth it.

Being aware of the craft of writing heightens the appreciation of it. Poetry is a powerful, condensed form of writing, and traditional forms of poetry create a framework that this power presses against. Strong Measures is a fine anthology of modern American poets who work within these forms. Beginning with an accessable introduction to the history of poetic form, followed by examples by over 150 contemporary poets, and ending with an appendix explaining meter, scansion, form definition, and a classification of the poems by form, this is a wonderful reference book for anyone who wants to know where that resonance in what they just read came from.

The Deathbed Playboy is a wonderful read. Dacey's tonal range is wide. The poems are smart, tender, and often funny. Smart, but not pedantic. Tender, but not gooey and manipulative. Funny, but not frivolous. The title poem, "The Deathbed Playboy," is a stunner. The tension between the humor and grief is palpable, and the funny and frantic reflections of the speaker are heartbreaking.

So many contemporary books of poetry sound like they were all ghost-written by one glib Writing Workshop star. Dacey has a distinctive voice. It's generous, sly, comic and wonderfully accessible. This one goes on my gift-giving list

Wonderful! I used it a lot when teaching my sunday school class the big picture of the Bible. Great book!

When you lack a framework it's very difficult to understand anything. The interesting decorations of a home would mean nothing if there were no framework to attatch them too! This is what this book has done for me, given me a framework to attach these stories too. Many of the stories in the bible come to life when you know and understand what happened before and after and how the people who had the experiences might have thought. It really has brought to life the power of God for me and his complete plan from the beginning of the Bible to the end! I would recommend this to any level of Christian. I have been a Christian for 15 years and this has been an excellent tool for both learning and better equiping me to witness.

I'm enjoying this book so much because it gives key points and lessons so clearly that it makes me eager to learn and know more. It has made me eager to read my bible again.

If ever you want to be inspired, transformed, bowled over or "wowwed" by the possibilities of an old house... Read the Pomada/Larsen series. The pictures are breathtakenly beautiful and the text is quite informative. Lots of 'pearls of wisdom' there. Before you buy that victorian, read this book for some informative information. After you buy--keep reading (like a litany) to keep the vision alive amidst the rubble and asbestos. You won't be sorry ---you will be renewed. These books were like falling in love, or the collector's itch---The fever is maddening but the end result is Oh so sweet. Get them all!! (5 titles still available)