With her characteristic sense of wonder, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver, returns to the natural world in this new collection of forty poems. "Walking out into all of this with nowhere to go," she writes, "and no task undertaken but to turn the pages of this beautiful world over and over, in the world of my mind" ("A Settlement," p. 45). Whether she's observing a hundred dolphins on a summer day, a mockingbird, a black snake on a flat rock, an owl with eyes "like burning moons" (p. 12), the "single-mindedness" of a hummingbird (p. 14), stones, a "beautifully acrobatic" raven (p. 16), a trapped turtle, clams ("each one is a small life, but sometimes long, if its place in the universe is not found out," p. 26), a heron, bumble bees that "have memorized/ every stalk and leaf/ of the field" (p. 30), crows "as cheerful as saints, or thieves of the small job" (p. 34), a lark, "the wet face of the lily" (p. 41), oranges, moonlight, a dead bat ("in death/ it was a mad architecture--/ its joints were too many; it shed/ all sound, all power--became/ a little heap of stiffness/ with a monkey face" (p. 46), a blue iris, or "the silence; the blank, white, glittering sublime" of an early snow (p. 57), Oliver pays attention to life deeply. Her poetry is earthy yet spiritual, simple yet profound, and life-affirming without exception. In my favorite poem in the collection, "The Loon," I, too, experienced the "rapture of being alive" upon hearing "the small,/ perfect voice" that caused Oliver to pause from her reading at four a.m. (p. 64).

Reading Mary Oliver always reminds me of why I enjoy poetry. She has the ability to reveal heaven in a wildflower, and the wonders of God in every creature. In addition to this book of poetry, I also highly recommend Oliver's NEW AND SELECTED POEMS (1993) and THE LEAF AND THE CLOUD (2000).

G. Merritt

I was worried about what this book of poems would be like--like so many of us, I am madly in love with this poet, and want her to go on forever. The urgency in the love song to the world that The Leaf and the Cloud was has been replaced with a coolness and a lightness that is exquisitely beautiful once you get over the fact that so much of this is about death. The supernatural is the theme of this book, with god with a capital G and angels and ghosts. I have never read her more vulnerable or as far away from us. But this is a beautiful book, a fantastic transition from her last works, showing what a truly great American poet she is.

I absolutely adore this book. I carry it with me everywhere, because it brings me into instant remembrance of the importance of opening my own heart to God in every moment. It is a beautiful book, filled with wonderful images that can help all of us access our own deepest connection to the Divine Spirit of all there is. I highly recommend it to everyone !

The authors have captured the sights, sounds, flavors, and scents of Christmas across America. They have thoroughly explored our national traditions and linked them to their Virginia origins. This book has an enormous range of detail and is a valuable addition to the knowledge of Christmas traditions in our nation. It is a well-documented, well-written, and beautifully illustrated read.

In our society, God is typically portrayed as male. What we tend to ignore is that God is indefinable, a mystery, and not a specific gender. "Heart Talks..." gives us another viewpoint of God- the feminine, nurturing side of God that loves us no matter what-like a mother or grandmother. Beautifully illustrated, the book has 10 Bible-Based prayer stories: "God Birthing the World" (Genesis1:1); "Mother God Watches Over You" (not even one sparrow will fall without God knowing it. Matthew 6:26); "Grandmother God" (Psalm 128:5-6). The adults' preparation guide gives suggestions for making these stories more meaningful for childen- related play activities, questions for reflection and sharing of feelings. Children are invited to jump up in Mother God's lap as she tells them a story from her wonderful book the Bible. As the story and reflection come to a close, they are invited to give Mother God a hug and whisper "I'll be back" as they slide off Her lap. This is a nurturing and comforting book for adults as well. "I'll be back, too".

These poems reveal much of the poet -- her loves, life, children, and experiences -- but they are also full of phrases which touch on the universal. The poems are based on unexceptional experiences, such as tripping and falling, visiting Walt Whitman's grave, viewing Hopper's paintings, the conception of a child. But the language used in expressing the feelings involved and the sense of place are exceptional, inviting, and sometimes startling, without being shocking. Some poems are almost snapshots of coastal New England and Ireland, but with a depth and color that go far beyond the instant. These are thoughtful poems that lead to re-reading for continued pleasure and insight.

Praying with a Passionate Heart by Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver (Ligouri Press,1999) is a practical guide to prayer,meditation,and scripture.Using examples from everyday life and experience,the authors help us realize that praying and living go hand in hand and can and should be a "passionate" experience. The book gives us instructions on how to pray and provides exercises to get us going.It also helps us carry over our prayer life into our daily life and our relationship with those we love -and those we dont love!Each author takes a turn letting us enter into their lives of prayer and good works.Readers will be glad they read the book and will be able to use it as a "textbook" for union with God and neighbor.Highly recommended.

In this essay by Valery, sea shells serve as a catalyst to introspection and investigation. Valery, through the inspection of sea shells, poses some of the most basic metaphysical questions, but in an original way. By asking these questions regarding a concrete object, Valery achieves an immediate profundity rarely reached in most philosophical treatises. And, of course, the writing is translucid and precise, furthering the case for Valery as the French Walter Pater.

An old man I know, who lives a reclusive life with 10 aging cats as his only companions, is the person I have to thank for turning me on to Mary Oliver. We live in a rural area and can vouch for the accuracy and honesty of her work. Deer, foxes, and a multitude of birds are common sights for us, as they are apparently for Mary Oliver, but through her poet's eye we are reminded not to take for granted our great good fortune in living here. We can read her words and say, "Yes. I remember that." After reading her poems and prose, left with the gift of her vision, what had simply been home and common place is now touched again with the kind of magic we felt when we first moved here 20 years ago.

In this slim volume three different styles of her writing are displayed beautifully."The Swan" will impress you."Building the house" will show you the process of building in poetic terms. Any Oliver fan needs this book!

Mary Oliver chose to avoid teaching so she could concentrate on her poetry. Too bad for students. Here, however, she gives students and accomplished poets alike a sensible and sensitive handbook that conveys not only the craft of poetry but its power, its mystery, and its magic. Readers who say they don't like poetry should give Oliver a chance to change their minds and hearts

What Oliver manages to do is speak to both the experienced and just-initiated poets. While I've been writing poetry since grade school, I wouldn't truly consider my poet as before reading this book, the most I could tell you about a sonnet was that it rhymed and the most about a haiku is that you had to write it in a certain amount of syllables. Oliver's book is quite an inspiration to get the creative juices following and is quite a manual on the process. Don't get me wrong, Oliver takes care of explaining the technical aspect of the poet's craft, but her book was more of a 'creative matchbox' than a classbook.

Sitting at a picnic table, I was given a book on poetry writing by Mary Oliver. I carried it around like a candy bar, taking bites of its peanuts in chocolate words about words. She states that she was afraid to write it because she loved the subject too much. Yet what a gift of love she has given. And what more do we have to give, or does Mary for that matter, than the words we are afraid to say? Thank you Mary.