8.25.2007

Exhibit 2.4

So in a conversation with a poet and a fiction writer last night, it became embarrassingly clear that the fiction writers--or at least this one--haven't read nearly as much poetry as the poets have fiction. There are a lot of explanations for this, but that doesn't mean it's right. So I've decided I'm going to try to read one book of poetry a week for awhile. I suppose I'll give my ill-informed thoughts about them right here as it will give me something to write about and keep me from hating this blog more than I already do.

(Seriously, this blog is awful. Are they all like this? Does everyone write about their fantasy football teams and candy bars or are those just the topics my sad mind drifts towards when given a blank canvas? Sigh. At least someone offered me nude pictures of Richard Tyson. That never happened before the blog. [Ed note: I predict many hits now from the phrase "nude pictures of Richard Tyson"]).

So this is where you come in. By you I mean Heather, but also any other people who read this blog and want to suggest a book of poetry. Just leave a comment with one or two books I should read, and I'll read them. Contemporary or modern or Romantic or whatever, it doesn't matter. Chapbooks are cool too.

It's like a contest everyone wins.

4 comments:

Dusty said...

There's this really good book I keep coming back to called "You'll Never Keep This Up, No Matter How Motivated You Think You Are". I'd recommend it, but every time I read it I come away feeling bad about myself.

A. Peterson said...

It's actually going to be really easy to keep up as long as no one recommends any books. So far, this experiment in reading poetry is playing out exactly like my lifelong experiment in not reading poetry.

Anonymous said...

Autobiography of Red (on your desk), The Man Suit (kind of grey), Twentieth Century French Poetry anthology (edited by paul auster, blue cover, very beaten up), Citizen Of (black cover) - that should do it for a few weeks.

A. Peterson said...

Thanks 'h,' whoever you are. I've already read The Man Suit (which is amazing), and will read Autobiography of Red next.