Ted Kooser is a master of metaphor, a poet who deftly connects disparate elements of the world and communicates with absolute precision. Critics call him a "haiku-like imagist" and his poems have been compared to Chekov's short stories. In Delights and Shadows, Kooser draws inspiration from the overlooked details of daily life. Quotidian objects like a pegboard, creamed corn and a forgotten salesman's trophy help reveal the remarkable in what before was a merely ordinary world.
"Kooser documents the dignities, habits and small griefs of daily life, our hunger for connection, our struggle to find balance."-Poetry
Ted Kooser is the author of eight collections of poems and a prose memoir. He lives on a small farm in rural Nebraska.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
The clear speaking clear thinking poet:
This is clear- speaking clear- thinking poetry. Kooser advocates communication in poetry. He advocates thinking about the needs of the reader.He has said that as poetry is not so important for most people he tends to write short poems that they can take in in a relatively small period of time. He is the opposite of the outrageous, self- important demanding Dylan Thomas-like poet, or the exuberant expansive Whitman - like poet.
He is the poet of the prairie, of the flat space and of the reticent... more info
LOVE IT:
Ted Kooser is awsome.
His work is really simple to read and understand yet it has a deeper meaning.
overshadows:
Mr. Kooser has made a virtue of understatement. He has also lent a new credence to that patronizing tone people adopt when speaking about the midwest. That sort of aw shucks attitude--we're nothing but good, simple folk. But the truth is that the great writers of the midwest have always gone against the grain of such caracatures. As a midwesterner, I wish this wasn't so intellectually apologetic a poet. We do think here, you know.
Delights and Shadows:
For years I've managed to excite middle schoolers into writing poetry. I have laughed, wept, and been inspired by young people's fresh and uninhibited outlook on life. I eschewed big people poetry because the words were too difficult, the ideas beyond my ken, and the layers too many to peel off. This fall I met Ted Kooser. Oh my goodness! I'm even attempting my own playing with personal poetry now! To hear Kooser recite his poetry is certainly a gift. Having heard his voice, I now hear it in each and every... more info
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