By: Keith Jennings

Keith Jennings — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:17:33 +0000

A serendipitous collection of poems My review in a nutshell: If you love contemporary poetry, get this book. If you love accessible poetry, get this book. And if you love poetry with literary depth, get this book.I am a huge fan of David Kirby and Barbara Hamby. They are refreshing voices in a crowded American poetry scene. So anything with their name(s) associated with it is worth the purchase sight unseen.I’ve now spent a few months with this book, and it keeps delivering.I keep pulling it off the shelf and letting the pages fall open, and more often than not, I get serendipity.Like the Billy Collins poem “The Trouble with Poetry,” (it’s not in this collection, but 4 of his are) reading these poems makes you want to write more poetry.I hope you will add this book to your collection, and look up other work by David and Barbara. You won’t be disappointed.

By: Jessica Weissman "poet and computer programmer"

Jessica Weissman "poet and computer programmer" — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:15:34 +0000

Precisely fits its title David Kirby and Barbara Hamby are both poets who specialize in seriously funny poems, and they're very good at recognizing good poems by others that fit into this narrow but wondrous category.What we have here is 400 or so pages of accessible contemporary poetry that is:1) good2) treats some serious subject with respect and depth3) is funnyExactly as the title promises. You could dig for hours and read through a lot of mediocre poetry yourself to find these gems. Thank goodness the editors have done it for you.Buy the book. You won't regret it, and you're likely to find contemporary poets, new to you, whose books you will enjoy.

Comments on: Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else

By: Keith Jennings

By: Jessica Weissman "poet and computer programmer"