K. Gustafson 2008-10-15

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This is one of the best anthologies out there. I have purchased several copies to give as gifts (even wedding presents). Although the choice of poems is theoretically aimed at male readers, the poems appeal to all types of readers. It is also a great introductory anthology for a high school student.

Smagratis 2007-01-20

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

What a superb collection! An anthology that can be read and re-read many times without feeling repetition. I feel sorry for anyone wanting to get a hold of it if and when it goes out of print.

Fred W Hood 2005-10-28

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

After my years of professional activities were completed, I had never expected to lose memory of these unforgetable unimaginably pure images of "Changing Diapers, (Gary Snyder) or "Sailing to Byzantium" (WB Yeats) or "The United Fruit Co" (Pablo Neruda.)

After contributing my early copy to the Prison Library, I never thought I would need see that familar print again: But...I Did!

Editors, Robert Bly, James Hillman, and Michael Meade combined a short Introduction, preceeded by these poignant thoughts from William Butler Yeats: "Those masterful images because complete/ Grew in pure mind, but out of what began? ...Old kettles, old bottles... Old iron, old bones, old rags...I must lie down where all the ladders start, In the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart."

If being reminded in twelve selections of William Butler Yeats, added to dozens of Robert Bly, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, E. E.Cummings, Langston Hughes, John Keats, Stanley Kunitz, Dylan Thomas, William Blake, Walt Whitman, 500 pages of familiar and new poems, surely is sufficient then check out groupings under a few orderly headings: "Father's Prayers for Sons and Daughters; WAR; I Know the Earth and I Am Sad; The House of Fathers and Titans; Making A Hole In Denial; Zaniness!" Completely fitting these six most unque titles are combined with ten more, equally imaginative and descriptive!

From the perspective of a Poetry Addict, into being a creator of my own poems, not yet note-worthy, I am back in "Poetry Heaven," with this second memorable discovery of rich word treasures! Sing-cerely from a retired Singer and Chaplain Fred W Hood

James E. Preston 2004-11-13

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

This is, indeed, a collection of poetry which is multi-dimensional. The "canned" editorial above, from Publisher's Weekly, is a narrow-minded interpretation of the "purpose" of this collection of poetry. Whoever wrote the "canned" editorial has no understanding of men's struggle to redefine their role and character, constructively, to find a place in the twenty first century. Although many of the poems are multi-dimensional, the anthology as a whole, leads a man out of denial, into the heart, into the spirit, and, ultimately into a celebration of masculinity which misandry (hatred of men) has outlawed for almost half a century.

This anthology celebrates a new masculinity. One that is grounded in compassion, awareness, and, ultimately, the most important aspects of our existence as men.

For instance, one of the most important poems in the collection is Goethe's "The Invisible King." Through Goethe's genius we come to understand, as men, that if we deny the murmurs and whispering of our souls, we do so at grave peril to that which is most dear to us.

Buy it if you dare become something more than Madison Avenue made men in the 1980's and 1990's.

William Trippe 2004-03-30

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

If you loved Iron John, you should read this book. But if you either (1) didn't read Iron John, (2) tried to read but couldn't finish Iron John, or (3) hated Iron John, you should especially read this book. I have to say up front that I don't agree with, or perhaps understand, many aspects and details of the men's movement. I was one person who tried mightily to read and enjoy Iron John, but simply couldn't get all the way through it. Then I found this book, and I have been reading it since. This was 10 years ago. I am exaggerating of course, but only a little. This book is a constant in my reading habits. I refer to it again and again, and have recommended it (and purchased it) for more friends than any other book I know.

Simply, this is a wonderful anthology of poetry, organized thematically, for men. Many of the individual poems are brilliant, and the overall organization is intelligent and, at times, profound. As I have grappled with marriage, fatherhood, aging parents--all the trappings of midlife--this book has been a constant source of wisdom and comfort for me. Do a kind thing for yourself or for a thoughtful man in your life and buy this book.