The overall arrangement of the poems is chronological. There is a brief chronology of O'Hara's short life and an index of titles.
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reviews
Aug 03, 2010
Matt
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O'Hara's poetry has an extremely rare symmetry of form and content, and is accompanied by a feeling that it was written by someone who no longer wrote poetry, or somehow had "moved past" it. His work stands, to this reader, as the standard by which subsequent work should be judged - in that it is contemporary enough, but also avoids so many of the modernist pitfalls (excessive theorizing, for instance) in the way the poems really just come off the page, and seem to lose themselves. I
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Dec 16, 2009
Susan
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I always go back to this book. It stays on my shelf. O'Hara's poetry is quirky, smart, funny.... Check out the opening to "In Memory of my Feelings":
"My quietness has a man in it, he is transparent/
and he carries me quietly, like a gondola, through the streets./ He has several likenesses, like stars and years, like numerals."
"My quietness has a man in it, he is transparent/
and he carries me quietly, like a gondola, through the streets./ He has several likenesses, like stars and years, like numerals."
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Dec 07, 2007
Tosh
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Frank O'Hara just had that knack of writing a great poem. I think he had a great ear for language, and knew how to edit things around his life. Poems that read like conversations and puts you right into the New York art world of the late 50's. One of my favorite American poets, that's for sure.
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Jul 11, 2010
Isabel
rated it:
"...it is hard to believe when I’m with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles..."
A piece of the first poem I ever heard by Frank O'Hara, read aloud to me by a favorite teacher. It's called "Having a Coke with you"
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o’clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles..."
A piece of the first poem I ever heard by Frank O'Hara, read aloud to me by a favorite teacher. It's called "Having a Coke with you"
Jan 06, 2010
Saba
rated it:
This was by no means my first exposure to Frank O'Hara, but I've never sat and read a full collection, only select poems here and there. Which maybe for poetry is the best way to read it. Nevertheless O'Hara is my favorite poet along with Elizabeth Bishop, so no matter what collection you read by him, it will be great. "For Grace, After a Party" is truly perfect, and "Steps" is one of the best NYC poems you'll ever read.
Dec 05, 2009
Ivan
rated it:
Dear Diary: I have fallen in love with a poet named Frank O'Hara. I started with "Lunch Poems," but needed more. This volume is divine. O'Hara sneaks up on you. His style is so simple, so conversational, that you often times are surprised by the sudden depth of feeling comminicated in a final phrase. I don't know enough about poetry to prattle on and on without betraying my ignornace in short order. However, I know what I like, I know what speaks to me. I know that Frank O'Hara was a g
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Jan 10, 2011
Jay
rated it:
The hell with all those other selections of O'Hara.
This is the book.
The "Collected" and the "Retrieved" are scrapyards, treasures and forgettable-- though celebratory! though full of life!-- poems squished side by side. Speaking of squished, this is the first O'Hara "Selected" I've come across to give every poem its own page. Right on!
And it's got "Sleeping on the Wing," "You Are Gorgeous and I'm Coming," "Hot More...
This is the book.
The "Collected" and the "Retrieved" are scrapyards, treasures and forgettable-- though celebratory! though full of life!-- poems squished side by side. Speaking of squished, this is the first O'Hara "Selected" I've come across to give every poem its own page. Right on!
And it's got "Sleeping on the Wing," "You Are Gorgeous and I'm Coming," "Hot More...
May 05, 2011
Ari
rated it:
Rating: 4.25/5
I loved this one. He's not the type of poet I read at all, but I fell completely in love with his style as I read poem after poem. Utterly brilliant.
I loved this one. He's not the type of poet I read at all, but I fell completely in love with his style as I read poem after poem. Utterly brilliant.
Mar 12, 2010
Ed
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Great book. I re-read when I need to write a NYC style
poem for my Brevitas writers group.
poem for my Brevitas writers group.
May 08, 2011
Vivian
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"Animals" is one of my favorite poems of all time, and there were definitely similar gems besides that, but overall I was not as awestruck as I thought I would be. Which probably says more about how distracted I was while reading this and less about the quality of the poems, because O'Hara's weightily whimsical way with words cannot be contested.
Oct 21, 2009
Rachel
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Frank O'Hara's poetry is infused with an infectious energy and wit. You want to be his friend, and in a way, you feel he already is.
Jan 03, 2009
A.W.
rated it:
Yet another great collection from my absolute favorite poet in the whole wide world
Dec 07, 2010
Matthew
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if i could give this book 11 stars, i would, even though i can't get through every poem, there are at least 8 or 12 that are automatically my top 8 or 12 favorite poems in the world
May 07, 2008
Thus far in my poetry-reading life, I have not been a big fan of O'Hara. But so many other people like him that I'll try again to see what they see.
Nov 15, 2008
Jane
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5 stars for love, a lthough the selection is uneven. Looking forward to the new Selected, which is supposed to be much better.
Nov 03, 2008
Mary
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I liked it enough to put it on my Amazon wish list, to have and
to hold. I'm lucky to have run into it at the library.
to hold. I'm lucky to have run into it at the library.
Oct 25, 2008
Beth
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I adore Frank O'Hara, and have always held this book as a treasure on my shelf.
May 01, 2008
Jan
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I imprinted on Frank O'Hara when I was a teenager. This is a fine collection.
Feb 08, 2012
Feb 07, 2012
