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A heart-lifting new anthology to
inspire the world-weary
When Garrison Keillor published Good
Poems, he touched a chord in readers across America.
The anthology of poems he selected for their “wit, their simplicity,
their passion, and their utter clarity in the face of everything
else a person has to deal with” inspired thousands to buy
what was for many their first book of poetry.
Now, in Good Poems for Hard Times,
Keillor has pondered over the archives of his beloved Writer’s
Almanac radio show to select a batch of consoling, rousing,
and truthful poems guaranteed to raise flagging spirits or
to inspire those in need of a dose of wisdom or honesty. But
these poems are not about suffering. They’re intended to reach
us and stricken friends by holding out a picture of the grace
of ordinary life. Above all, this eclectic anthology, including
works from Raymond Carver, Emily Dickinson, Charles Simic,
Billy Collins, Robert Frost, Kenneth Rexroth, and many more,
fit Keillor’s definition of “good”: memorable, beautifully
worded, and accessible. They’re not highbrow. They’re not
stuffy. But when hard times send us skidding into the meridian,
the poems collected here are what we need them to be: just
plain good.
Garrison Keillor, author
of nearly a dozen books, is founder and host of the acclaimed
radio show A Prairie Home Companion and the daily
program The Writer's Almanac. He is also a regular
contributor to Time magazine.
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