Velocities: New and Selected Poems 1966-1992

by Stephen Dobyns

Book Overview

"Stephen Dobyns is one of the very finest poets writing in America today. His poems are brave, ravenous, intensely moving, and utterly his own." -Thomas Lux Velocities presents a selection of poems spanning more than twenty-five years in the career of Stephen Dobyns, one of the finest and most original poets of our age. This volume brings together new poems and a generous selection of work from Dobyns's seven previously published collections.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140586512
• ISBN13: 9780140586510
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A New Favorite

I stumbled across Stephen Dobyns on the internet and was blown away by his poem "How to Like it." On a whim, I bought this big volume of his poetry and found it amazing from start to finish. Dobyns is as approachable and funny as any other poet I've ever read, and yet you always leave his poems with something bigger than you might have expected.

A Key Volume in Your Deserted Island Library

What?!? Five reviews on the best, most accesible, neither over-brainy nor dumbed-down poetry being written in America?!? What's that about? No. Really. My first Dobyns was "How to Like It." I've read it aloud in several poetry readings since then. The audience always has my reaction: brainy, funny, classical subject, modern angle -- great poem! Since then, I've found the occasional Dobyns poem in anthologies, or heard others read him and put a big mental red-check by his name. I even was in the audience at an open mike once with the sole intention of listening, and was handed a Dobyns poem and told it was imperative that I read it. As a poet, this is what I want to be; like navigating by the North Star, I'm fairly positive I'll never get there. If you read poetry, you should be reading Dobyns. Start with the poems from his book, Cemetery Nights. From there, your poetry-reading life is pretty well planned out (as is that library you're taking with you to that deserted island).

The Best Poetry Volume I Own

The works these selections are drawn from are out of print. That is a terrible shame, because this collection is stellar. The poems are infused with wisdom, wit, and life. If this were a just world, Dobyns would be heralded as a genius.

Fully readable poems that evoke serious relection

These poems are ones to which the reader will often return, just for the pleasure of reading. In addition, the echo from their reading brings forth worthwhile reflections on the reader's own life and mysteries. Truly wonderful.