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Please, Lord, Make Me a Famous Poet or at Least Less Fat
Please Lord Make Me a Famous Poet or at Least Less Fat Author:Dean Blehert A smorgasbord of parody and satire of poets and poetry, it spares no targets, taking on the classics and current fads, the exquisite pangs of feigned interest at polite poetry readings, the young poet's alienation from a world that hasn't noticed his greatness, and the proliferation in literary reviews of "fresh new voices" that all sound the sa... more »me. It's funny, informative and challenging. What's more, it manages to achieve the breadth of humor needed to make it accessible to readers who do not know much about English poetry, while showing a loving attention to tone and detail (especially in the parodies) that should make it required reading for poetry lovers. One indication of its breadth of appeal are the fact that it sports rave blurbs from both Dana Gioia and Lyn Lifshin, from opposite ends of the poetry spectrum. The humor ranges from raucous (a Shakespearean sonnet beginning "Shall I compare thee to a guy named Fred?") to refined ("Leapeth frogge/And splas! heth bog --/Softe sing haiku..."), from the ridiculous (punning "Little Richard" and "literature") to the sublime ("In the good old days, most poets were consigned to oblivion. These days even oblivion won't take poets on consignment.") The book takes the form of a mock textbook. Some of the funniest stuff is in the hundreds of footnotes, and one must not skip the poetic aphorisms and one-liners that punctuate the beginning of each chapter.« less