If you like range, rhymes, and the nostalgia of place
99 Poems by Dana Gioia
VIOLETS’ PICKS 004
Where I Found It
It’s been so long I can’t remember. I promise, I’ll make better notes for future picks. I do remember this one being an early poetry collection that stood out to me. The poet, Dana Gioia, is one of the marketer slash poet types, and he’s been the pinnacle of both fields: former VP of Marketing at General Foods and has been awarded an honorary degree for his work in poetry…ten times. He’s the real deal, and I get it.
First Impressions
It didn’t have the usual lyrical-sounding title I’ve become used to. No, it’s just 99 Poems. And here they are. There’s no photo or illustration. If I’m going to judge a book by its cover, this one is like the generic no-name brand. I wonder if it has to do with how well-known and celebrated Dana Gioia is, that he doesn’t need to sell. I wonder if there’s something meta about the cover, even its title—coming from someone who was a very successful businessman and surely knows about the whole 99 sells better than 100 thing. Or perhaps a reference to 99 problems? Or maybe it’s just simply that. 99 Poems. To conclude, I wasn’t sure what this poetry was going to feel like.
They Said It
Dana Gioia has long been celebrated as a poet of sharp intelligence and brooding emotion with an ingenious command of his craft. 99 Poems: New & Selected gathers for the first time work from across his career, including many remarkable new poems. Gioia has not arranged this selection chronologically but instead has organized it by theme in seven sections: Mystery, Place, Remembrance, Imagination, Stories, Songs, and Love. The result is a book that reveals and renews the pleasures, consolations, and sense of wonder that poetry bestows.
—From the publisher
A line to remember
There are so many might-have-beens, What-ifs that won’t stay buried, Other cities, other jobs, Strangers we might’ve married. And memory insists on pining For places it never went, As if life would be happier Just by being different. —From “Summer Storm”
You might like this if…
You are attached to places as the backdrop for life: malls and cemeteries and airports. You’re looking for a stepping stone, a portal into poetry. You’re not sure what you like quite yet, so let’s maybe go for the whole gamut: funny, moody, smart, dry. You’re not sure about modern poetry—what happened to rhyme? You think classically-styled poetry is real poetry, but you’re willing to be surprised and delighted. You want to see the reality of things, as they really are. Shopping, marriage, life trajectories and regrets, all its wonders, too.
This was the colour of…
Pale sky blue about to turn overcast or clear the way for hot beams of sun. Classic, elegant, variable, all-encompassing. A work shirt of the poplin variety. Crisp and sharp. Utterly unpretentious but absolutely and thoroughly gets the job done.
Details
Year: 2016
Author: Dana Gioia (Joy-a), who has great advice on finding time
Location: USA
Publisher: Graywolf Press
You’re reading Violets’ Picks, where every Sunday I take you through an adventure brought to you by a poetry collection. Here’s some other Violets’ Picks this month you may have missed:
