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Red Bird: Poems

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Author: Mary Oliver
Publisher: Beacon Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$23.00~~
Buy New: $13.85
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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

10 reviews
Sales Rank: 2582

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.3
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 6.5 x 0.8

ISBN: 0807068926
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780807068922
ASIN: 0807068926

Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: NEW: NEVER READ...!!!!.(may have faint shelf wear from bookstore)..ALL ORDERS SHIP SAME OR NEXT BUSINESS DAY, FREE POSTAL DELIVERY CONFIRMATION FOR U.S. ORDERS, TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE !!!!

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - Red Bird: Poems
•	Kindle Edition - Red Bird: Poems

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
"Red bird came all winter / firing up the landscape / as nothing else could." So begins Mary Oliver's twelfth book of poetry, and the image of that fiery bird stays with the reader, appearing in unexpected forms and guises until, in a postscript, he explains himself: "For truly the body needs / a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this work, / the soul has need of a body, / and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable / beauty of heaven / where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes, / and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart."

This collection of sixty-one new poems, the most ever in a single volume of Oliver's work, includes an entirely new direction in the poet's work: a cycle of eleven linked love poems?a dazzling achievement. As in all of Mary Oliver's work, the pages overflow with her keen observation of the natural world and her gratitude for its gifts, for the many people she has loved in her seventy years, as well as for her disobedient dog, Percy. But here, too, the poet's attention turns with ferocity to the degradation of the Earth and the denigration of the peoples of the world by those who love power. Red Bird is unquestionably Mary Oliver's most wide-ranging volume to date.

"Mary Oliver has done it again. She has assembled a collection of poems that is moving, intense and evocative in its engagement of the natural world. Yet this latest book by the Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winner is distinctive among her 17 volumes for the dark undercurrent that runs through the poems . . . the hard lesson that this earth is fallen and fragile, now more than ever, and unless we learn to cherish the world, we will destroy it . . . The song Mary Oliver sings in Red Bird is the song she has always sung, but now more urgent, more needful, more true."
?Angela O'Donnell, America magazine, April 28, 2008

"Last April, Book Sense's poetry bestseller list included two titles by Billy Collins. This year the Top 5 can be summed up in six words: Mary Oliver, Mary Oliver, Mary Oliver. Oliver's impressive feat reflects both an enduring popularity and an unparalleled ability to touch readers on a deep, almost primal level."
?Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor, April 15, 2008

"Mary Oliver celebrates the creatures she observes on Cape Cod in "Red Bird" (Beacon), her 17th book of poetry. A longtime resident of Provincetown, Oliver, at 72, is among the nation's most popular poets . . . Oliver's grief ripples through the book, as does an unwavering sense of gratitude for the moment, the memories, and her trusty dog, Percy."
?Jan Gardner, Boston Globe, April 13, 2008

"Mary Oliver is 70 years old and still 'in love with life' and 'still full of beans' as she notes in 'Self-Portrait.' She savors the ocean, visits a graveyard, salutes a red bird in winter, heeds the invitation of a group of goldfinches to attend their performance, and finds lessons in teachings of an owl and a mockingbird. We depend on this poet for her hallowings in the animal kingdoms. We look to her for a reverence that lifts up and celebrates the little things in nature."
?Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice, April 9, 2008

"In Red Bird, Oliver maintains the lyrical connection to the natural world that has made her work so popular. But in the new book she speaks even more loudly than usual against mankind's growing list of abuses of the planet, while celebrating such seemingly ordinary creatures as crows."
?Poets & Writers, March/April 2008

"One of few avidly read living poets, Oliver revels in the beauty of the living world, and takes to heart its lessons in patience and pleasure, cessation and renewal. As piercingly observant as ever in this substantial and forthright collection, Oliver is rhapsodic."
?Donna Seaman, Booklist, March 1, 2008

"Mary Oliver, who won the Pultizer Prize in poetry, is my choice for her joyous, accessible, intimate observations of the natural world . . . She teaches us the profound act of paying attention?a living wonder that makes it possible to appreciate all the others."
?Renee Loth, Boston Globe

"It has always seemed . . . that Mary Oliver might leave us any minute. Even a 1984 Pulitzer Prize couldn't pin her to the ground. She'd change quietly into a heron or a bear and fly or walk off forever."
?Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

"'My work is loving the world,' Oliver tells us . . . She has always done that work . . . in poems of considerable beauty. Now she rises, not above the world, but through it."
?Jay Parini, The Guardian

Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary and Compelling November 25, 2008

I had the privilege of seeing Mary Oliver in person; her physical appearance was so like her poetry. Human, present, honest and brilliant. A woman asked her a question, then the woman began to cry and the audience came to a slightly embarrassed quiet. Mary called out "Are you crying?" The woman barely answered, but one could hear her say "yes". "Good for you" said Mary, which just about brought the house down with sympathy and relief.
This was shortly after her partner died; the book is full of her courage, grief and ability to recognize the wonders in life even as her heart is aching. A must read for every woman who has ever expressed a love of poetry.

5 out of 5 stars

Loved it. August 18, 2008
I cannot get enough of Mary Oliver's poetry. "Red Bird" is one of her best. She takes you to the world of birds and wildlife in ways that help you see life differently. Peaceful yet sad. Moving.

5 out of 5 stars

Red Bird July 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Some typical and upbeat poetry. But, felt some contents were a little less than author's usual standard. That the collection of work was stretched to fill the necessary pages to complete such a book. Several inclusions were not ones which would normally be expected in such an author's work. Blurb cleverly overwrote this ... Talking up the variety of work as though it was an extended range of new poetic scope ... rather than a probably extended range of choice of inclusion.

Having said that, I believe author is recovering from death of partner ... and she does have a strong following. Imagine, like me, her followers would be pleased that there is some continuing publication of her work.

But, felt the publishers could be more honest about the contents .... or perhaps to have offered a slimmer edition... under the circs... and have trusted the loyalty and interest of followers of this author .. to make a marketing success of the slimmer publication.

In this way, I believe gaining many, rather than estranging some a little.... such as me.

5 out of 5 stars

Lovely, lyrical July 12, 2008
I read a short review of this book and purchased it as a result. It is the first book of poems I have ever bought and it is worth every penny. The writing is evocative, lyrical and brilliant. The poems often take you to a place that you have been yearning to go to; places of peace, reflection and innocence.

5 out of 5 stars

a pleasure June 27, 2008
Who can resist Mary Oliver's poems, word pictures and thoughts.
If this is your first introduction to Oliver, you won't be
disappointed. Read it in a garden spot, or at the seashore, in nature, anywhere.

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