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Name: The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing 1, Young, Kevin - Amazon.com
Rating: 4.5 (198 reviews)

Kevin Young

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The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing Kindle Edition

by Kevin Young (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 198 ratings

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“Kevin Young has thoughtfully gathered many of these sorrowful perambulations and grievous plummets.” -Billy Collins

The Art of Losing is the first anthology of its kind, delivering poetry with a purpose. Editor Kevin Young has introduced and selected 150 devastatingly beautiful poems that embrace the pain and heartbreak of mourning. Divided into five sections (Reckoning, Remembrance, Rituals, Recovery, and Redemption), with poems by some of our most beloved poets as well as the best of the current generation of poets, The Art of Losing is the ideal gift for a loved one in a time of need and for use by therapists, ministers, rabbis, and palliative care workers who tend to those who are experiencing loss.

Among the poets included: Elizabeth Alexander, W. H. Auden, Amy Clampitt, Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, Louise Gluck, Ted Hughes, Galway Kinnell, Kenneth Koch, Philip Larkin, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Marianne Moore, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Robert Pinsky, Adrienne Rich, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, Wallace Stevens, Dylan Thomas, Derek Walcott, and James Wright.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Young (Dear Darkness) is not only a prolific and acclaimed poet, but also the editor of several anthologies of poems, by African-American poets, inspired by the blues and jazz, and from the body of work by John Berryman. This latest anthology is his most topical, and, perhaps, his most useful, gathering poems about suffering and overcoming loss. Organized around subjects such as Regret, Remembrance, and Ritual, this book includes poets both canonical and contemporary, with perhaps a refreshingly larger helping of the latter: poets like Marianne More, Philip Larkin, and Elizabeth Bishop join newer names like D.A. Powell, Matthew Dickman, and Meghan O'Rourke; there are also plenty of reigning masters, like Louise Glück. Death is nature's way/ of telling you to be quiet, writes Franz Wright, somewhat harshly. With calmer acceptance, Theodore Roethke reminds us of the need to wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. While these poems won't offer easy answers to grief, they will keep the kind of company that only poetry can, because only poetry can convincingly say, as Ruth Stone does in the last poem of this book, All things come to an end./ No, they go on forever. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Poet Young, author of six vividly imagined collections, puts on his editor’s hat, one he wears well in previous anthologies dedicated to blues and jazz poems as well as here in this unique and invaluable gathering of contemporary poems of grief and healing. This effort stems from his memorializing his late father in Dear Darkness (2008), a loss that sharpened his perceptions of what Young cites as “a poetry of necessity.” As he observes, “No one wants to write an elegy.” But “we simply must.” And in writing, reading, and listening to elegies, understanding, solidarity, and solace are found. Young offers an original and personal analysis of the modern elegy, and uses his own experience with the cycle of mourning to structure the book in sections titled “Reckoning,” “Regret,” “Remembrance,” “Ritual,” “Recovery,” and “Redemption.” And the poems are as diverse and universal as the emotions of loss. Poems by Dylan Thomas, Sharon Olds, Mary Jo Bang, Nick Flynn, Natasha Trethewey, Cornelius Eady, Gerald Stern, Lucille Clifton, and many others exquisitely and empathically translate pain into beauty, sorrow into catharsis. --Donna Seaman

Review

“Young offers an original and personal analysis of the modern elegy, and uses his own experience with the cycle of mourning to structure the book in sections titled ‘Reckoning,’ ‘Regret,’ ‘Remembrance,’ ‘Ritual,’ ‘Recovery,’ and ‘Redemption.’ And the poems are as diverse and universal as the emotions of loss.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist

“[Young’s] latest anthology is his most topical, and, perhaps, his most useful, gathering poems about suffering and overcoming loss … While these poems won’t offer easy answers to grief, they will keep the kind of company that only poetry can, because only poetry can convincingly say, as Ruth Stone does in the last poem of this book, ‘All things come to an end. / No, they go on forever.’”—Publishers Weekly

“‘Grief,’ wrote Denise Levertov, ‘is a hole you walk around in the daytime and at night you fall into it.’ Here, Kevin Young has thoughtfully gathered many of these sorrowful perambulations and grievous plummets.”—Billy Collins

“A book for easing the heart in pain. A chorus of poets (the first of its kind) brought together expressly to guide us through dark times when ‘the eye begins to see.’

Kevin Young is the right guy at the right time to do this. Brilliant.”—Mark Matousek, author of When You’re Falling, Dive and Ethical Wisdom

About the Author

Kevin Young is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Dear Darkness, named one of the Best Books of 2008 by National Public Radio's All Things Considered and winner of a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award in poetry. His book Jelly Roll: A Blues was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won the Paterson Poetry Prize. He is the editor of four other volumes, including Blues Poems, Jazz Poems, and the Library of America's John Berryman: Selected Poems. The curator of literary collections and the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, Young lives in Boston and Atlanta.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00C0WHVTE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; 1st edition (May 5, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 5, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4232 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #425,255 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #82 in Poetry Anthologies (Kindle Store)
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- #151 in Religious & Inspirational Poetry

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4.5 198 ratings

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Kevin Young

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Kevin Young is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Dear Darkness, named one of the Best Books of 2008 by National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and winner of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award in poetry. His book Jelly Roll: A Blues was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won the Paterson Poetry Prize. He is the editor of four other volumes, including Blues Poems, Jazz Poems, and the Library of America’s John Berryman: Selected Poems. The curator of literary collections and the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, Young lives in Boston and Atlanta.

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4.5 out of 5

198 global ratings

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Alarie Tennille

A Wonderful Condolence Gift, But You'll Want to Keep a Copy, Too

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015

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What a wonderful condolence gift this book would be. These poems should be shared at funerals and wakes or read privately through the months of heartache. Poetry lovers will want this book on their home shelf to enjoy again and again. Kevin Young’s Book of Hours showed the world his gift for putting eulogy and grief on paper, and he used that insight in editing this collection. At the best funerals, we remember our loved ones with both tears and laughter, and these poems contain that wholeness of being human.

Too many anthologies go back to the same old, same old, dead, white male poets and poems that are dense with dated language. Young chose to focus on more accessible, more relevant, and more modern poems. With only a few exceptions, he pulled together twentieth and twenty-first century poems. For once, women and minority writers are well represented. There’s something everyone can relate to.

Many of my favorite poems are here: “Otherwise” and “Let Evening Come” by Jane Kenyon, “Funeral Blues” by W. H. Auden, “Wild Geese” and by Mary Oliver, “Mourners” by Ted Kooser, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, and for a smile, “The Dead” by Billy Collins. With nearly 300 pages of poetry, Young was able to cover an incredible range. You’re sure to meet some authors you don’t know well. There’s also a convenient index by subject to help those searching for a single-poem to read at a service or send to a friend.

9 people found this helpful

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NewKrossBoss

A beautiful anthology to soothe the mourning spirit

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018

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I bought this two days after my dad passed unexpectedly. The organization of the poems by type of loss was especially helpful. It helped ease my pain by showing me that others had suffered loss and survived. I especially love Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese. Thank you for creating such a beautiful anthology for people in mourning.

5 people found this helpful

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Mountain Poet

A Wonderful Book of Poetry for Those Who've Lost Someone Dear To Them

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2019

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I bought this book for a niece who lost her mother last week, after having lost her father 15 years ago. She's only 23 years old, too young to have lost both parents. My own grief at this loss made me remember all the other family members and friends who've passed, each death different from the rest but no less painful as we age. Even though I've read many books on grieving I decided to see if there was a book of poetry for these events which deeply mark our lives.

I was pleased to see the fine poetry that's been collected in this book. So I ordered another copy of this book to keep since death is inevitable, and life so full that we need poetry to help move the sadness as time goes on.

7 people found this helpful

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nan

It speaks to the soul

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2010

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I wanted to read this collection of poems after hearing the author on a NPR broadcast. He was sincere without being sentimental, His thoughts went directly to the feelings you feel and can't express.I suffered the loss of a loved one and it's hard enough to deal with your emotions and then try to convey to those near you what you are thinking and feeling. It's enormous. This book carefully and sensitively puts into words what many of us need to release as we struggle through this common experience.

12 people found this helpful

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Martin G. Nystrom

Many exquisite and thoughtful poems to express sorrow and joys of life

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2018

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I read this book of poetry following the tragic loss of my son. I highlighted and bookmarked twenty or more poems that moved me. Many poems I had to read three or more times to really let the concepts sink in. None of the poems are trite or simplistic, and none would be suitable for quoting in cursive and plastering on memes. They are deep and genuinely moving, but take time and focus to understand.

10 people found this helpful

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krritter

Helped me get through my Mom's death.

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2018

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My mom died suddenly of heart failure. A couple of these poems still sooth my grief today (3 years later). Living without your mom is heart wrenching, and everyone needs some help when facing a giant loss of this nature. If you are looking for something to help fill that gaping hole left behind from grief's unrelenting waves of sadness, give this book a try.

9 people found this helpful

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asiek

Brilliant poems, perfectly put together

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2015

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If modern poetry is your thing, and you always have the drive to turn to it in the time of need...and you lost somebody dear to you, this is the thing that you should read. Brilliant poems, perfectly put together.

2 people found this helpful

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Shiner’s Pal

A collection that is not as poignant as it wants to be

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024

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There are a handful of gems here, but overall, the collection is lacking

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Top reviews from other countries

Lou Kay

A really good companion to have in times of losing and loss

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2015

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Bought it for a gift for someone who'd lost their father. A really good companion to have in times of losing and loss.

A R Fawcett-Jones

I love poetry

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2011

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I love this book it has put to bed my own poetry learning experience for time being and made me fall in love again with poetry. Will and would buy more.

hazel a hammond

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2015

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this is a wonderful book for those a whatever stage of grief they are ..

Mrs. Marie Brown

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2015

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Very deep and thought provoking. Too heavy for my taste.