Inside the Onion

by Howard Nemerov

A wizard with words, Nemerov presents this collection of poems in his typical, sardonic style. However, the humour is used to slide more important themes under the radar, making this both a funny and reflective read. Poems such as 'Fish Swimming Amid Falling Flowers,' and 'Graven Images' see his haunting observations on nature, while others, such as 'Acts of God,' and 'Striders' deal with more epic ideas. A superb introduction to one of the greatest American poets of the 20th Century.

Genres: Poetry

79 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Isaac Timm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind feeding poetry, at first it was hard to for me to process, but his poems kind of hung around in my mind, bugging me to pick the book up and read them a few more times through. My favorites: In Memory of Master Poet Robert Browning, Striders, Graven Images, Fish Swimming Amid Falling Flowers, and Acts of God.

[Tom Romig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magician with words, Howard Nemerov works the language in fresh and revealing ways, guiding readers to see the world in fresh and revealing ways. (Howard Nemerov and Diane Arbus were siblings. Those must have been some family dinners!)

[ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some touching poems in the bunch, like “Epiphany”, “Gnomic Variations for Kenneth Burke”, and “A Dog’s Life”. “Poetics” was good to make me laugh, and there are a scattering of perspicuous lines that prodded at the brain.