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Sweet Theft: A Poet's Commonplace Book
Centuries ago, when books were rare, those who owned them would lend them to friends, who in turn would copy out passages they especially liked before returning the precious book to its owner. These anthologies came to be known as Commonplace Books, and modern writers as different as W. H. Auden and Alec Guinness have kept them as well, recording phrases or passages that struck them as wise or witty or quirky. The result is as much the self-portrait of a sensibility as it is a collection of miscellaneous delights. Renowned poet J. D. McClatchy has been keeping such a book for three decades now. This selection from it offers a unique look into what strange facts, what turns of mind or phrase, what glorious feats of language and nature can attract the attention of a poet.
The great and the obscure are gathered around the same table, exchanging remarkable opinions. Henry James is speaking of “The deposed, the defeated, the disenchanted, the wounded, or even only the bored, have seemed to find there something that no other place could give.” At the other end of the table, Groucho Marx is playing drama “I didn’t like the play, but then I saw it under adverse circumstances—the curtain was up.” Nietzsche and Flaubert, Dizzy Gillespie and Marianne Moore—dozens of unexpected and timeless aphorisms and anecdotes that pierce and provoke. Many of McClatchy’s own observations about the art and prowess of writing are included as well.
This is a book meant to be sipped, not gulped; meant to be read at leisure and pondered on at length.
The great and the obscure are gathered around the same table, exchanging remarkable opinions. Henry James is speaking of “The deposed, the defeated, the disenchanted, the wounded, or even only the bored, have seemed to find there something that no other place could give.” At the other end of the table, Groucho Marx is playing drama “I didn’t like the play, but then I saw it under adverse circumstances—the curtain was up.” Nietzsche and Flaubert, Dizzy Gillespie and Marianne Moore—dozens of unexpected and timeless aphorisms and anecdotes that pierce and provoke. Many of McClatchy’s own observations about the art and prowess of writing are included as well.
This is a book meant to be sipped, not gulped; meant to be read at leisure and pondered on at length.
- GenresPoetry
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2016
11 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
J.D. McClatchy
102 books37 followersMcClatchy is an adjunct professor at Yale University and editor of the Yale Review. He also edits the "Voice of the Poet" series for Random House AudioBooks.
His book Hazmat (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He has written texts for musical settings, including eight opera libretti, for such composers as Elliot Goldenthal, Daron Hagen, Lowell Liebermann, Lorin Maazel, Tobias Picker, Ned Rorem, Bruce Saylor, and William Schuman. His honors include an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991). He has also been one of the New York Public Literary Lions, and received the 2000 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award.
In 1999, he was elected into the membership of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in January 2009 he was elected president. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation (1987), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Academy of American Poets (1991). He served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1996 until 2003. (Wikipedia)
His book Hazmat (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002) was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He has written texts for musical settings, including eight opera libretti, for such composers as Elliot Goldenthal, Daron Hagen, Lowell Liebermann, Lorin Maazel, Tobias Picker, Ned Rorem, Bruce Saylor, and William Schuman. His honors include an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991). He has also been one of the New York Public Literary Lions, and received the 2000 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award.
In 1999, he was elected into the membership of The American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in January 2009 he was elected president. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation (1987), the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Academy of American Poets (1991). He served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1996 until 2003. (Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 21, 2021
Commonplace books are collections of quotes and snippets from one’s reading. I’ve kept a commonplace book for decades and wanted to see how a published one is different and what makes it worthy of publication. What I found is that it isn’t different, except that I think mine is more interesting, and I have no clue how the author managed to get his published, other than maybe because he taught at Yale.
If you’re someone who enjoys quotes and don’t mind many of them coming from a fairly limited range of sources, there’s lots here to add to your own commonplace book. At the end of the day, the value of Sweet Theft is that it feeds the urge to carry on with my own commonplace book and maybe put it between hard covers privately for my family. That’s what made this a three star rating rather than two.
If you’re someone who enjoys quotes and don’t mind many of them coming from a fairly limited range of sources, there’s lots here to add to your own commonplace book. At the end of the day, the value of Sweet Theft is that it feeds the urge to carry on with my own commonplace book and maybe put it between hard covers privately for my family. That’s what made this a three star rating rather than two.
November 23, 2016
A commonplace book is, I guess, a personal thing; perhaps this is why I liked the idea of this book more than the execution. If the snippets contained here were of use to the author - a poet in his own right - then they served their purpose. There were several I even copied into my own collection of quotes, although I was dismayed to find that McClatchy had misattributed on of my favorites (from Abraham Maslow) to Bernard Baruch. Such a mistake makes me wonder what else the editors missed.
April 23, 2018
I briefly had a blog. This was in 2008-2010, although it was not updated regularly that entire time. I recall working on two blog posts the most, one about the dance language of bees and one about commonplace books. The history aside, commonplace books are the most underrated genre. I have flirted with an interest in aphorisms and aphoristic writing the past couple of years, and find that the commonplace book provides a sort of personal anthology of quotes and brief thoughts, that I tend to find more engaging than a book of originals. There are a few well known ones that you can still buy used copies of on Amazon. W. H. Auden's is arranged in alphabetical order, Alec Guiness has one that costs $6 in paperback, but McClatchy's is certainly the most recent and popular one I have run across.
I have not read McClatchy's poetry. I purchased this book a few weeks back after hearing of his passing from cancer a 72. I'm curious now, after finishing Sweet Theft, how my reading of his poetry would be affected. Perhaps because it has become an influential reading experience on me, I couldn't help but compare Sweet Theft to David Markson's final four novels. The "Notecard Quartet" as it is sometimes called. McClatchy even has a stand in for himself X whose writing practice is commented upon. The intent of this work is very different however, at the end of it this work felt much more like a tool and product of prodigious reading, editing, and writing. Markson's intent is to tell a story even if it is done through the collage of facts and quotations that commonplace books are made of.
I looked for the narrative thread in Sweet Theft, and am convinced it is not there, but there are themes. Poetry, the Romantics, W. H. Auden, anecdotes about writers related second hand. There are a number of quotes that are repeated in the collection, and at least one or two major misattributions. I count these as features and not defects. Minds work that way, with repetitions and mistakes. If you are interested in what the intellectual life of a praised poetry and editor looks like, this is one way to see it. If you like commonplace books. This is a required addition to your shelf.
I have not read McClatchy's poetry. I purchased this book a few weeks back after hearing of his passing from cancer a 72. I'm curious now, after finishing Sweet Theft, how my reading of his poetry would be affected. Perhaps because it has become an influential reading experience on me, I couldn't help but compare Sweet Theft to David Markson's final four novels. The "Notecard Quartet" as it is sometimes called. McClatchy even has a stand in for himself X whose writing practice is commented upon. The intent of this work is very different however, at the end of it this work felt much more like a tool and product of prodigious reading, editing, and writing. Markson's intent is to tell a story even if it is done through the collage of facts and quotations that commonplace books are made of.
I looked for the narrative thread in Sweet Theft, and am convinced it is not there, but there are themes. Poetry, the Romantics, W. H. Auden, anecdotes about writers related second hand. There are a number of quotes that are repeated in the collection, and at least one or two major misattributions. I count these as features and not defects. Minds work that way, with repetitions and mistakes. If you are interested in what the intellectual life of a praised poetry and editor looks like, this is one way to see it. If you like commonplace books. This is a required addition to your shelf.
August 6, 2023
A commonplace book is an inherently personal and subjective creature, so it feels weird to rate one of them. But this just didn't suit my taste — I stole hardly anything from it for my own commonplace book 🤭
July 5, 2018
Commonplace exemplar and fodder
Chock full of cool aphorisms to fill pages of my commonplace book. Reading it was like taking a stroll through some cool old store.
Chock full of cool aphorisms to fill pages of my commonplace book. Reading it was like taking a stroll through some cool old store.
May 17, 2024
Names of famous friends
reading (and writing) poems
the odd limerick.
reading (and writing) poems
the odd limerick.
June 22, 2016
Commonplace Books have been around for centuries. Similar to a journal, a commonplace book is a place to keep favorite things handy: favorite quotes, poems, notes. In general, a commonplace book is a place to store knowledge and ideas, things you want to lookup and reread.
I know McClatchy by reputation only: editor of The Yale Review, and as a poet. Until I read the blurb on the dust jacket of this book, I didn't know he was also an opera librettist. I've read The Yale Review for years, and have a copy of his 'Selected Poems', which I liked.
I was interested in this book to see what might be contained in his Commonplace Book. I've had a Commonplace Book of my own (several volumes), collected over about twenty years. I was interested to see what someone else collected in their Commonplace. I wasn't expecting to love this book. Not because I had anything against McClatchy. I made the assumption that since we're all different, we probably all collect different things in our Commonplace Books. What I might find interesting, someone else might not. I thought it might be an enjoyable glimpse into someone else's life and interests.
McClatchy's entries can be roughly split into four categories: quotes about poetry; quotes about theatre, music, opera; notes and 'witticisms' by McClatchy; and a collection of bitchy, insulting quotes by others.
I enjoyed most of the poetry quotes, as I enjoy poetry in general. I'm not much of a theatre goer. The 'witticisms' seemed dated, corny, and, quite honestly, not all that witty - a few made me smile slightly. And, the catty/bitchy insults were just too much. To hear someone make a catty comment about another can be amusing, but there were just too many in this for my taste. A well-delivered insult can be fun, though, for me, I don't think they are things I'd want to reread over and over. (Okay, Churchill had a few that are always worth reading.) Mostly, I found all the bitchiness irritating.
The overall tone of the book bothered me as well. As McClatchy states in his introduction, this book is a collection from over four decades worth of his Commonplace Books. It seems as if all the selections were picked to impress rather than entertain. The book reads like one would expect a Yale Professor to sound - pompous and stuffy, and terribly impressed with his own intelligence. Many of the quotes are in French (with McClatchy's translation after), and, for some reason, as the book went on, those seemed to come across as someone saying "look how smart I am, I can do translation too." Not that speaking multiple languages is bad. The book just seemed to grow more irritating as it went on.
The collection has a wide array of 'authors' - most of them long dead. I don't know much about the world of theatre, so I can't say with 100% certainty, but most of the writers quoted are no longer among us - most have been dead for a very long time. I don't know that there's a single quote in the book from this century (though, without going back through it again, I can't swear to it - but, that was a recurring thought as I was reading this).
I think, if all the catty remarks were left out, perhaps the condescending tone of the book would vanish, but with all the insults - by others, as well as some by McClatchy (though it's never stated whether the 'X' the insults are directed at is a real or imaginary person - or both) - the catty tone just makes everything else seem to be spoken by someone looking down from his ivory tower.
Overall, I enjoyed the quotes about the artistic aspects of poetry/art, and different artist's definitions of what art/poetry is. The rest were interesting enough to read, but not much that I'd care to read again.
If you really want to read this, see if you can find a cheap used copy, or check it out from the library. I didn't find it worth the $20.
I know McClatchy by reputation only: editor of The Yale Review, and as a poet. Until I read the blurb on the dust jacket of this book, I didn't know he was also an opera librettist. I've read The Yale Review for years, and have a copy of his 'Selected Poems', which I liked.
I was interested in this book to see what might be contained in his Commonplace Book. I've had a Commonplace Book of my own (several volumes), collected over about twenty years. I was interested to see what someone else collected in their Commonplace. I wasn't expecting to love this book. Not because I had anything against McClatchy. I made the assumption that since we're all different, we probably all collect different things in our Commonplace Books. What I might find interesting, someone else might not. I thought it might be an enjoyable glimpse into someone else's life and interests.
McClatchy's entries can be roughly split into four categories: quotes about poetry; quotes about theatre, music, opera; notes and 'witticisms' by McClatchy; and a collection of bitchy, insulting quotes by others.
I enjoyed most of the poetry quotes, as I enjoy poetry in general. I'm not much of a theatre goer. The 'witticisms' seemed dated, corny, and, quite honestly, not all that witty - a few made me smile slightly. And, the catty/bitchy insults were just too much. To hear someone make a catty comment about another can be amusing, but there were just too many in this for my taste. A well-delivered insult can be fun, though, for me, I don't think they are things I'd want to reread over and over. (Okay, Churchill had a few that are always worth reading.) Mostly, I found all the bitchiness irritating.
The overall tone of the book bothered me as well. As McClatchy states in his introduction, this book is a collection from over four decades worth of his Commonplace Books. It seems as if all the selections were picked to impress rather than entertain. The book reads like one would expect a Yale Professor to sound - pompous and stuffy, and terribly impressed with his own intelligence. Many of the quotes are in French (with McClatchy's translation after), and, for some reason, as the book went on, those seemed to come across as someone saying "look how smart I am, I can do translation too." Not that speaking multiple languages is bad. The book just seemed to grow more irritating as it went on.
The collection has a wide array of 'authors' - most of them long dead. I don't know much about the world of theatre, so I can't say with 100% certainty, but most of the writers quoted are no longer among us - most have been dead for a very long time. I don't know that there's a single quote in the book from this century (though, without going back through it again, I can't swear to it - but, that was a recurring thought as I was reading this).
I think, if all the catty remarks were left out, perhaps the condescending tone of the book would vanish, but with all the insults - by others, as well as some by McClatchy (though it's never stated whether the 'X' the insults are directed at is a real or imaginary person - or both) - the catty tone just makes everything else seem to be spoken by someone looking down from his ivory tower.
Overall, I enjoyed the quotes about the artistic aspects of poetry/art, and different artist's definitions of what art/poetry is. The rest were interesting enough to read, but not much that I'd care to read again.
If you really want to read this, see if you can find a cheap used copy, or check it out from the library. I didn't find it worth the $20.
March 14, 2017
A truffle, a diamond, a needle, a gasp, a startle, a laugh, a wonderment, each page. This leads places, but is just as much a place to be led to.
January 5, 2017
Interesting read. The variety in this commonplace book really stood out. The entries were more than just copied and pasted quotes. I pulled out some really great stuff, like this Chesterton anecdote:
G. K. Chesterton’s reaction on first seeing Times Square: “What a garden of earthly delights this would be if only one had the gift of not being able to read.”
I also learned an old term for a commonplace book: silva rerum, which is a seventeenth-century term for a gathering of notes, occasional poems, copies of letters, memorable quotes, etc.
G. K. Chesterton’s reaction on first seeing Times Square: “What a garden of earthly delights this would be if only one had the gift of not being able to read.”
I also learned an old term for a commonplace book: silva rerum, which is a seventeenth-century term for a gathering of notes, occasional poems, copies of letters, memorable quotes, etc.
September 17, 2016
A delightful pot-pouri ... a charming miscellany of thoughts and quotes, with a preponderance reflecting on writing, language and poetry (as only to be expected) ... meant to be re-read ...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews