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This Far from the Source: Poems
Book by Shepard, Neil
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2006
4 people want to read
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September 24, 2014
I really enjoyed this. but I did not love it. I thought the poems were well crafted and generally very elegant, with good sound and command of language. What made this lovely collection of fine poems not a five star book is that it seemed a bit detached,even at its most personal, when Shepard is discussing his wife and baby daughter. It's almost the opposite of W. D. Snodgrass's "Confessional" poetry, even the confessions are aloof. I thought the middle and later sections were the best, with some of my favorite poems being "In Fog", "Predatory Men", and "I'm From Leominster. Couldn't Be Prouder. Can't Hear Me Now. I'll Yell a Little Louder". That last poem is a brilliant critique of excessive devotion to the hometown, and by extension, the homeland and one's own culture. Good, but not as good as other contemporary collections, such as Belmont: Poems.
Displaying 1 of 1 review