Candy Is Dandy : The Best of Ogden Nash

by Ogden Nash, Anthony Burgess (Introduction)

A bumper volume of the best poems by a hugely funny and quotable writer.

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Nonfiction, Anthologies

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".

Reviews

[Richa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I read it again.
In the bus, in my room and in the train.
Read it once or read it twice..
not even reading countlessly would suffice
Choosing a favourite is so tough,
not a single one can you rebuff.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wit and creative poetry at its best.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I drank this book in small sips, as larger droughts would likely left me cloyed. ON sets out to write bad poems based on bad puns and, mostly, he succeeds. The material has not aged well, unless you are au fait with taken for granted references to pop culture of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

[Redbird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, unique, clever. Nash didn't like his children to say "Thanks" instead of "thank you" so when they said "thanks" he responded "Welks." My kind of guy. (That is from the bio of him.) His poetry is often funny, always true, thought provoking, and harder to write than it seems.

[Sahiti Nallagonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute Delight...!!
A very enjoyable read. Will surely return to it again and again. Nash was just brilliant,witty and his writing will feel fresh forever. Bringing out that comedy in writing is much more difficult than it seems!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought like all poetry volumes, I would read this a little at a time, but I raced through this book. I read this book every chance I got - between meals, during meals, during commercial breaks, before sleeping, just after getting up and any spare time in between. I couldn't put this book down!

[Sumirti · Rating 4 out of 5]

.

[David Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't go to church today,
I trust the Lord to understand.
The surf was swirling blue and white,
The children swirling on the sand.
He knows, He knows how brief my stay,
How brief this spell of summer weather,
He knows when I am said and done
We'll have plenty of time together.

"I Didn't Go To Church Today" by Ogden Nash

Read in Valladolid, Mexico and Chicago (July 2025)

[Jordan Phizacklea-Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It soon gets a bit repetitive, but this is a treasure trove of witty wordplay and alliteration from the United States' best-loved comic versifier. A thumping good bedtime read.

[Vijay Chengappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purists might scoff at calling this poetry. But America's favorite limerick machine got it right more often than not.

[Charles Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

My upbringing was sprinkled with frequent Nash quotes by my mother. As a tribute to her memory, I read this book and enjoyed it immensely. Although, to be frank, hearing my mother recite these limericks is more pleasant than simply reading them for myself.

[Lee Dower · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dated now, but a bumper crop of gems to make you smile.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best for light reading - so witty and intelligent!

[Jon Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nash is the product of a literary age of dandies; those who came of age in the interwar years and always had a clever killer line in readiness. If it were a duel of wits their weapon would be superior to yours; not bigger, not better but sharper and aesthetically gorgeous.

It’s a style that palls over nearly 400 pages. You’re waiting for the poet to get that line in; even the sweetly beautiful structures leading up to the great line can become cloying. Plus the frequent disregard for line and meter (drawn from the influence of Gilbert and Sullivan I suspect) becomes annoying when repeated. There’s rarely a poem that goes by without something to recommend it but all too often it feels utterly disposable; cheap rhymes and cheats aiming to get past the reader in the way Byron often did because he seemed to get bored. Worth reading but it really needed a better editorial chainsaw taken to it; a leaner volume would’ve saved the thematic and topical repetition that bedevils the book.

[rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love ogden nash. i don't know this particular "best of" book, but i wholeheartedly recommend nash as a hilarious poet and silly-word-making master. he's the author of the famous poem that i read last year on poem in your pocket day (april 17th--celebrate it!) called the octopus. it goes a little something like this (as best i can remember)...

tell me, octopus, i begs
is those arms, or is they legs?

okay really that's all i can remember, although the whole poem is probably only about two lines longer than that. so read ogden nash! celebrate poem in your pocket day! whether you have a pocket or not.

[^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute delight. I just love dipping into this book, whenever the fancy takes me.

Ogden Nash's poetry ALWAYS come across fresh / quirky / new / thoughtful / entertainingly. Like Roger McGough, He is fascinated about the minutiae of everyday life; always a rich seam to mine.

I'm irritated by the cover claim that this is a collection of the "best of", because some of my personal Nash favourites are not included. However, if you're short of shelf space, and want just one volume of Nash's poetry, then this volume is certainly worthy of very serious considerarion.

[Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ogden Nash's command of rhyme is astonishing. If I were in a slightly more whimsical mood at the moment I'd try writing this review in a Nashian sort of meter, but I think I'll pass that opportunity up. Basically all there is to say is that, while I love poetry, I've never enjoyed myself in reading any book of verse as much as this one. It's just fun.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom had the 5-book set when I was a girl and I just loved the way Nash played with words. His poems are just a delight.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In fact pretty much the complete works of one of America's funniest poets. All the pure gold is here, and rather too much of the rest.

[Marie Theron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endlessly amusing, so clever and original! Definitely a bedside book to read again and again.

[H. P. Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

And Ogden Nash at his best was very, very good.

[Justine Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

sort of like Calvin and Hobbes in poetry format

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker" - never a truer line spoken.

[Sucheta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy is awesome. Please read the book. You will laugh out loudest. My personal favorite - It is going to hurt just a little bit.

[wen b · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man is a Classic and he knows children so well he is hysterical

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of poetry. But this is a great read and funny. It's a wonderful 'diary' of the silly conversations Nash had with his children and shows that never entirely growing up is a good thing.

[Soumyamanivannan]

fun

[❄️ Propertea Of Frostea ❄️ Bitter SnoBerry ❄ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep rhymin'