Selected Books of the Beloved

by Gregory Orr

For more than a decade, Gregory Orr has been writing toward “the Book:” an imagined tome containing every poem and song ever written. Drawing from a rich tradition of lyric poetry, Selected Books of the Beloved is the culmination of that project, and more―it is a celebration of the transformative power of poetry, and of our extraordinary capacity to feel and to love.

Genres: Poetry

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2022

About the author

Gregory Orr was born in Albany, New York in 1947, and grew up in the rural Hudson Valley. He received a BA degree from Antioch College in 1969 and an MFA from Columbia University in 1972.

He is the author of more than ten collections of poetry, including River Inside the River: Poems (W. W. Norton, 2013); How Beautiful the Beloved (Copper Canyon Press, 2009); Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved (2005); The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems (2002); Orpheus and Eurydice (2001); City of Salt (1995), which was a finalist for the L.A. Times Poetry Prize; Gathering the Bones Together (1975) and Burning the Empty Nests (1973).

He is also the author of a memoir, The Blessing (Council Oak Books, 2002), which was chosen by Publisher's Weekly as one of the fifty best non-fiction books the year, and three books of essays, including Poetry As Survival (2002) and Stanley Kunitz: An Introduction to the Poetry (1985).
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/...

Reviews

[Nick Kroger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about Gregory Orr from the On Being podcast. In it, he proposed the idea that each person was on a journey to “build their own bible”, and that this imagined “book” was completely unique and vital to their lives. I was building a chicken coop when I heard that. I remember stopping and looking up at the sun for a moment. I had unknowingly been following his advice for years. I suppose many of us have.

We are brought up to follow “the one right way” of our parents, our schools, or our religions, and stumble in sorrow when we miss footfalls on the path. And eventually we give up that game in search of a new one. We get lost. Wander a bit too far off the path. Turn around. Spin senselessly in the dark. That is the moment when we must build our own navigation system to continue.

Gregory Orr’s “Selected Books of the Beloved” will always have a place in my navigation of the world. I would like to think that in some ways these are the most salient selections of his own “bible” that life has brought him.

I had to dwell in this book. For months. Each section requires the reader to imagine the Eros & loss that comes with being in the world and being in relationship with others. It asks us to sit in the deepest well of our grief, and turn our face again towards the radiance of love. What more do you want from a book?

[Quietly Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing; so glad I found it at library! Buying a copy to take notes. I love it so much.

[Edgar Trevizo · Rating 5 out of 5]

En lo que va del año este es, sin la menor duda, el descubrimiento del año. Uno de los mayores de los últimos años, de hecho. Un libro ambicioso, bellísimo, sabio, tierno… Cuánto agradezco el azar de haberlo encontrado.

[MaryBeth Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked the poems about his participation in the Freedom Rides. These poems are like songs. Some are haunting. Some are flirty. Some are lively. Reading this made me think and feel. Reading this made me a little bit smarter.

[Hannah Contreras · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book! And, as Gregory Orr tries to tell us, only a part of the Book. Orr’s poems are short, but impactful, and while he does go over some ideas a little more than necessary, the experience of reading the whole thing is a wonderful, intellectual one. Orr challenges the reader to try and understand that the whole world is the beloved and that poetry is the thing that allows us to make sense of the world. Much of the book focuses on loss and reflection, and so it’s not as out there as I thought it was going to be. He stays very grounded in reality and with the earth. Orr’s poetry is simple yet it encourages the reader to think hard about what he’s trying to say. Over the course of the book, you come to understand the Book. It’s an idea that really resonated with me and put to words something that I’ve felt myself. The section about his personal life and his experience with the Civil Rights movement — or as he calls it, “the tiny eyes of hate” — was especially moving. Bravo!

[Lynn Tait · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not get into this book of poetry.

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an epic piece of work! Great poetry here. And, yes, it’s a really long read, 317 pages of poetry!

[nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

a special collection when u let urself be moved by it