New and Selected Poems

by Gary Soto

For over two decades, the award-winning poet and author Gary Soto has been offering his readers a vision that transcends the ordinary, making him one of today's most celebrated Chicano writers. New and Selected Poems includes the best of his seven full-length collections, plus over 23 new poems previously unpublished in book form. From the charged, short-lined poems of Soto's early writing to an unflinching look at poverty and hard labor in California's Central Valley to the off-beat humor in his longer, more recent work, New and Selected Poems is a timely tribute to a brilliant writer whose work confirms the power of the human spirit to survive and soar.

Genres: Poetry, American

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Sally]

“Oranges,” a poem by Gary Soto, can be found in his published collection of works, “New and Selected Poems.” This poem is a wonderful example of an author’s use of descriptive language that appeals to all five of the senses. As a teacher, I would present this poem to my students to demonstrate the importance of using descriptive language in our writing. If students can begin to learn to use descriptive words and a varied vocabulary regularly, their writing will become more expressive and interesting for the reader. Furthermore, the use of descriptive language gives the author and the speaker his or her own identities.

When considering a writing assignment to act as a companion to “Oranges,” I would ask my students to return to “Oranges” and indicate descriptive words or phrases that appeal to the various senses. The students would use special symbols (such as an ear for sound) to indicate the five senses in Gary Soto’s writing. I would then ask my students to write their own sensory poems or include these descriptive phrases in their already-written rough drafts. The poems could be based upon special experiences in the students' lives or every day moments that can be seen as extraordinary. I would hope to publish the polished sensory poems in a special classroom collection and encourage my students to continue writing with descriptive language.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, personal imagery that is very relatable and makes me feel like I'm talking to an old friend more than reading a collection of poems. I think I would have been better off taking on one of his other, more cohesive collections before this one, however. I felt like each section was its own complete chapbook. Also, a lot of the poems very very long and drawn out, to the point that I would find myself skipping over whole stanzas before I forced myself to go back again. This is probably something that would be solved by reading something that is not a 'best of' collection. I look forward to finding his other works to read, but will not be keeping this one.

[NS - Cami Houston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate 6-8, Soto reflects the universality of the human condition as mirrored through his experiences in and strong ties to the Mexican-American community in California. Whether he is reliving a trip to the cemetery, a shopping excursion to the local market, or the nostalgia days of black-and-white TV, he presents each word, each line with power. Soto's language is spare and plain like the people and places he describes. Written with the language and the feel for everyday simplicity of ordinary people.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly beautiful and beautifully simple. Soto spreads his life before you in this collection. His memory and his metaphors yield a life of poems both bare and harsh, yet fantastical and romantic. I hope that doesn't like an ordinary back-of-book review, but if you read this collection, you'll understand my vague summary.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Soto's sparse but lyrical verses, his wonderful way of weaving the personal with the political to create deceptively simple poems that speak volumes about the Mexican-American experience that, ultimately, is the American experience. I go back to this book time and time again.

[Alyson Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of Soto's poetry: funny, poignant, and serious in dealing with multiculturalism.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems gave me a greater appreciation for male narrative. These are coming-of-age stories, very poignant and deceptively simple.

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having come from a family without access to any types of books whatsoever, it's amazing to realize how Gary Soto from a very young age continued and still continues to "size up the sparrows" as it were with his continued life experiences in both his own writing and reading.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the poems even though some were not my type of thing. It does mention some explicit things, but overall I would recommend this book.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many poems with similar themes. I should not have read the entire book as I did.

[Johnnie Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay book. i liked that it had poems. i think 13 year old would enjoy this book