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Kennedy/Gioia's An Introduction to Poetry, 12e continues to inspire readers and writers with a rich collection of poems and engaging insights on reading, analyzing, and writing about poetry. 

This bestselling anthology includes more than 500 of the discipline's greatest poems, blending classic works and contemporary selections.  Both noted poets themselves, the text's editors X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia write of their subject with wit and a contagious enthusiasm.  Informative, accessible apparatus presents readable discussions of the literary devices, illustrated by apt works, and supported by interludes with the poets.  This edition features more than 50 new poems, a new masterwork casebook on T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Songs of J. Alfred Prufrock," extensively revised and expanded chapters on writing, and a fresh new design.

New students of poetry.

Average Rating:

Rating: - Honesty is the best policy
First time I bought a used book that actually looked brand NEW!! Thanks for being honest.

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Rating: - MIssing Pages
When i ordered this book, it did not say anything about the book having missing pages. There are several sections of pages that are ripped out of the book, which i needed for class. I was not satisfied with this product.

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Rating: - A Good, but Conservative, Anthology
Much to like in this book; despite a lot of dreary examples of ancient poets writing drearily about dreary topics, there's actually a very good selection of vigorous, interesting stuff from the modern era. I can highly recommend the book as a whole, but do pity the beginning student trying to wade through the dry-as-dust academic treatment of some topics and poets. Despite the impeccable credentials and good intentions of the editors, they pick 'way too many pre-20th century poets whose intellectual milieu is totally lame, man, and they too often "academize" and make dull what could be lively, fresh, and compelling. I'd hope that X.J. and Dana would think hard about what it's like for a college freshman to be confronted with turgid, overly-long, and frankly unimaginative essays such as the ... Read More

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Rating: - A wonderful textbook on poetry.
This was a wonderful book, very easy to read, and including hundreds of poems of all eras and genres... it provides a good education on poetic forms and ideas, with each chapter including many examples of the topic being discussed... and at the end there is a huge anthology of poems, many of which were new to me, which made it a real bonus.

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Rating: - This Is A Textbook?
Maybe I shouldn't have even used the term "textbook". After all that word generally connotes a book that is tedious, dry and full of obscure jargon. This is a different book, however. It is indeed a sprightly introduction to poetry that informs and entertains. It has sections on Irony, Tone, Words, Metaphors, Sound, Rhythm, Form, Symbol, Myth, and Narrative, just to mention a few.

The discussion of each topic is illustrated by the provision of relevant poems. The poems are generally analyzed, and the reader is asked pertinent questions about them. I can't praise the authors enough for their choice of poems. Most are relatively brief works, but they are excellent examples of the topic at hand.

What could be a better poem exemplifying Irony than this little classic deploring ... Read More