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Rating: 
Summary: Slim Volume, Short Phrases, Solid Poetry
Review: As often happens, I am lead to a book of poetry by reading a poem in a magazine and then seeking out the volume in which the poem appears. Often, it takes a few years before the book appears but usually it is worth it. Certainly that is the case with this collection of poems by Mark Strand.
The poem that drew me to Strand is "A Piece of the Storm." This poem is eleven brilliant lines that, in its imagery and complexity, has incredible emotional impact. It is certainly one of the best poems I've read in the past ten years. I'm tempted to quote it in its entirely (as I do to friends) in this review but I'll resist the temptation. Consider just this one line that gives title to the book: "A snowflake, a blizzard of one, weightless, entered your room..." Notice the juxtaposition of descriptions of the snowflake. It is a blizzard, yet it is weightless. And it is the heavy force of this snowflake that leads the poem to its emotional epiphany. Needless to say, I will be turning the lines of the poem over in my mind for years to come.
As for the rest of this slim volume, if it doesn't quite live up to the promise of "A Piece of the Storm," there is much here that is worthwhile, particularly in the first half. "Untitled," "The Next Time," "The Night, The Porch," and "Some Last Words" are all excellent. The last two sections I found much less interesting though the second part of "What It Was" is quite powerful.
There are still those of us that believe in the power of poetry and believe there are still poets writing today worth reading. Mark Strand is proof of that.
Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeously dressed corpse
Review: I am among the many who are lucky enough to have Mark Strand as a Professor. That's the first reason why I bought this book--to learn more about him as a poet as well as getting my feet wet in the pool of poetry. The poems in this book open my mind to a different way of looking at poetry. It also offers me a better understanding of the humble man who presents lectures at my school every Monday afternoon. It is without a doubt that Mark Strand deserved the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. The poems in this book are profoundly simple yet so complex. They offer so many ways of interpretations, and I don't think even Strand can say that there is one absolute way to interpret his poems. He has once told me while I walked him to his car that: "Poetry is the celebration of language, and only through the language can one discover its meaning." Well, that's how one should read Mark Strand's poetry--indulge one's self in that peculiar world of languages. I encourage you to read on the other works of Mark Strand because they are the essence of the 20th century poetry. In this selection, "Old Man Leaves Party" is my favorite. Hopefully, you too can find the one poem that mystifies you in this selection. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Quite, quite fine
Review: Is Strand John Donne? Hardly. Is he Yeats? Alas, no. But he may be among the very best of living poets, and this has several poems worth re-reading. I look for more from him of the caliber of "Keeping Things Whole." Until then, this volume is a good consolation.
Rating: 
Summary: The "Blizzard" of Strand in Poetry.
Review: Mark Strand is a former Poet Laureate of the United States who writes transcendant minimalist poetry. Somehow I feel refreshed and uplifted by his poems, even when the topic is one of personal despair and the mood is that of finality. His poetry seems to breath, like Fost's, of moments of illumination born of a searching soul and silent contemplation. This is a work of craftsmanship from a gifted wordsmith. A worthy award winner of the Pullitzer for Poetry in 1999.
Rating:
Summary: Gorgeously dressed corpse
Review: Strand is undoubtedly the most overrated poet in the United States. Every five years or so he puts out a slim volume that reads like a fairly good imitation of Strand, and this one is no exception, filled with the usual icy facsimiles of emotion--and featuring the embarrassing "Delirium Waltz" in which he drops, with langorous obsequiousness, the names of a number of his wellknown friends. If you're interested in Strand, read his earlier books, particularly the magnificent "Story of Our Lives."This one is a waste of fifteen dollars. An elegantly dressed corpse is still a corpse.
Rating:
Summary: Quite, quite fine
Review: While Mark Strand is not my favorite poet, I can still see and appreciate his brilliance. The only thing about his poetry of which I can truly complain is that it does not make good reading while you are depressed. That said, if one reads and re-reads "Blizzard of One" in a more intellectual Stevens-esque mood, one must admit themself to be in the presence of a master. Strand's lines are inventive and extremely well-honed, and his work suggests the depth and complexity of a poet of the highest, or almost-highest, caliber. Not too many people notice Strand's sense of humor, though. He read at my college in the fall of 1999 on the same night as (are you ready for this?) Donald Justice and Derek Walcott. Reading last, after Walcott read a selection from the manuscript of "Tiepolo's Hound," Strand got up and started making everyone laugh with what he read. Most of what he read was from "Blizzard of One," too. "Some Last Words" is probably the poem in this collection which best embodies that side of Strand. I reccomend this book for anyone who loves poetry. Just be in the right mood when you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Dally the doom
Review: While Mark Strand is not my favorite poet, I can still see and appreciate his brilliance. The only thing about his poetry of which I can truly complain is that it does not make good reading while you are depressed. That said, if one reads and re-reads "Blizzard of One" in a more intellectual Stevens-esque mood, one must admit themself to be in the presence of a master. Strand's lines are inventive and extremely well-honed, and his work suggests the depth and complexity of a poet of the highest, or almost-highest, caliber. Not too many people notice Strand's sense of humor, though. He read at my college in the fall of 1999 on the same night as (are you ready for this?) Donald Justice and Derek Walcott. Reading last, after Walcott read a selection from the manuscript of "Tiepolo's Hound," Strand got up and started making everyone laugh with what he read. Most of what he read was from "Blizzard of One," too. "Some Last Words" is probably the poem in this collection which best embodies that side of Strand. I reccomend this book for anyone who loves poetry. Just be in the right mood when you read it.
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