Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver [B2027]

2017 HCDJ nice except for where moisture caused color from the spine to leach onto the DJ (see photo). Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver presents a personal selection of her best work in this definitive collection spanning more than five decades of her esteemed literary career. "No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important, the luminous writing provides respite from our crazy world and demonstrates how mindfulness can define and transform a life, moment by moment, poem by poem." -The Washington Post "It's as if the poet herself has sidled beside the reader and pointed us to the poems she considers most worthy of deep consideration." -Chicago Tribune Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver has touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Identified as "far and away, this country's best selling poet" by Dwight Garner, she now returns with a stunning and definitive collection of her writing from the last fifty years. Carefully curated, these 200 plus poems feature Oliver's work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through her most recent collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world.

Note: Mary Oliver is often considered the unofficial poet laureate of UUs, even though she was not one.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Mary Oliver is the GOAT. Every poem is filled to the brim with the most beautiful prose and stunning naturalism. This collection proceeds backwards in time through her writings and while it does display clear changes in her style, it was clear she was at the top of the game for her whole career. The Poet of this generation, dare I say?"; "Beautiful amazing poignant emotional breathtaking."; "This was effectively my gateway drug into poetry. Her poems capture an attention to and love of the natural world that drives me to look more closely at my surroundings. It's a beautiful collection that allows someone to get a sense of her best work."