Friday, June 17, 2011

Book Beginnings on Friday: Beautiful & Pointless




'This book is about modern poetry. But a book about modern poetry can't be as confidently "about" its subject as a book about, say, college football or soap operas or dog shows or the pastas of Northern Italy. That's because poetry is poetry---it supposedly comes to us wrapped in mystery, veiled in shadow, cloaked in doubt, swaddled in...well, you get the idea. Consequently, the potential audience for a book about poetry nowadays consists of two mutually uncomprehending factions: the poets, for whom poetry is a matter of casual, day-to-day conversation; and the rest of the world, for whom it's a subject of at best mild and confused interest.'
from Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry by David Orr


Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by A Few More Pages.
Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read,
making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.
If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.


And don't forget about
my June Giveaway here at Readerbuzz...

Anna and the French Kiss!
Posted by at

18 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 17, 2011 at 7:11 AM

    Interesting title, Beautiful and Pointless. Thank you for stopping by my blog house.

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  2. AnonymousJune 17, 2011 at 7:12 AM

    I would love to win Anna And The French Kiss.

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  3. AnonymousJune 17, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    Thanks for popping into Blogger Hop and telling me about the Friday Meme that you participate in. I love it! I'm also dying to read Anna and the French Kiss. It's on my tbr list - hasn't made it to the pile yet!

    brenda

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  4. Confuzzled ShannonJune 17, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    Wow that total made no sense to me! Sorry :-/ ;-) Happy Reading!

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  5. Laurel-Rain SnowJune 17, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    I like that opener...it tells us about the book and about poetry as if presenting a treasure or a gift. I like that.

    Here's MY FRIDAY MEMES POST

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  6. AnnJune 17, 2011 at 9:20 AM

    That's a great beginning. Very relaxed and chatty without being waffly. I like the sound of it - and what a great name for a book as well!

    http://thebookgatherer.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-beginningson-friday_17.html

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  7. KatyJune 17, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    Another great beginning! I like the wittiness of the writing.

    Thanks for participating in Book Beginnings!

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  8. MelodyJune 17, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    I just finished reading Beautiful & Pointless last night, so it surprised me to see it pop up in Google Reader. Hope you enjoy it. :)

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  9. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzJune 17, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    How unlikely is that, Melody? It's not like Beautiful & Pointless is on the bestseller list!

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  10. MelodyJune 17, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Is it really?! (One moment while I crawl out from under my rock...) I impulse bought it last weekend: found it on the highest shelf on the back wall of the bottom floor of B&N. Hrm...

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  11. MelodyJune 17, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    ...or was that not sarcasm? maybe I need to crawl back into bed! I'm so confused. My sense of humor feels all out of whack. ;)

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  12. Bev HankinsJune 17, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    I love the "wrapped in mystery, cloaked in doubt" etc. part! Very nice!

    Here are my Friday Memes: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/06/friday-memes_17.html

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  13. Yvonne @ Fiction Books ReviewsJune 17, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    Hi Deb Nance,

    Thanks for stopping by 'Fiction Books' earlier, I just love 'meeting' new people.

    I just love the title of the book, with it's relevance apparent from those first few lines.

    I'm not sure whether those lines would make me want to read on, or not, but I may do, just out of curiosity.

    I don't read poetry on a regular basis, but will browse occasionally, both modern and classic poetry, depending on how the mood takes me.

    Yvonne

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  14. Lenasledgeblog.comJune 17, 2011 at 4:03 PM

    I love poetry, I am dedicating my blog to poetry for the month of July, once a week I'm going to feature a poet, old school and new school. Just to liven it up.

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  15. KasumiJune 17, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    Hi!
    I love and hate poetry: love the sounds, the feelings, but sometimes I can't stand it! So complicated!

    Good luck with your book!

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  16. NicoleJune 17, 2011 at 5:11 PM

    Beautiful and Pointless has been sitting in my Titlesource cart to purchase for the library for weeks now--can't wait until the new fiscal year so there's money to order it! I think I'll be first in line to check it out.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  17. Kathy MartinJune 17, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    Anna and the French Kiss was a very nice romance. I have seen that the author has another book out (or coming out) too. Have you had a chance to see that one?

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  18. DebbieJune 17, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    I absolutely love those lines and this book is going on my tbr list. Thanks for sharing!
    Debbie from nofiltermom.blogspot.com

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