Why read The Poetry Home Repair Manual?

Book cover of The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets

Book description

"No other poet seems better suited to represent the United States as its Laureate in this era than Ted Kooser, and The Poetry Home Repair Manual should enhance his grip on our slumbering Republic."-Larry Woiwode, Poet Laureate of North Dakota, in North Dakota Quarterly

Much more than a guidebook to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Poetry Home Repair Manual as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rae Spencer

Author

This book is a guided tour through poetry’s potential and its cliches. At its heart, this book is a toolbox (that’s not my metaphor; it’s literally on the book’s cover).

I once harbored an ambition to support myself solely through writing (secretly, I still do), so I encountered Kooser’s opening advice with a combination of humor and denial: “You’ll never be able to make a living writing poems.” But once I accepted this very pragmatic and practical mindset, I began writing better. (And, oddly, writing more.)

This book helped me become a happier, more relaxed writer. As a bonus, I’ve…

From Rae's list on The best books that could have been dull but are actually poetry (and are sometimes about poetry).