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17 Love Poems with No Despair
by BJ Ward
Product Group: Book
Publisher: North Atlantic Books (1997-04-10)
ISBN: 1556432437
EAN: 9781556432439
Dewey Decimal #: 811.54
Binding/Media: Paperback - 48 pages
Release Date: 1997-04-10
SKU: S331-1161
Condition: Like New
Comments: UNREAD but may have a crease or mark or minor imperfections. In stock - Sent fast from British booksellers.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
17 Love Poems with No Despair resounds with the voice of a clear, powerful speaker. Ward does not naively deny despair but rather refuses it, making a case to the beloved and to the reader that proffers love as an antidote. This book is an offering of passion wrought with charm and poignancy. Always one is aware of the strength that is required to love long and well.
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Customer Reviews
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You have to know him...
Rating  (5)
Date: 2005-02-02
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
BJ Ward's poetry is energetic and powerful. It has the ability to be delicate and by the next line, pure trash. You have to feel the rhythm of the work in order to hear his refined author persona supressing the "white trash" of his childhood.
"Peel back slowly and look inside..."
-Andy Warhol.
Use your brain to read and not your eyes and you will enjoy BJ Ward.
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it's a clean sweep...
Rating  (1)
Date: 2004-07-28
1 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read all three of Ward's books--they were forced on me, to tell the truth, and I had an hour waiting at a train station, so now I can give them back and say I've read them. Poor Pablo Neruda. So many people have probably ripped him off, and here's another. The despair was mine at reading these poems, which cxome across more as the slithering bombast of a bar snake who's looking to slip something in your drink than love poems. That would of been cool had I thought Ward was going for that effect, but no. Ward thinks he's writing love poems, and whether they're wonder twins or other junk, he's not doing much that's reinventing the love poem.
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EXCELLENT
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-07-17
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
I ALWAYS HATED POETRY IN SCHOOL. NOW I HAVE RETURNED TO COLLEG 23 YEARS LATER AND PART OF MY COURSE STUDY WAS TO TAKE ENGLISH CLASSES. AT FIRST I THOUGHT THEY WERE YOUR BASIC ENGLISH BUT THEY WERE NOT. MY PRODESSOR WAS BJ WARD. HE PUT SO MUCH PASSION INTO EVERYTHING WE READ AND WROTE. I WENT TO ALL THE PEOTRY FESTVALS WE HAD AT THE COLLEGE AND BECAME SO INTERESTED IN IT. I HAVE ALL OF BJ'S BOOK SO FAR AND I CANNOT EVEN PICK ONE SINGLE POEM THAT IS MY FAVORITE. YOU CAN FEEL THROUGH HIS WORDS WHETHER IT IS ANQUISH OR JOY HE HAS FELT. HE HAS OPENED MY EYES TO THE WORLD OF POETRY. I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HIS NEW COLLECTION COMING OUT IN SEPTEMBER. KEEP UP THE WONDERFUL WORK BJ. YOU OWE IT TO ALL OF IS.
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A Quite Successful Book from an Under-Recognized Poet
Rating  (4)
Date: 2001-10-10
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
I bought this book by Ward years ago at a reading he gave in Syracuse. I was surfing around to see if he had anything new in and saw so many negative reviews. I was startled. This is quite a beautiful book full of tender and sorrowful lyricism. The title, riffing Neruda, is ironic, as underneath the surface texture of these poems is a fear of loss as much as renewal.In the chaos of my library I have my top book shelf of about 30 books of contemporary poets that I find jumpstart me when I have trouble writing. This book is on there. Ward is part of my generation of poets (born at 1965 or after), but he has somehow fallen through the seams. He should be present in the canon forming anthologies but isn't. This is a shame. I highly recommend Ward, his work, and if you get the chance-- to hear him read. The honest and seemingly simple texture and metaphor of his poems offers us much to help us live our lives.
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To Understand The Title Of The Book ...Read Pablo Neruda
Rating (5)
Date: 2000-09-28
8 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
I feel sorry for the gentleman from San Antonio who did not bother doing his homework to find out the genesis of the title of Mr. Ward's book. I found both of his tomes of poetry to be outstanding views on what it was like to grow up in a backwater town in Northwestern New Jersey. To experience the many relationships with his mother, father and girlfriend who has brought some much love and joy to his life. To understand what coming of age and finding oneself is really all about. I find Mr. Ward to be a very intelligent and gifted writer of poetry who works long hours and hard to find just the right words to express his feelings. The fact that he also works hard with children to give them support in their efforts to write poetry right down to the early third grades is a tribute to his genius, all on his own time. I think if anyone ever has a chance to attend one of his readings, you will experience the explosion of emotion that goes into his poetry. It is almost an Academy Award performance and I came away as a true convert to BJ Wardism. Thank you, Mr. Ward, for giving us the modern day equivalent of Robert Frost and his poetry. And, don't let anyone discourage you.
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