Gary Soto: New and Selected Poems (Contemporary American Poetry, Poetry Books for Teens and Adults)

Excellent book, some of his work is on the CSET test for teachers. Great poems for class work. Book was delivered swiftly, ahead of time. Great!

I had resolved to try a new approach to buying books - first borrow them from the library and only buy them if I think I would read them again. I happened on Gary Soto's compilation by chance at the library - and it's the first book I am going to have to buy following my rule. These are poems that draw you immediately into their world, which they create by the simplest of means - the most telling nouns, the most pungent verbs. It's all here - the child, the outsider, the lover, the starving, the optimistic. These are poems crafted out of a spareness of cloth, a richness of spirit. Poems that continue talking long after they have been laid aside.

I find it sad that Gary Soto has been labeled by some as a "Mexican-American" poet. He is an American poet, or, better yet, a poet. From this book, I'd recommend these poems to be included in the Western canon: "At the All-Night Cafe", "Drinking in the Sixties", "Home Course in Religion", "Oranges", "Some Worry", and "Taking the Movies to the Streets".

Thanks to Chronicle Books for bringing out Soto's New and Selected Poems! So much of the man's stuff (especially the early stuff that I first fell for - the poems from Where Sparrows Work Hard and The Elements of the San Joaquin) is sadly out of print. But now, here's most of it presented in a thoughtful collection that gives us the best of the past and lets us catch up on the latest. I love Soto for his heart that beats through every line and for the warm humor that softens the heavy stuff he has to show us. His poems, my students tell me, tell it like it is. His poems, my poet friends tell me, say it like it should be. I await now the Collected Poems by Gary Soto. Are you listening Chronicle Books?

Like shadow puppets on a curtain which suddenly become real, Soto exposes the pain, humor and glory of being Mexican in California's San Joaquin Valley. From the helplessly funny "Mexicans Begin Jogging" to the proud celebration of "Kearney Park" Gary Soto shares the poetry of his life.He makes writing poems look so easy, I'm sure could do it