THE SPOKEN ARTS TREASURY- VOL. 1 100 Modern American Poets Reading Their Poems

"Treasury" is an apt word for this collection of recordings of famous poets reading from their own works. Drawn largely from twentieth-century American poets, this grouping is a powerful, if somewhat rueful, reminder of the popularity that poetry once enjoyed in America. Each reading is introduced by a narrator who briefly sketches the poet's background and poetic themes. The audio quality varies, but all can be clearly understood. Listeners might quibble with the anthologist's choices--too much Sandburg, not enough Frost, for instance--but overall the collection is strong, and hearing each writer's voice and intonation helps to clarify meaning in a way that simply reading a poem on the page cannot. M.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]