Tony will, I hope, eventually be reading Outcasts United, the soccer/refugee book by Warren St. John that I won as a door prize at St. John's reading, because today is his birthday (Tony's), and I will be giving it to him, a signed copy! Right now, he's still reading the library copy of Last Call, the Prohibition book.
I am reading, among other things, The Never-Ending, by Andrew Hudgins, winner of the 1988 Poets' Prize, because of my poetry addiction. Very pertinent: "Heat Lightning in a Time of Drought, " which opens, "My neighbor, drunk, stood on his lawn and yelled, / Want some! Want some!" Not that any of my neighbors would do this, but it is very hot here, and it just won't rain.
I have heard Hudgins read some poems aloud. Gosh, he grips me on the page and in person. A wow poet.
A woman in the store today will be reading Caps for Sale to kids, I hope. She found the one copy I've ever seen come into the shop during my time there, a favorite of mine since the days of Captain Kangaroo, where I first encountered this picture book by Esphyr Slobodkina. It's A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business.
Have you ever fallen asleep in or under a tree?!
3 comments:
I know Caps for Sale from Captain Kangaroo as well, and loved revisiting it with my nephew when he was small.
I remember reading the first volume of Nin's journal when I was right out of college, have no idea what prompted me. I liked it a lot but never got any further than that.
Hudgins sounds like someone I need to check out.
I should clarify that Hudgins won the 1988 Poets' Prize for a previous book (in 1988): After the Lost War: A Narrative. The Never-Ending was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1991. I am just now getting around to it!
I have a copy of that edition of Caps for Sale. I think we got it at the Normal Public Library book sale when Jeremiah was in first grade and had just read it in school and loved it.
Much as I loved Captain Kangaroo, which I would probably still watch if it were on TV.
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