David Madden (ed.), A Pocketful of Poems: Vintage Verse, Volume 1. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. 221 pages. ISBN 1413015581.
The Pocketful series was designed to provide students with low-cost textbook options. They are much smaller than many anthologies, yet contain a significant amount of material. These books are intended to be used as the sole textbook for a course, but could also be combined with other books.
I received this copy at Book Expo America many years ago, and have just read it a month or so ago. I'm not an expert by any means on poetry; I like reading it, but I find that poetry is fun and interesting to read at the time, but most of it doesn't stick with me for long. I suppose it's meant to be read over and over, but there are too many other things I want to read, so I'm reluctant to read the same thing over again.
There were many poems in this book with which I was already familiar, but also many that were new to me (not surprising since I don't read poetry very often). Selections ranged from the 16th century to the present.
These books are well-designed; the cover is a glossy black, and the paper is good quality and substantial, unlike the paper in many denser anthologies. It should hold up long after the semester's over! I would recommend this book and series to anyone who enjoys literature or poetry.
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