Doty takes patience--more patience than I had, at first. He's content to wax eloquent on the many ways different poets describe reality without coming to any clear conclusion or through-line, and if you're willing to walk alongside him without a destination, you'll be treated to some truly beautiful thoughts on the nature of language and perception. That being said, I still wish there had been a bit more organization or development to the work as a whole, as it's ending was more of a stopping po...

Being that it's written by a poet, this book is not the brick and mortar on the topic one finds in a book like Rebecca McClanahan's "Word Painting." Doty starts by admitting the hopelessness of the task of describing description, then embarks on something more like a meditation, presenting and unpacking example after example, insighting and enlightening and in the end, instructing more by injecting a sense of it into the brain than by laying out any step-by-step. A curious twist is the chapter t...

Alright, I think I understand description and poetry even less after reading this book, but I think that may be a good thing. I didn't expect it to be focused more on poetry than prose, but I'd love to be a better poet and reader of poetry, so that was great. There are some beautiful lines here and some great poems to think with. My favorite parts of the book were when the author played with the specific words, senses, and details of descriptions in poems, showing how descriptions worked and how...

If this had been called the art of conotation, it would have been a 5-star review. Great poetry, great examples of how to read criticially, not-so great instruction on "the art of description".

totally meant for poets, but I'll be damned if I didn't pull something out of it as a strict fiction writer.

With this collection of thoughts and essays. Mark Doty shows that not only is he a fine poet, he is also a great explicator of poetry and advocate for its craft. He argues effectively for description of the world and the inner experience of it, and the informing of each by the other.Doty also points to a critical problem with so much current poetry: "Startling, to go description-hunting and realize that I can thumb through whole books of recent poems with very little evocation of sense perceptio...

I can't gush enough about this one. I wanted to underline every word: there wasn't a superfluous phrase in the entire volume. Doty more than convinced me of the power of the word to bring us into closer relationship with the world; while language is never enough, it's all we have and used powerfully by poets it can open the world to us.The poets Doty uses for examples range from Shelley to Jean Valentine (a personal favorite) and his discussions are always exciting and enlightening.The book is d...

Having read the entire Graywolf ‘The Art of…’ series, I found Doty’s “…Description” the most inspiring and philosophically helpful. Not only are the poetry selections he pulls from balanced (classical through contemporary, male and female, narrative and experimental), but he provides in-depth analyses that resonate with his broader linguistic concerns. Unlike a few other books in this series, ‘Description’ lays a larger-level philosophical groundwork by which all poems and analyses can be judged...

I often tell my friends that I like Mark Doty as a craftsman more than I like his poetry. World into Word, which comes under the Graywolf series, "The Art of...", is a poetry craft book that doesn't appear so. With just six essays, World into Word covers Doty's intense ability to prolong and excavate the act of seeing, showing that seeing can be enlivened beyond the mechanic and lacklustre nature of daily life.There are aspects of World into Word which I enjoyed. I love how Doty thinks about col...

Several years ago a poet-friend recounted a humorous anecdote about a creative writing professor he took as an undergraduate. A respected short-story writer, the prof was teaching an introductory course where English majors would write in all four modes—fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry—as a means of honing their skills and gauging which was their “true calling,” if such a thing exists. The semester was a boon for all until the final unit on poetry rolled around, when the professor’s sage

Thoroughly enjoyable. “Every object rightly seen unlocks a new faculty of the soul.” (Emerson)This book will provide you with a “workshop in your pocket” to help you see and unlock. This book is well worth the romp through the territory called by Coleridge “Best Word, Best Order”. Description is one of those words that is worth holding up, like an ode, especially if one is a poet. How we describe an object, person, scene, experience is to imbue itwith a life beyond what our eyes see. Doty takes

First read: January 17, 2020, Friday

Book: The Art of DescriptionAuthor: Mark DotyPublishing Information: St. Paul: Graywolf BooksMark Doty, known for his descriptive and artfully provocative poetry, uses the complexity of sensory details to force the reader’s mind to center on creativity. The short novel focuses a lot of energy towards describing the world in which we live and how the moments where we are at a loss for words or breathe only means we are content with ourselves. The piece reads like a guidebook for writers and how i...

The Art Of Description is a very refreshing no frills examination of the many ways description can be employed in writing.Unorthodox in its approach, subtle, and yet quite insightful, Doty not only brings about compelling analysis of a smattering of writing styles, but also urges the reader to master their individual skill of observation.On this, Doty cogently writes:“To some degree, the art of description is the art of perception; what is required, in order to say what you see, is enhanced atte...

I had a difficult time with this book. It was required in one of my writing class. Other participants LOVED this book, but they were into poetry. As a person who doesn't read poetry I had a difficult time getting through it and had a hard time applying it to my YA fiction writing.

I loved this book, but then, I am a fan of most of Doty's work--so that's no surprise.For writers, particularly for poets, these brief and cogent essays offer opportunities for learning about how description works in the poem, and how a deft choice of language can alter tone, mood, meaning.Lovely examination of Bishop's seminal "The Fish."Worth studying if you want to write write about poetry, or to understand how poems operate.

This slim volume contains the words of great poets (Elizabeth Bishop, e.e. cummings, May Swenson and more), as well as beautifully crafted sentences. The chapter "Description's Alphabet" is genius. Two favorite quotes: "Description is an ART to the degree that it gives us not just the world but the inner life of the witness." "ECONOMY is a virtue, albeit an overrated one ... EXCESS, which is seldom understood to be a virtue, can certainly be a pleasure."

I really wanted to read this book, reading so many positive reviews, but ended up a bit disappointed. I see it mainly as a series of poetry analysis. I guess I hoped for a more comparative & philosophical approach to The Art of Description: World into Word.

My goals this year are to always have a book of poetry and a book about writing in process. Some have been much better than others, but few have really influenced how or what I write. It's hard to define what that influence is when it happens. It's not that a book gives specific instructions or writing prompts and I follow them. It's more that I feel something of the spirit of the writer, and that influences me. This is one of those books! It is composed of short sections that would be easy to r...

Brief but dense exploration of good description in poetry. I especially enjoyed when the author picked different poems on the same theme (four poems about sunflowers, for example) and compared how they described the topic and what that language has.