The Brand-X Anthology of Poetry

Rating:
Summary: A real gem.
Review: This collection of poetic parody, written by dozens of authors and edited by William Zaranka, is one of my most treasured books. I return to it time and again for inspiration and amusement, often chuckling out loud at the brilliant writing Zaranka has assembled. I deeply regret not purchasing a dozen copies or more to share with friends before it went out of print.

Rating:
Summary: A real gem.
Review: This collection of poetic parody, written by dozens of authors and edited by William Zaranka, is one of my most treasured books. I return to it time and again for inspiration and amusement, often chuckling out loud at the brilliant writing Zaranka has assembled. I deeply regret not purchasing a dozen copies or more to share with friends before it went out of print.

Rating:
Summary: PARODY PAR EXCELLENCE!
Review: This is a masterpiece, from the Foreplay tot the Prosodomy. A voluminous work, it includes everybody from Chaucer to Russell Edson. Aldous Huxley observed that parodies and caricatures are the most penetrating of criticisms. Among those that try their own gifted hands at their famous predecessors' work are John Keats (Edmund Spenser), Lewis Carroll (Wordsworth, Longfellow and Tennyson), Cyril Connolly (Aldous Huxley) and John Updike (Jack Kerouac). A few of my favorites are "Anne Sexton's" From The Brothers Grimm to Sister Sexton to Mother Goose: One Transmogrification, by David Cummings, in which a spider comes to warn Miss Muffet against her un-American health food breakfast; "Sylvia Plath's" Ragout, by William Zaranka himself, and "Allen Ginsberg's" Squeal, by Louis Simpson:
"... They came here to L.A.,
Flexing their members, growing hair,
Planning immense unlimited poems,
More novels, more poems, more autobiographies."
But that's merely scratching the surface. This unique anthology is best digested over a couple of weeks or months, and never fails to yield more gems. Brand X Poetry is a treasure trove of humor, a book that one returns to again and again. The index of first lines, titles and authors comes in handy of course.

Rating:
Summary: Add this to your syllabus
Review: This should be required reading for every English Major in the world. If you've got a poet who drives you nuts... there's a parody of their work here (Wm. Carlos Williams, suffer the wrath of much-deserved satire!). The favorites and the much-admired get their dues as well. This one's worth the trouble of finding.