Linda Pastan Books

Exploring the ambivalences of love, family, and the surprises of aging, this collection of poetry captures the essence of life's journey. Linda Pastan transforms the ordinary into something extraordinary, using language that revitalizes familiar landscapes. The poems delve into the complexities of art and its impact on our lives, reflecting on both pleasures and challenges. Through her unique lens, Pastan offers a poignant and luminous perspective on the passage of time.

The book explores the journey of life through poetry, capturing experiences from childhood to the complexities of aging. Linda Pastan reflects on the significance of living fully, using vivid imagery and personal memories to convey the emotional depth of her journey. Each stanza serves as a testament to the moments that shape her existence, highlighting the beauty and challenges of a life well-lived.

Exploring themes of loss and the generational transition, this collection of poems intertwines beauty with the inevitability of death. It reflects on love, the natural landscape, and the joys found within the imagination, offering a poignant meditation on the complexities of life and mortality.

A moving selection of poems for dog lovers, accompanied by charismatic line drawings, from a poet with an "unfailing mastery of her medium" (New York Times Book Review). Reflecting on her long and celebrated career in poetry, two-time National Book Award finalist Linda Pastan was struck by the number of dogs that have appeared in her poems—whether as the primary subject or in the briefest of allusions. Dogs run through these poems, so to speak. The poems span the lighthearted to the serious, from the antics of training a recalcitrant dog to the grief at a beloved dog’s death. With warmth, dignity, and quiet power, Pastan explores the many roles of these devoted animals, from household pet to Argos, Pluto, and the Dog Star. "Envoi" We’re signing up for heartbreak, We know one day we’ll rue it. But oh the way our life lights up The years a dog runs through it.