- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Aladdin (25 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1439167230
- ISBN-13: 978-1439167236
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 0.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,505,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Until now, the poetry of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been hidden, "embedded" within comments made at press briefings and in interviews. His preferred medium is the spoken word, and his audience has been limited to hard-bitten reporters and hard-core watchers of C-SPAN. Just as The Iliad and The Odyssey were spoken aloud by many bards, in many variations, before Homer captured them on paper, the Rumsfeld improvisations have finally met up with their perfect editor/enabler. Hart Seely, coeditor of O Holy Cow! The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto, uncovers the gems hidden within hundreds of hours of Rumsfeld commentary, in the form of Zen verse, haiku, sonnets, lyric poetry, and free verse. In addition, Seely's sharp sleuthing has uncovered two thematic collections: Rumsfeld's Songs of Myself, and Nine Poems on the Media. The result is a hilarious and irreverently revealing book both by and about one of the world's most powerful men.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
68 of 79 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Donald H. Rumsfeld, the American Secretary of Defence, is to be greatly admired for his utterly bizarre utterances, no less than for his warmongering attitude toward the Middle East and other parts of the world. After all, what's a secretary of defence to do if not to monger (and waffle) in a lyrical fashion?
Hart Seely, the editor of this brilliant tome, has compiled some of the gems of 21th century verse of both political and philosophical significance. How about this, "The Unknown", full of rhyme, rhythm and alliteration, not to mention repetition, to offer a fresh new awareness on world and worldly matters:
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know we don't know.
Buy it, read it, quote it, and pass it on to friends.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Rummy has written a book filled with old-fashioned charm, directness and akind of warmth that can only be described as republican. I found my selfbathed in the light of a single-minded, focused, and well insulated mind,far from the sort of monomania, tunnel vision and total lack of touch withthe life of everyday people with which he is so often associated. Icouldn't decide whether my favorite poem was 'You Can Take that to theBank' or "I've Already Taken Mine to the Bank'. 'Existential' is just toomild a word for this poetry, 'Post-Existential' far better describes thisman's mind and vision.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Truly the most articulate, in-depth, intelligent work of the 20th century. His insightful relevant probing of the mind of the right wing radical subversive fascist mind is pure poetry.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Priceless....
Funny, dark, artfully vague.
I am fascinated by the use of language. In the time of the WMD debate and the understandable obsession regarding Osama's capture, this is a... Read more
I am fascinated by the use of language. In the time of the WMD debate and the understandable obsession regarding Osama's capture, this is a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by milkybarkid
The art of deflection
Some months ago I heard about Rumsfeld's brilliant use of language. The unknown unknowns known knowns quote has become quite famous. Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2008 by L. Power
Very funny, whatever your political leanings
I have little interest in politics, and would probably not have picked this book up if I had not been given it, but it is one of the funniest short books I have read. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2004 by Dr Charles McEvoy
wtf?
hahahahahhahaha
almost as good as his singing, and definatly more surreal
almost as good as his singing, and definatly more surreal
Published on 18 July 2003 by jim
Save a tree...dont buy this book
I had thought I had read the most trivial, banal books in the world. Well, I was proven wrong when I opened this book. Do the world a favor and save a tree and dont buy this book. Read more
Published on 16 July 2003 by FunCpl
Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H R
I opened this book with trepidation, after all, a member of the United States government writing poetry? Read more
Published on 12 July 2003 by nadineg
Awkward but often insightful
"I ran / you ran / we all ran / from Iran"
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Donald Rumsfeld
In Rumsfeld's poetry, we see a man at once hawkish and yet also sensitive to the suffering of uncivilized... Read more
Published on 10 July 2003 by David E. Reynolds
Whitman, Williams, Berryman, and now Rumsfeld
Sometimes jarring in intensity while at others softened by a near-tragic pathos, Mr. Rumsfeld's Pieces of Intelligence evinces a formidable new poetic voice attuned to the deepest... Read more
Published on 8 July 2003 by "tlilly14"
Stunning, just stunning
Truly probing prose that disects the mind of the right wing radical fasict persona that we've all come to know and hate.
Published on 6 July 2003 by "wildmountainhare"
Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H.
Having never been fond of poetry as a method of communication, I have had my eyes opened by the remarkable technique presented by a brilliant mind. Read more
Published on 6 July 2003 by Joe Marr
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
