Leaves of Grass: First and “Death-Bed” Editions contains best known work of American poet Walt Whitman as well as additional poems that he published before his breakthrough work and that he didn’t include in his final publication.  Containing hundreds of poems from the “father of free verse”, the reader gets a essentially a full view of Whitman’s career from beginning to end.  In additional each new section of the book has an introduction by Dr. Karen Karbiener who also wrote the Notes at the end of the book giving the reader a better understanding of the essence surrounding Whitman’s work.  Though many Whitman loves will enjoy this book, for some like myself this turned out to be too much of something that it turns out I didn’t like after all.

—Walt Whitman

Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mys...

1) it is not a romance, and I wouldn't categorize it as a gay mystery, for me it is rather a literary fiction. As I learned at the end of the book, Walt Whitman was an American poet (I beg your pardon for my ignorance, but I have never heard about this person in my life before), and the author did a good research for this book. He took some existed biographical facts and created his own story.

2)The plot is extremely depressing as well as its setting. The main story takes place in 1843 in New York City and ranges in a dangerous underworld, mostly in the neighborhood of the lower social classes. Your constant companions in the book are poverty, despair, a lot of unappetizing scenes, corruption and lawlessness, and religious fanaticism. But it is a realistic historical fiction, and if you like this kind of books, you shouldn't miss it.

This one wasn't for me. I had of course heard of the author, but had never read anything by him. Based on this collection, a selection from Leaves of Grass, I don't think I will either.

With the Little Black Classics you never know up front what to expect, there have been some very nice surprises so far, but also some that disappointed, like this one. I didn't like Whitman's style and most likely won't be picking up more of his work.

Little Black Classics #10