--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can find two poems in a book, it…" description: "\"If you can find two poems in a book, it could be a pretty good book for you. You know, two poems you really like. There are some poets who are fairly b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc4/ted-kooser-16216_book_if-you-can-find-two-poems-in-a-book-it-c_131716.jpg" --- # If you can find two poems in a book, it could be a pretty… ![“If you can find two poems in a book, it could be a pretty good book for you. You know, two poems you really like. There are some poets who are fairly big names in contemporary poetry and who write a book and I might like three or four poems in the book, but the rest of them don't appeal to me…” quote by Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc4/ted-kooser-16216_book_if-you-can-find-two-poems-in-a-book-it-c_131716.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc4/ted-kooser-16216_book_if-you-can-find-two-poems-in-a-book-it-c_131716.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc4/ted-kooser-16216_book_if-you-can-find-two-poems-in-a-book-it-c_131716.jpg) > “If you can find two poems in a book, it could be a pretty good book for you. You know, two poems you really like. There are some poets who are fairly big names in contemporary poetry and who write a book and I might like three or four poems in the book, but the rest of them don't appeal to me personally; but I think that's the way it really ought to be. I think it's really a rare thing to like everything that somebody has written.” [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Finding a few favorite poems in a book is valuable; it’s rare to love everything an author writes. **In simple terms:** Enjoy a few poems; don’t expect to love all. Key Takeaway Accept selective appreciation in literature. Themes literature taste selectivity Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - book clubs - personal libraries - literary criticism Key Concepts aesthetic judgment reading habits Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which works to keep? - What does selective reading reveal about personal taste? A Different Perspective Some readers may value consistency over selectivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Good book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-book/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I've written you sixty-seven love poems. Here’s another one for you. But really, for me. 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I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layli-long-soldier/there-was-no-text-real-poems-do-not-really-require-words-i/) Layli Long Soldier > [“I dislike a great deal of contemporary poetry — all of the past you read is usually quite great — but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/i-dislike-a-great-deal-of-contemporary-poetry-all-of-the-past-you/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [I think book clubs should read more contemporary poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-think-book-clubs-should-read-more-contemporary-poetry/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [contemporary poetry is a kind of Reykjavik, a place where accessibility and intelligence have been fighting a Cold War by proxy for the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/contemporary-poetry-is-a-kind-of-reykjavik-a-place-where/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his shoulders, that he is a literary aristocracy of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/every-american-poet-feels-that-the-whole-responsibility-for/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I'm reading a manuscript by Rodney Jones, "Village Prodigies",it's one of the best contemporary poetry books I've ever read ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dobyns/i-m-reading-a-manuscript-by-rodney-jones-village-prodigies-it-s-one/) [Stephen Dobyns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dobyns/) > [Contemporary poetry ... tries to transform the sign back into meaning: its ideal, ultimately, would be to reach not the meaning of words, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/contemporary-poetry-tries-to-transform-the-sign-back-into-meaning-its/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I love contemporary poetry because it moves between what we call poetry and what we call philosophy. It joins these fields and makes writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etel-adnan/i-love-contemporary-poetry-because-it-moves-between-what-we-call/) [Etel Adnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etel-adnan/) > [There is no access to contemporary poetry in the libraries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/there-is-no-access-to-contemporary-poetry-in-the-libraries/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [Anyway I read more contemporary poetry than contemporary fiction so my mind goes first to a kind of crass "conceptualism" that repeats vanguard gestures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/anyway-i-read-more-contemporary-poetry-than-contemporary-fiction-so/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Sometimes you get lit students that know a lot about the canon but virtually nothing about contemporary poetry and vice versa. I like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-equi/sometimes-you-get-lit-students-that-know-a-lot-about-the-canon-but/) [Elaine Equi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-equi/) > [There has been a vast output of critical studies in contemporary poetry, some of them first rate, but I do not think that ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/there-has-been-a-vast-output-of-critical-studies-in-contemporary/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“I'm really very sorry, but it is not my fault. People are so annoying. All my pianists look exactly like poets, and all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-m-really-very-sorry-but-it-is-not-my-fault-people-are-so-annoying/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Ted Kooser > [The poem is the device through which the ordinary world is seen in a new way - engaging, compelling, even beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/the-poem-is-the-device-through-which-the-ordinary-world-is-seen-in-a/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [There's nothing wrong with delighting in what you do. In fact, most of the fun you'll have as a poet will come about during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-delighting-in-what-you-do-in-fact-most-of/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [“Considering the ways in which so many of us waste our time, what would be wrong with a world in which everybody were writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/considering-the-ways-in-which-so-many-of-us-waste-our-time-what-would/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [When she left me I stood out in the thunderstorm, hoping to be destroyed by lightning. It missed, first left, then right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/when-she-left-me-i-stood-out-in-the-thunderstorm-hoping-to-be/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [Every poet gets to choose what kind of community he or she serves with the poems, and it's true that there is a community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/every-poet-gets-to-choose-what-kind-of-community-he-or-she-serves/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [I had in effect been thrown out of graduate school because I was a lousy graduate student, and I had to find a job,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/i-had-in-effect-been-thrown-out-of-graduate-school-because-i-was-a/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [When I was a kid, I suppose I got more praise for being able to draw things and paint things than I did for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/when-i-was-a-kid-i-suppose-i-got-more-praise-for-being-able-to-draw/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [If I don't take the risk, I'll wind up with a bloodless poem. I have to be out there on the edge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/if-i-don-t-take-the-risk-i-ll-wind-up-with-a-bloodless-poem-i-have-to/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [Keeping a journal is like taking good care of one’s heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/keeping-a-journal-is-like-taking-good-care-of-one-s-heart/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [There's always been what I would call the William Carlos Williams strain, in which poems of simplicity and clarity are valued by a different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/there-s-always-been-what-i-would-call-the-william-carlos-williams/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [I like the poem on the page and not at the podium. I like to address the poem in peace and quiet, not on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/i-like-the-poem-on-the-page-and-not-at-the-podium-i-like-to-address/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [a happy birthday this evening, I sat by an open window and read till the light was gone and the book was no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/a-happy-birthday-this-evening-i-sat-by-an-open-window-and-read-till/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [Wallace Stevens had more time to write as an insurance agent. He was a bond lawyer and I know that insurance company lawyers don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-kooser/wallace-stevens-had-more-time-to-write-as-an-insurance-agent-he-was-a/) [Ted Kooser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-kooser/) > [I like the idea of there being times when even words cost so much you used them sparingly. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. 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