About The New Roads
Welcome to 11 NEW ROADS NOT TAKEN!! … COME IN!!
For whom is this book intended?
Based on this book’s title, are there only 11 new poems?
What’s in this book?
This book includes reprints of out-of-copyright (public domain) poems by renowned American poet Robert Frost, accompanied by new takes on his works. The Frost poems include classics, such as “The Road Not Taken,” “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening,” “Fire And Ice,” “Mending Wall,” and more than a dozen others.
Alongside the classic Frost odes, there are numerous original new takes – i.e., poems that take some inspiration from the Frost works. The new takes span a wide range of topics, including sports, music, literature, TV, film, history, technology, law, cuisine, and many more. Some new takes concern public figures from today and the past, including Frost himself, while other new takes portray fictional characters. In tones reaching many moods, they lead us in ways familiar and unknown …
For whom is this book intended?
This book is designed for general audiences. It is intended for poetry aficionados – and for people who don’t read poetry. And for all those in between.
Due to Frost’s distinctive poetry style, this book’s reprinted Frost poems are accessible to audiences who generally don’t read poetry – but also very meaningful for sophisticated readers of poetry. Also, the reprinted Frost poems are in a font and layout meant to be close to that in the original Frost books, which gives readers the opportunity to encounter Frost’s works in a manner similar to their original presentation, in the early 1900s.
As with Frost’s works, so too this book’s original new takes are intended for very broad audiences. The new takes include numerous poems on popular culture topics, as well as fiction poems. The author (Jeremy Friedman, aka The Poet Lawyerate) has previously had numerous poems published for general audiences, online and in print – for example, in local newspapers, as well as sports publications and websites (e.g., a renowned boxing magazine and tennis journals in the United States and the United Kingdom) and other publications of interest to a general audience (as listed on the author’s website).
This book is meant to provide material of special interest to readers with an affinity for Frost – who have been acquainted with his works, previously. It is a call to come in to visit, or revisit, Frost’s works – presented alongside many new takes on them, which stand as poems in their own right and, in some instances, may lead to further musing on Frost’s original works and his biography.
It may even be of particular interest for educators and poetry writers.
In their topics and tones, the poems are intended for readers of all ages.
This book is inscribed to the memory of the author’s father.
How is this book organized?
The book has 18 numbered chapters, each of which corresponds to a relatively short reprinted Frost poem, which is followed by (or, in one instance, sandwiched by) the author’s new takes. Additionally, in the middle, there is an interlude/detour into Frost’s dramatic narrative form of poetry (short stories in verse) – with a reprint of one of these Frost works, which is followed by the three original works in this form. Also, throughout the book, there are short prose introductions. As a preview, you can read the poems in the book’s Chapter 1, by clicking here.
To help navigate, the book includes:
(1) a condensed table of contents, which lists the chapter titles (each of which corresponds to a reprinted Frost poem, except for the interlude/detour);
(2) a full table of contents, which lists each poem (under the chapter titles); and
(3) an index of selected poems’ cultural topics, which appears at the back of the book.
Based on this book’s title, are there only “11” new poems?
No. The book’s second chapter alone has 11 original new takes on Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”. As mentioned directly above, the book’s design features 18 numbered chapters, plus an interlude/detour; most of the chapters include multiple original new takes – in some instances, a large number of new takes. The book includes more than 100 original new poems and also has prose introductory sections.
Who is the author?
No, Who’s on first – the first baseman. ( … Wait a second … does baseball really belong in a discussion concerning poetry and Robert Frost? Yes, unless you mistakenly think Frost grew up as “Some boy too far from town to learn baseball” (quoting Frost’s poem Birches). Frost learned enough that, in a mid-summer column in Sports Illustrated, he wrote, “some baseball is the fate of us all.” Frost, Robert, A Perfect Day—A Day of Prowess, Sports Illustrated (July 23, 1956), p.52.)
This book (11 New Roads Not Taken) is by Jeremy Friedman, aka The Poet LawyerateTM. He wrote the original new poems (new takes) and prose – and selected the Frost poems to be reprinted. Friedman, an attorney who represents individuals and small businesses, has previously had numerous original poems published online and in print, as listed on his website, poetlawyerate.blogspot.com (also at poetlawyerate.com). He may be reached at poetlawyerate@outlook.com; in the subject heading, please state the nature/purpose of the message.
Want to know more about the author? …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
They asked me for an “About The Author”
On the book jacket. I said, “Why? What for?”
They said, “For readers to get to know you!”
I said, “Through some info, a photo too?”
They said, “Yeah, your bio might be a hook!”
I said, “The About The Author is … the book.”
Is there any humor in the book? Alright, enough with the questions. Who said this was a FAQ page? No, Who’s on first. What … is in this book? Yes, indeed.
