Take It

Author: Joshua Beckman

Publisher: Wave Books (2009)

One of poetry’s genuinely necessary voices, Joshua Beckman offers a magnanimous vision of the poetic and social landscape, masterfully combining traditional and contemporary concerns and speech patterns in attending to a degraded, yet wondrous world. Take It is a gift of profound generosity.

"If you take a broad squint at our nation’s new poets you can find two general strategies: poets who are carrying the torch, and poets who are using it to start fires. And then we have Joshua Beckman."

–Daniel Handler

"There are moments in life when you encounter a book or album or piece of art that fundamentally changes the way you read or talk or think. Take It is one of those books for me. Beyond being Beckman’s best work or something fresh and unique in the crowded space of contemporary poetry, the book reminds of what exactly poetry can do: turning the understated into something unforgettable."

–Tim Lockridge