Leonard Cohen Video:

		List Price: $39.95		Label: Direct Cinema Limited Salesrank: 57566 Released: October 22, 2008
		Our Price: $27.50
		MPAA Rating: Media: DVD

Editorial Review:

This 2-DVD set contains all 5 episodes of the series.

PART 1: The Land and the People
Poetry in a New World! A place where our different origins and lineages mirror sensibilities and traditions to come together as a new poetry. Featured: former US Poet laureate Rita Dove, Indian cowboy poet Henry Real Bird, hiphop meets sound poet Tracie Morris, Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, Jeff Tagami, Nora Marks Dauenhauer, Sparrow, Everton Sylvester, Lord Buckley, and more.

PART 2: A Day in the Life
Cycle. Routine. Rhythm. From our first waking minute to setting our alarm clock for the next morning, we are waltz and stumble to the drumbeat of time in all its shapes and form. Hear the words of two Nobel Prize-winners, Derek Walcott and Czeslaw Milosz, as well as Thylias Moss, CD Wright, Dennis Cooper, Hal Sirowitz, Paul Beatty, Pedro Pietri, cheerleaders, auctioneers, and square-dance callers, among others.

PART 3: The American Dream
Can poetry be politicized? What does it mean to be a poem if it contains a political message? Has it ceased to be poetry and become propaganda? Listen to Leonard Cohen, Amiri Baraka, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Wanda Coleman, Vess Quinlin, Genny Lim, Ruth Forman, Luis Alfaro, and Jim Northrup.

PART 4: Love and Sex
What is love? An eternal question that gives vent to what is arguably the subject closest to a Poet s heart. Can love be dissected? The subject of love is uppermost in the minds of poets such as Allen Ginsberg, Nobel-Prize winner Joseph Brodsky, rockers Lou Reed, Maggie Estep and John S. Hall, Quincy Troupe, Pear Cleage, Sandra Cisneros and Miguel Algarin.

PART 5: The Word
Poems are made of words. Is ''the apple'' green? or yellow? Hanging on a tree or baked in a pie? Is it knowledge, the darling of your eye, or New York City? All the above and more. This episode features Johnny Depp reading Jack Kerouac s Mexico City Blues, American Sign Language poet Peter Cook, President Jimmy Carter talks about the Cosmos, and other poets give us their take; Michael Franti, Robert Creeley, Ai, Larry Eigner, Carla Harryman, Emily XYZ.

The United States of Poetry Reviews:
Poetry comes alive -- modern relavent poetry
2009-09-12 - I was amazed at how the visual part of the poetry video worked so well with the poems. If you are neutral or less enthusiastic about poetry, this video will open you to the exciting world of poetry.

It's Our Culture
2009-04-23 - Presented with the quality and grounding of traditional acedemia, it reaches into the heart and beauty of layman's culture. How ever far we've wandered since its production in the mid nineties, these poems spill that time into your lap. It was a time of relative innocence and living it again will make you sigh, or cry. In the opening montage which is all American and all exitement, a weathered voice informs us- "if it ain't a pleasure, it ain't a poem." Then they begin to flow.
You hear lines like, "The piano stands there in the dark, like a boy with an orchid." or "it's hard to be angry when you're trying on the shoes of dead people." or "I've come to see the Arab." The exquisite photography, the angles and the personalities of the poets give you the vision. Then the words "flow like warm honey." Get this DVD. You will watch it again and again and you will love America.

Beautiful poetry, not accessible for all
2009-03-12 - This DVD is not closed captioned. Also it has a poor/grainy quality to it. Unfortunately, it is not accessible for people with hearing loss (Deaf/Hard of Hearing).

the best poetry tv series yet made
2009-02-24 - If the only televised poetry programming you have seen has been from HBO ("Russell Simmon's Presents Def Poetry") or MTV ("Spoken Word Unplugged"), then I highly recommend the PBS series "The United States of Poetry," a fantastic series celebrating American verse which was utterly ahead of its time.

"The United States of Poetry" not only emancipates poetry from the page but frees it from the traditional performance stage. Instead taking the traditional tack of filming poets doing their thing live behind a mike, visionary director Mark Pellington provides depth and contrast with creative visuals and real & poetic landscapes, allowing each poet's work to really shine. It is wonderful to see and hear work by some of America's best known poets, including Allen Ginsburg, Rita Dove, Leonard Cohen, Derek Walcott, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sandra Cisneros and Bob Holman, among many many others.

Organized by theme ("A Day in the Life," "Love and Sex," etc...), the series shows a compelling and diverse vision of American poetry. Even better, the poets are introduced only with their name and the poem's title -- no biography, titles or prizes spotlighted. Slam poets and Cowboy poets are introduced the same as Pulitzer Prize winners and U.S. poet laureates! It has a wonderfully empowering effect, allowing you to value each piece based on whether or not it resonates with you as opposed to the pedigree of its writer.

Even though it is over a decade old, I still return to this series again ang again. I am so thrilled that it is finally on DVD as my poor worn-out VHS was on its last legs. I hope the new format will inspire more people to check out this wonderful & inspiring series!