Book Review - Jimmy Stewart and His Poems

In my book reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I read. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. I could go into detail about what the book is about, but a lot of people have already done that. You can read their descriptions of the book, plus the official description on Amazon.

Jimmy Stewart and His Poems, by Jimmy Stewart. 1989.

Jimmy Stewart wrote some verse
That made my English professor curse
He said it was not poetry, but worse
It was an assignment that I turned in ... my first.

Years later I know he was right
The book it really stunk
And yet I keep it next to Plath and Ginsberg
Tucked inside a trunk

Two copies of Stewart's poetry that I have in my collection.

Okay, I'm done.

I know the poetry above is not in any consistent meter. I know the rhymes are not in a consistent pattern. Neither are Stewarts. So not only are my verses above acceptable for this review, they are intentionally bad.

Don't expect anything high-minded here. You won't find Stewart's poetry in any classrooms...at any level. But that's okay. They don't beg analysis. They don't beg interpretation. They are intended to be entertaining and gain a few laughs.

There are only four poems in this book. All of them are preceded by a short explanation of their creation. Of the four poems, three of them are about Stewart's travels to foreign countries:

• The Top Step in the Hotel Junin
• The Aberdares!
• I'm a Movie Camera

I found this letter to Dear Abby in my copy with the cartoon dust jacket. I had forgotten
I had put it there. To be honest, I don't even remember it. But it gives you an idea of
how Stewart wrote.

A fourth poem, titled "Beau" is about the family dog.

Sadly, Stewart believes that in order to be poetry, the lines must rhyme. I strongly disagree with him, but who am I to argue with Jimmy Stewart?

3 out of 5 starts, but only for cuteness, not for quality of the poetry!