I have found that I am more interested in the Lamott book than the text book.
I do enjoy some part of the text I think there are great examples of work in the book. I have enjoyed the poetry sets, especially "A Secret Life", everytime I read it I get a new meaning.
I found chapeter 29 bery interesting in how to use th esound of language. I guess I under appreciate the art of language. Words are fun to play with especially when you have to really organize howthey are placed and try to encourage the intended meaning by placement. I really like the section on sound as meaning. I never really considered sound to have meaning but the deeper I dig into sound, it really is amazing how different words evoke different meaning. SOme somes are abbrassive (for example the "f-bomb") it is an abbrassive sound and is offensive in sound. But take rainbow, it evokes thought of sweetness and laughter.
I still think I prefer free verse poetry and the idea of visual patterns. I overlooked the importance of this until I started to work with my poems and read them out loud. Each time I changed the visual distribution I found that I liked the poem better or hated it and would have to reformat it.
Back to Lamott, her book is an enjoyable read and I find myself waiting to relax and read it. I have never felt relaxed when reading a school book, so this really takes the cake for me.