Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
Naomi Shihab Nye writes poems that find meaning in small, ordinary things, a grandmother's hands, a shared meal, the wish to be famous the way a buttonhole is famous to a shirt. This selected collection brings together some of her best-loved work, including the poem Famous, which Bill Murray named a favorite, reading it as a dream of being real rather than big. Drawing on her Palestinian American background and her years in Texas, Nye writes with a gentleness that never turns soft, paying close attention to people and the quiet ways they matter to one another.
What you might want to know about Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A selected volume from Naomi Shihab Nye, the Palestinian American poet known for warm, grounded poems about family, kindness, and everyday life.
Bill Murray picked her poem Famous for O, The Oprah Magazine, calling it the dream of being real rather than the dream of being big.
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems was written by Naomi Shihab Nye, published in 1995 by Far Corner Books.
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems is 151 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Words Under the Words: Selected Poems takes most readers 2 to 3 hours to finish.
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
