POEMS THAT MAKE GROWN MEN CRY

A unique collection of poetry so powerful that 100 grown men—bestselling authors, poets laureate, and other eminent figures from the arts, sciences, and politics—have been moved to tears. Here they deliver touching and insightful personal introductions to a range of beloved poems.

Grown men aren’t supposed to cry. Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, however, a rare and fascinating collection, will profoundly move the strongest men—and women—to heartfelt tears. Father-and-son team Anthony and Ben Holden, a British writer and movie producer respectively, have teamed up to compile a poetry anthology unlike any other. Poets whose work is represented in this collection include W.H. Auden, Charles Bukowski, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Emily Dickinson, D.H. Lawrence, Harold Pinter, Ezra Pound, William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, and a host of other notables. Familiar personalities who have confessed to breaking down range from J.J. Abrams to John le Carré, Seamus Heaney to Richard Dawkins, Salman Rushdie to Jonathan Franzen, and Stanley Tucci to Colin Firth. Each explains why the poems have made them cry—often in words as moving as the poetry itself—delivering private insight into the souls of men whose writing, acting, or thinking you have enjoyed and admired. In Poems That Make Grown Men Cry, not only will you savor old favorites and discover new gems; you will share private moments through the joys and sorrows of some of the most moving poetry ever written. Most important, you will learn more about yourself in the process.

Anthony Holden is an award-winning journalist who has published more than thirty books, including biographies of Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, and Laurence Olivier. He has also published translations of opera and ancient Greek plays and poetry. He lives in London.

Ben Holden is a writer and film producer. He was the director of European Film and Television at Exclusive Media, where he helped relaunch Britain’s most famous film production label, Hammer. Like his father, Anthony Holden, Ben was educated at Merton College, Oxford, where he was awarded an Exhibition Scholarship in English Literature. He lives in London.