Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Mastersby Edgar Lee Masters
Ranked 8 of 8 poetry books by recommenders
People recommend it for its structure of single-speaker epitaphs that piece together a town's story, and for capturing the American spirit.
People recommend it for its structure of single-speaker epitaphs that piece together a town's story, and for capturing the American spirit.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Each character speaks once, like epitaphs
“Each of the characters only speak once, like a epitaph, so all the way through you're putting pieces together”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Thornton Wilder's Last Play Vanished into Thin Air. Or Did It?” Captures the American spirit
“it exemplifies a lot of the American spirit”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “Who Is America's Homer?”
Other poetry books people recommend
The four most recommended other poetry books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Odysseyby Emily Wilson | 21 | 3 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| Gilgameshby Simon Armitage | 11 | 4 | 73% | 3 | — | — |
| The Iliadby Homer | 9 | 1 | 90% | 7 | — | — |
| The Claudysseyby Claude Fable 5 | 8 | 5 | 62% | 1 | — | — |
| Spoon River Anthologyby Edgar Lee MastersThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 2 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it exemplifies a lot of the American spirit”
“Each of the characters only speak once, like a epitaph, so all the way through you're putting pieces together”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.