When Reason Breaks
reviewdate:
Jun 20 2019
isn:
9781619634138
Tagged with poetry
FIELDNOTES, a forensic
BREAKING NEWS: This book was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards (click poetry tab), Canada's top literary prize.
I'm not sure I can top Kate's inscription in my copy "some pulp, some porn, some poetry" as a review for her stylistic story poem. I think I've said here before that I like my theater experimental, but my literature linear. Despite my literary laziness I didn't find Fieldnotes difficult to stick with. I was taken in right away with a screenplay element that starts immediately--as in, begins on the inside cover.
With poetry, it's often easier to get a grip if you can see/hear it read by the author. Thanks to YouTube, here's your chance with FaF:
reviewdate:
Dec 8 2010
isn:
978-1-897388-66-2
author gender:
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recommendation:
Wandora Unit, the
I don't know if I've ever read a book that better or as unselfconsciously captures the intimacy and idiosyncrasies of a high school clique. (Note--when I say "clique" I do not mean to imply snobbery or exclusivity, merely the phenomenon where teens create their own family of close friends.) Wanda Lowell and Dora Nussbaum, editors of the school's literary magazine Galaxy which is at the heart of the group's identity, are best friends and the leaders of the clique. Wanda and Dora are called the Wandora Unit because of their intense friendship and solidarity, though sometimes the term is not a tribute. Until their senior year of high school they never disagreed about anything. The Galaxy crew have inside jokes, think they are the funniest and smartest people in the world, and they are doomed.
reviewdate:
Apr 19 2010
isn:
978-0-9816525-8-0
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recommendation:
Virgin of Bennington, the
I don't know whether to identify this book as a memoir or autobiography. By the title, you'd think it was coming of age in college story, and it's definitely not that. Kathleen Norris writes mostly about her early, post-virgin 20s working at the Academy of American Poets under the direction of Betty Kray. Kray is definitely a subject worth reading and writing about, but I have to admit I was a little annoyed throughout the book that it didn't really deliver what I expected. I should probably get over that.
Quotations:
Betty intended that one of the functions of the Poets House library would be 'to gather fugitive materials such as [small-press books], magazines, chapbooks, and other ephemeral publications,' without which poets and scholars would find it "impossible to re-create the sense of a literary epoch." p.177
reviewdate:
Oct 3 2009
isn:
1-57322-179-1
author gender:
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Word Math
When people ask me whether people are still making zines today, I often tell them about Katie Haegele's wonderful literary zines. The one that prompted me to write this post, Word Math, is a collection of found poems, created from thrifted manuals, spam, and craigslist personals. The last is what particularly slayed me. You can listen to Katie reading it.
Quotations:
Since I graduated from high school, I stopped going to church, I discovered found poetry, and I got my wisdom teeth out. (introduction, 1st page)
reviewdate:
May 5 2009