because i edit moria, i usually have a stack of books waiting for reviewers. this afternoon, when i should have been doing other work, i read through several of the books.
the first book was ishle yi park's the tempature of this water (Kaya), which, according to the press release and cover comments, should have been spectacular. park brings an interesting korean american perspective to the poetry community, and she has a fine, though overly narrative voice, which makes me think that she might want to switch to fiction, especially since her poetry is not densely packed.
the second book i read was michael gause's the tequila chronicles--the book is basically in line with the title. most of the poems seem to be written in that drunken state in which we believe all our insights are valuable. gause seems to have a natural voice, but the poems in this work need to be revised even though that would go against the "beauty" of keeping the poems as they came out. to that all i can answer is that you do not have to tell anyone about the revisions. remember ginsberg and "howl."
the other two books i glanced through are jennifer firestone's snapshot (sona sooks) and kerri sonnenberg's the mudra (litmus press). while the first two books failed to impress me, both of these books are exciting. firestone explores the process of traveling and the distance between us and the places we visit--both the cultural distance and the distances we create to feel comfortable. she focuses on italy, and her comments remind me of the stendhal syndrome that many feel upon first visiting a country so rich in culture and history. equally excellent, sonnenberg's book has a fragile feel to it. kerri has a great ear, and that comes across in the beauty and concise nature of her work. sometimes with her work, i just like to listen to its subtle rhythms.
the first book was ishle yi park's the tempature of this water (Kaya), which, according to the press release and cover comments, should have been spectacular. park brings an interesting korean american perspective to the poetry community, and she has a fine, though overly narrative voice, which makes me think that she might want to switch to fiction, especially since her poetry is not densely packed.
the second book i read was michael gause's the tequila chronicles--the book is basically in line with the title. most of the poems seem to be written in that drunken state in which we believe all our insights are valuable. gause seems to have a natural voice, but the poems in this work need to be revised even though that would go against the "beauty" of keeping the poems as they came out. to that all i can answer is that you do not have to tell anyone about the revisions. remember ginsberg and "howl."
the other two books i glanced through are jennifer firestone's snapshot (sona sooks) and kerri sonnenberg's the mudra (litmus press). while the first two books failed to impress me, both of these books are exciting. firestone explores the process of traveling and the distance between us and the places we visit--both the cultural distance and the distances we create to feel comfortable. she focuses on italy, and her comments remind me of the stendhal syndrome that many feel upon first visiting a country so rich in culture and history. equally excellent, sonnenberg's book has a fragile feel to it. kerri has a great ear, and that comes across in the beauty and concise nature of her work. sometimes with her work, i just like to listen to its subtle rhythms.
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