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Title: Verses That Hurt : Pleasure and Pain from the POEMFONE Poets by Jordan Trachtenberg, Amy Trachtenberg, Christian Lantry, Nicole Blackman ISBN: 0-312-15191-8 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.79 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: And you thought you knew poetry...
Comment: Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes shocking, VTH is a great collection of the most innovative and stirring poems written in the past fifty years. Tossing out the rules established by great poets before them, the 26 poets in this book explore a variety of topics, from an obsession of someone's butt to getting a magnifying glass for your birthday to a love letter to a specific part of an ex lover's body. Do yourself a favor and liberate your mind from the dated guidelines of antique poety. This book shattered my preconcieved idea of poetry, picked it up and glued it back together, this time with more attitude and freedom. And more passion. Definately more passion.
Rating: 5
Summary: It is the best of the best poetry today
Comment: I loved this book, and my friend is currently holding it hostage. It has all different types of styles from females as well as males and minorities. the book really peaked my curiosity to the wonderful world of poetry and spoken word. John S Hall was my favorite and I've found out he has a band. It's definitely a great buy!
Rating: 4
Summary: Verses That Hurt (ed. Jordan and Amy Trachtenberg)
Comment: A few years ago a voice mail was set up in New York City, and poets were called in every month to read a new poem everyday onto the message. Then the public could call in everyday, listen to the poem, and respond after the beep with anything they had to say. The poems were recorded on an album, and the best printed in this wonderful book.
The book came out in 1997. The phone number they have listed in the introduction is either wrong or changed, I called it twice and kept getting the voice mail to someone named "Kika." The poets in this book are: Penny Arcade, Tish Benson, Nicole Blackman, David Cameron, Xavier Cavazos, Todd Colby, Matthew Courtney, M. Doughty, Kathy Ebel, Anne Elliot, Janice Erlbaum, Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, John S. Hall, Bob Holman, Christian X. Hunter, Shannon Ketch, Bobby Miller, Wanda Phipps, Lee Renaldo, Shut-Up Shelley, Hal Sirowitz, Sparrow, Spiro, Edwin Torres, and Emily XYZ. All the poets get at least three poems, and very good portraits by photographer Christian Lantry. The poems are short enough that you can probably get through this in one sitting, or read a poet a day.
Penny Arcade starts the book off with a bang, using some really incredible verse. Tish Benson is next with poems that read like lazy blues songs, but filled with so much detail and activity, you can almost hear Billie Holliday gruffly whispering this in your ear. Nicole Blackman and her section is also incredible as she seems to speak for so many women who cannot find their own voice except hers. David Cameron's writing, while readable, is a little bland, like a freshman creative writing class. Despite his obvious emotion, I felt he was holding back on his own writing. Xavier Cavazos's section is slightly better, except for an entire poem that slams Rush Limbaugh. It may have been very clever when written and read, but it just give conservatives like Limbaugh more ammunition to go after art that they do not believe in. Why not a poem about Parkay hawking corporate monkey Al Franken, who had so much success slamming Limbaugh? Or Dennis Miller, whose rants against everybody was quickly dashed by asinine long distance ads. Nothing worse than a sell out. Todd Colby does better work with paragraph poems than traditional verse poetry. Matthew Courtney reads like poorly written Allen Ginsberg, full of "shocking" imagery and without a point. M. Doughty's work is scary and involving, and not your traditional stuff. Kathy Ebel left me with no response. I read it, I was done, and I was not terribly moved. Anne Elliot reads like poorly written Matthew Courtney. Janice Erlbaum is wonderful, filling a sonnet and sestina with modern situations, turning antiquity on its ear. Ginsberg is Ginsberg. Being a little familiar with his work, I expected to see poems about gay sex, followed by verses about a frog. Ginsberg is so Ginsberg. John Giorno's two poems are shocking, about more gay sex, and taking drugs. He seems to be shocking without TRYING to be shocking. I guess you could say his shock is natural.
John S. Hall also seems to be writing without getting to the heart of his point. His verse is so much posturing. Bob Holman is a bit of a bore, with quite a few poems here. Again, none stuck with me. Christian X. Hunter takes me into his world and it was hard to get out. He is probably my favorite poet here. Shannon Ketch reads like John S. Hall. Bobby Miller's very personal poems made me nostalgic for a time I could never experience. He writes about his first homosexual experience, and protesting Vietnam, so vividly, you swear you are there. Wanda Phipps opens with an angry poem, and never lets up. She is not threatening, but she has a lot to say. Lee Ranaldo also did not do it for me, his listed words seemed glossy and packaged. Shut-Up Shelley is fun because she is so different. Her changing font size on the page just screams at you, yet her photograph by Lantry shows her so whimsically. She is my second favorite poet here. Hal Sirowitz is my third favorite poet here, writing deeply personal poems about everyday things that had an obvious effect on his life. He is a blast to read aloud. Sparrow is weird. His first poem, involving possible sex with a cow, is a hoot, and his possible middle names for Bill Gates is a riot. Spiro is also very funny, especially his opening poem about heroin addiction. Edwin Torres also had me scratching my head for a while after I read him. His poetry is not hard, just inaccessible, and I was not interested enough in what he was saying to dig deeper. Emily XYZ reads like good Edwin Torres.
The 26 poets here are quite a variety, and I recommend this tome to any poetry lovers. I also repeat my mantra to read more poetry and keep buying those little chapbooks you might see in used bookstores or at flea markets. There is always time in your day to smarten up.
This does contain a lot of profanity, drug references, and sexual content, so giving it to your five year old to practice reading may not be a good idea.
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Title: Aloud : Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe by Miguel Algarin, Bob Holman, Nicole Blackman ISBN: 0805032576 Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 1994 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam by Louis Reyes Rivera, Tony Medina ISBN: 0609808400 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 23 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry by Alan Kaufman ISBN: 1560252278 Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Pub. Date: 15 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Blood Sugar by Nicole Blackman ISBN: 1888451343 Publisher: Akashic Books Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Listen Up! by Zoe Angelsey ISBN: 0345428978 Publisher: One World/Ballantine Pub. Date: 30 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.50 |
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