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mtomchek's review
5.0
"We are all dying but some more than most..."
"...you're underwater in a river of kindness that loves only you."
"There should be no anxiety in knowing the world will die when we die. This is how it is with us..."
"...the real is wherever we are. The days refuse to stay put. Speaking is a way of living with the ruin we were given."
"What you really want is to be a camera, documenting the height you're about to fall from."
"Who listens to anyone anymore?"
"When the book closes , we open it again just to see ourselves in the margin."
"...silence is a sleeve, I'm an arm in it."
"I'm making sense all the time of all the senseless endings. A day is as long as the time it takes for the mind to consider life and death countless times."
"But not everything is possible. You are only the heroine in your own story."
"There at the edge of the water - Venus was where I'd last left her, standing on a half shell, staring hard at reeds bending in the wind. She & I both wanted to see something change."
Such a marvelous and stunning collection of poetry. I loved Mary Jo Bang's work, and her poems truly spoke to my soul. Some unique and artistic words with a play on David Bowie. She thinks deeply like I do, so I felt a relation to her.
"...you're underwater in a river of kindness that loves only you."
"There should be no anxiety in knowing the world will die when we die. This is how it is with us..."
"...the real is wherever we are. The days refuse to stay put. Speaking is a way of living with the ruin we were given."
"What you really want is to be a camera, documenting the height you're about to fall from."
"Who listens to anyone anymore?"
"When the book closes , we open it again just to see ourselves in the margin."
"...silence is a sleeve, I'm an arm in it."
"I'm making sense all the time of all the senseless endings. A day is as long as the time it takes for the mind to consider life and death countless times."
"But not everything is possible. You are only the heroine in your own story."
"There at the edge of the water - Venus was where I'd last left her, standing on a half shell, staring hard at reeds bending in the wind. She & I both wanted to see something change."
Such a marvelous and stunning collection of poetry. I loved Mary Jo Bang's work, and her poems truly spoke to my soul. Some unique and artistic words with a play on David Bowie. She thinks deeply like I do, so I felt a relation to her.
gracekatreads's review
3.5
I feel very conflicted on this collection—the craft quality is so high and brilliant at some points, but at other times the poems feel clogged and overblown.
erhwang's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
brenticus's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a fairly good collection of poetry with a melancholic, lonely feel to it. Like the poet is alone no matter who she's with or how many people are around her. It has a solid emotional impact.
At least at first. While there was quite a variety to the poetry, I didn't feel like the tone ever really changed, so while the melancholy was solid to start it seemed to wear off over time. By repeatedly hitting the same notes the poetry lost its impact. Maybe it was thematically supposed to do that, but overall it just had the feel of a strong initial start slowly fizzling out.
Enjoyable, but samey, I guess is how I'd describe it.
At least at first. While there was quite a variety to the poetry, I didn't feel like the tone ever really changed, so while the melancholy was solid to start it seemed to wear off over time. By repeatedly hitting the same notes the poetry lost its impact. Maybe it was thematically supposed to do that, but overall it just had the feel of a strong initial start slowly fizzling out.
Enjoyable, but samey, I guess is how I'd describe it.
frank_atlas's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Graywolf Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Film in Which I Play Everyone by Mary Jo Bang is a wonderful collection of poems. This collection really fits the name as there is such a cinematic element to each of these poems, touching on many different themes, and the utilization of imagery is so captivating. The title being taken from a quote by David Bowie feels comfortable, as each poem has a sense of magical uniqueness that can very much feel connected to a person like David Bowie. Diving into this book provides such a similar experience as to going to the movies, connecting with each story in one way or another, but also allowing us to enter into new and unknown spaces we may not have traversed before.
Expected publishing date is September 5th, 2023 by Graywolf Press
A Film in Which I Play Everyone by Mary Jo Bang is a wonderful collection of poems. This collection really fits the name as there is such a cinematic element to each of these poems, touching on many different themes, and the utilization of imagery is so captivating. The title being taken from a quote by David Bowie feels comfortable, as each poem has a sense of magical uniqueness that can very much feel connected to a person like David Bowie. Diving into this book provides such a similar experience as to going to the movies, connecting with each story in one way or another, but also allowing us to enter into new and unknown spaces we may not have traversed before.
Expected publishing date is September 5th, 2023 by Graywolf Press
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