Reviews

Mules of Love: Poems by Ellen Bass

kierli's review

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reflective fast-paced

4.0

Her poetry reminds me of the poems I actually liked by Bukowski (blunt and messy), I enjoy her style and her content.

christenebs's review

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4.0

Not all poetry is complicated or hard to understand. Ellen Bass’s poems cut straight to the heart and are not only understable but they may help you understand yourself a little bit better. How does a stranger with a million different experiences from yourself put into words what you couldn’t? #words

emquartz15's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

This book started out amazingly - it had me feeling like Ellen Bass was my new favorite poet. I still love her work, but there are some poems that really just didn’t sit right with me, contrasted with poems that were some of the best I’ve ever read, truly. Whiplash! I didn’t like the way aging, fatness, and (sometimes) gender were approached and written about in the book, but the overall messages and themes were good. Some of my favorites are “His Teeth,” “Sometimes, After Making Love,” “Basket of Figs,” & “Sleeping With You.” I mean, the language/metaphors are just impeccable. Still a book worth reading, but I’m left with genuine curiosity about what the heck was going through her mind while writing some of the poems, lol. That’s what stops me from giving 5 stars. 

staceface's review

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reflective medium-paced

4.0

senid's review

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4.0

Love, life, not sleeping, and so many other things. I love this poet's voice.
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