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mctoomanybooks's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
A really good collection of poems. Some of them were a little slow, but that was it. The rest were really good
cweichel's review against another edition
5.0
I adored this book. I think it inspired me to write more honest poetry this past week. On the other hand, Bao Phi's writing intimidates the heck out of me.
I have lines and phrases from this book scribbled on bits of paper and in the notes app on my ipad.
Here is a fragment from Therapist 4:
"Each raindrop doesn't care
if it's the one to soak in
or the one that stays above it all to flood.
They just throw themselves on top of each other
until they become bigger than who they were
when they were apart."
Here's another snippet from Night of the Living:
tonight I will see
if dreaming of being myself
is ever going to be enough
I have lines and phrases from this book scribbled on bits of paper and in the notes app on my ipad.
Here is a fragment from Therapist 4:
"Each raindrop doesn't care
if it's the one to soak in
or the one that stays above it all to flood.
They just throw themselves on top of each other
until they become bigger than who they were
when they were apart."
Here's another snippet from Night of the Living:
tonight I will see
if dreaming of being myself
is ever going to be enough
bookishvirginia's review against another edition
5.0
A moving and poignant collection of poems about the immigrant refugee experience in the U.S. I willbecoming back to read this collection again and again.
wcsheffer's review
4.0
Bao Phi's collection is a sweeping series of poems about Phi's experience as a low-income child of Vietnamese immigrants in 1970s Minneapolis. His poems deal with fatherhood, mental health, and feelings of not belonging. Phi's poems are often brutally honest, holding no bars when it comes to his internal monologue from dealing with romantic rejection to raising his daughter. Phi also writes about being a nerd of color and finding solace in books growing up. I think my favorite poem is "Eg0-Tripping as a Self-Defense Mechanism For Refugee Kids who Get Their Names Clowned On." A concise and moving poem about Phi's name. Standing alone, it is a brilliant poem. Within the collection, it retains its brilliance and also marks a shift in Phi's relationship to himself and his heritage--finding pride even amongst pain and beginning the third and final section. Phi's poems cover a variety of forms and are never dull. I also loved how his poems told of a Minneapolis in the 80s that isn't often thought about, he writes about the American Indian Movement's patrols in his neighborhood and the changing culture of Minneapolis' South Side. So proud that claim him as one of this city's brightest!
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