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sonjapardee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
richardleis's review against another edition
5.0
Aimee Nezhukumatathil's most recent collection of poems (I think) concerns itself with autobiography, genealogy, geography, relationships, motherhood, and nature, among other topics. I love her sense of humor; poems like "Dear Amy Nehzooukammyatootill" and "The Mascot of Beavercreek High Breaks Her Silence" include unexpected humor along with more serious, lonely, and heartbreaking observations and revelations. I know when poems are working for me when the images suddenly erupt in vivid virtual reality in my mind and I gasp; several poems in this collection had those effects on me. It took a few readings of the first stanza in "A Globe is Just an Asterisk and Every Home Should Have an Asterisk" before the asterisk-shape of a flat cut-out of a globe in manufacture that would later be "pressed into a sphere" arrived in my mind's eye, and I immediately loved that image. I was also really impressed by how she taught me to read with early poems poems later in the collection. For example, there's a description of witches as wearers of eel-skin in an early poem that I recalled when a woman in a later poem was described as wearing eel-skin.
Nezhukamatathil is reading at the University of Arizona Poetry Center next week and I wanted to sample some of her work before then. Pleased to discover in the process a new favorite poet. I also read her collaboration with Ross Gay, Lace & Pyrite, which was also fantastic.
Nezhukamatathil is reading at the University of Arizona Poetry Center next week and I wanted to sample some of her work before then. Pleased to discover in the process a new favorite poet. I also read her collaboration with Ross Gay, Lace & Pyrite, which was also fantastic.
teangerine's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
beardedbarista's review against another edition
4.0
Really great poetry. Easy to read and some really thought provoking poems as well. Had a few of them that I really liked and I am not a poetry person at all. Got to listen to her read some live in Tampa and that was really great too :)
yours,
Justin
yours,
Justin
garbanzo_garbage's review against another edition
Will return!! Iām moving to a different country & had to return all my library books š
shanviolinlove's review against another edition
5.0
I have fallen in love with Aimee Nezhukumatathil; her gorgeous poems flow with the pulse of life--love, pregnancy, child-bearing, child-raising, and the agonizing anticipation of death. Each poem tells an intriguing story--sometimes the title alone ("The Mascot of Beavercreek High Breaks Her Silence," "Suppose You Were a Moray Eel")--about little girls growing up near a mental asylum or a tower in India where birds feed on the dead.
Every poet should read "Birth Geographic."
Every poet should read "Birth Geographic."
joeyrei's review against another edition
4.5
"Some / believe the turtle carries the whole weight / of the world. I want that turtle to put down // his pack tonight and join me at the table."
gracetreesa's review against another edition
4.0
this would have been a favourite if not for the consistent american references, but i cannot blame her for them- some of them were quite good too- baked goods remains my favourite poem and the poem i read this book for, but i do think sweet tooth and are all the break ups in your poems real? come to a close second.