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crookedtreehouse's review
5.0
(I don't often rate or review poetry collections because I usually know the writers or, at least, have many friends in common, and I don't want to come across as having my experience reading the books influenced by how I feel about said person.)
When I first encountered slam poetry and spoken word poetry in the 90s, I mostly experienced it aurally or visually. I read the mostly dead white people books I'd been recommended in high school, and a few living, "more literary" poets that I'd been exposed to in college classes.
Apart from [a:Patricia Smith|161335|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1424030155p2/161335.jpg], I didn't read books by people who'd come through spoken word.
While on tour in 2003, my touring partner let me borrow books by [a:Jeffrey McDaniel|73204|Jeffrey McDaniel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1262449991p2/73204.jpg], [a:Derrick Brown|634289|Derrick Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1329943022p2/634289.jpg], and [a:Daphne Gottleib|3073144|Daphne Gottleib|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and it changed the way I bought poetry, read poetry, and wrote poetry.
I've owned Cook's [b:Eavesdrop Soup|402594|Eavesdrop Soup|Matt Cook|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354902885l/402594._SY75_.jpg|391983] for a few years, and enjoyed it. But this book took me back to being in my twenties and finding out poetry had different tricks than I was used to.
The poems from this collection were written at the same time as those McDaniels, Brown, and Gottleib books, so there's a touch of nostalgia to my enjoyment, but it's been quite a long time since I've felt this type of nostalgia and enjoyment of a poetry collection.
If you enjoy shorter, densely clever poetry about midwestern American life, perhaps littered with historical references, than I highly recommend picking up this book.
When I first encountered slam poetry and spoken word poetry in the 90s, I mostly experienced it aurally or visually. I read the mostly dead white people books I'd been recommended in high school, and a few living, "more literary" poets that I'd been exposed to in college classes.
Apart from [a:Patricia Smith|161335|Patricia Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1424030155p2/161335.jpg], I didn't read books by people who'd come through spoken word.
While on tour in 2003, my touring partner let me borrow books by [a:Jeffrey McDaniel|73204|Jeffrey McDaniel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1262449991p2/73204.jpg], [a:Derrick Brown|634289|Derrick Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1329943022p2/634289.jpg], and [a:Daphne Gottleib|3073144|Daphne Gottleib|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and it changed the way I bought poetry, read poetry, and wrote poetry.
I've owned Cook's [b:Eavesdrop Soup|402594|Eavesdrop Soup|Matt Cook|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354902885l/402594._SY75_.jpg|391983] for a few years, and enjoyed it. But this book took me back to being in my twenties and finding out poetry had different tricks than I was used to.
The poems from this collection were written at the same time as those McDaniels, Brown, and Gottleib books, so there's a touch of nostalgia to my enjoyment, but it's been quite a long time since I've felt this type of nostalgia and enjoyment of a poetry collection.
If you enjoy shorter, densely clever poetry about midwestern American life, perhaps littered with historical references, than I highly recommend picking up this book.
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