Poetry Reviews

Le Colonel Chabert (Fiction, Poetry & Drama)

Published in Unknown Binding by Pocket ()

Author: Balzac

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An Honorable Veteran

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-26

"Colonel Chabert" is one of Honore de Balzac's volumes from his omnibus work, "The Human Comedy." The Colonel is a comic figure in and old military great coat and a wig who is ridiculed by young legal workers at the beginning of the novel. But, the joke is on the clerks, because Chabert is a war hero of the Napoleonic era who was given up for dead on a battlefield at Eylau. This translation from the French by Carol Grosman tells the story of the old soldier's resurrection in contemporary jargon. The novel is relevant today considering the service of soldiers in many wars continuing in our world. What happens to these heroes when wars end, or more accurately, shift to new fronts? Balzac paints the portrait of one old colonel who remains honorable and as a consequence seals his fate. The translation is very readable and the short novel is brief "scene from private life." The work will stimulate further interest in the monumental work of Balzac who had a relatively short life (1799-1850).

The best translation...

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-10

...of a great Balzac novella. Ms. Cosman captures the rigorous, logical quality of Balzac's prose - most translators get lost in unidiomatic wordiness. This 100 page novella showcases the Master's comfort with legal matters, his profound understanding of "the fang and the claw" and features at its center the incomparable Derville, Balzac's great, recurring lawyer character. I usually recommend Pere Goriot for first-time Balzac readers because of the rich connections between that novel and many other Balzac works - but I am hard pressed to imagine a better one-course meal than this rendering of Colonel Chabert by Ms. Cosman. I certainly plan to read her version of The Girl with the Golden Eyes.

TRAGEDY DISTILLED

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-10-08

One of the greatest novelists of all time, Balzac was most at home in the Paris of Post-Napoleonic Paris. In a time when the middle class was showing its strength and starting to reach towards the aristocracy, Balzac shows just how selfish and grubby and greedy humans can be in attaining and how treacherous they can be in keeping their all important upward mobility.

Colonel Chabert is a man disfigured in the Napoleonic Wars who was left for dead on a battlefield. After digging his way out of a mass grave, he finds that he has no legal right to his title or his massive estate. Nobody will believe his true identity. For ten longe years he goes about trying to communicate his plight to anyone who will listen. They only see a crazy bum, and his wife rebuffs his letters. She already has a new husband and kids. Finally Chabert is able to convince a lawyer named Dervilles to accept his case, namely that of reclaiming his title, lands, and wife. The problem is that noone is really interested in his life being resurrected. Most people would rather that he remained dead. So begins the ludicrous battle of a man against the law to prove his own existence.

This short but great novel, or novella, is a tragic take on the world's thirst for social status and the judgement by visuals that our society is only too guilty of to this day. If it walks like a bum, talks like a bum, it must be a bum. Colonel Chabert has such a hard time convincing people of his identity because of how they perceive him. It sounds echoes of Frankenstein in that a good man is reduced to a monster when all he really needs is love. The fact that even his wife wishes he were dead just drives home the isolated suffering of the book. As in all Balzac novels, you feel a world moving under the mantle of the book. The Human Comedy of Balzac is one of the crowning achievements of literature and ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy.

Dead Men Do Tell Tales

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2002-05-26

Balzac, one of the greatest writers who ever lived, did not trip up with this one. I read it with great pleasure and conclude, as people so often say, that the movie based on the story did not equal the original. Ever the cynic (some might say 'the realist') Balzac portrays here the efforts of a noble-minded soldier, who rose from an orphanage to serve his country under Napoleon in Egypt and eastern Europe, only to reap the all-too-common fate of dedicated and true warriors---to be forgotten and ignored. Death (which he accepted) might have seized him, but he found a living death, a denial of his sanity and identity, as the reward of his service. Reported killed at the battle of Eylau, against the Russians, after a heroic action, the soldier literally crawls from his grave to a kind of shadowy survival. In his earlier life, Colonel Chabert had raised a woman to his own status, but now finds that she is unwilling to let others learn of her origins and does not want to recognize that he is, in fact, her long lost husband. Honestly thinking she was widowed, she married a highborn aristocrat who knew nothing of her humble beginnings.

The tale is one of greed, intrigue, loyalty and disloyalty. As usual, Balzac manages to cast a light, pitiless and bright, on every rotten corner of the human condition, while offering a few inspiring examples in contrast. Every detail of a lawyer's life in 19th century Paris is scrutinized, every glimpse of urban dairyman or elite country squirehood rings true. No wonder I admire him so much, no wonder I have no hesitation in urging you to read COLONEL CHABERT and any other volume of Balzac you can lay your hands on.

An Excellent Translation of a Masterful Story!

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2001-11-28

Carol Cosman's translation of Balzac's French 'Colonel Chabert' into the English has been very effective here- she does not input her own interpretations and seems to have a good handle on Balzac's natural, concise wording style.

The story itself is fascinating. In a nutshell, it focuses on a military man who is essentially erased from society, and the tribulations and insights he has from this 'non-existant' state as he tries to re-establish himself. Not only is this a witty and profound social commentary, but an entertaining twist which just keeps twisting.

In reading other's reviews of this short masterpiece, it seems as if many people have missed the meaning of the finale. While it is indeed a very enigmatic ending, it is not as lugubrious or fatalistic as most believe. What happens is that Colonel Chabert, in essentially having his old identity annihilated, becomes enlighted. In the ultimate destruction of his ego he becomes free. This is the magic finale which Balzac labors so hard, and so majestically, to set up in the plot.

This tome is very impressive, and relatively short (just over 100 pages) for those new to Balzac who want a nice, piquant appetizer. Balzac is one of the most brilliant French fiction writers of all time! He is a giant, and in 'Colonel Chabert', he weaves another illustrious stitch into his tapestry the Comedie Humaine.

Lion Sun: Poems by Pavel Chichikov

Published in Paperback by Grey Owl Press (1999-08-10)

Author: Pavel Chichikov

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Refreshing in the World of Modern Poetry

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-12-05

Readers do not often have the opportunity to encounter well crafted formal poetry these days, but Lion Sun is one pleasant exception. The poet's use of traditional devices such as rhyme, meter, alliteration, and anaphora is consistent and non-obtrusive, lending much needed form to the substance.

God is sometimes in the forefront of these poems, sometimes subtly resting in the background, and Christ's crucifixion is a frequent subject of meditation for the poet. The themes expressed are largely universal, though hardly trite. Lion Sun provides a much need break from the typical, personalized, self-centered poetry of modern times. As I read the collection, there were times when I was reminded of William Blake's Songs.

The beautifully designed volume contains 74 poems as well as several illustrations by Eric Young. As with any large volume of poetry, the quality of the individual poems is varied. Some particularly good works in this volume include "The Secret," "Mother and Child," "Craving," "The Voice," and "Empty Church."

Only seen by poets and saints

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-05

Thornton Wilder says, in Our Town, something like this: there are some things "seen only by poets and saints."

Read this beautiful book of poems and I think you will know what Wilder means! This is a book both poetic and saintly, a book of vision. Pavel's crafted and gifted words opens eyes and opens hearts. A good, good book.

God, brought to you by Pavel Chichikov.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-05

For the last couple of years I've been enjoying Pavel Chichikov's poems on the Internet. He sees God, in all His moods, in our everyday world and in nature, and vividly puts Him in your face. Yet he displays an underlying sublety that manages to preserve the beauty and grand mystery of our Creator and His work. Sometimes dark, his poems always manage to convey the grand, hopeful and mysterious gift of His redemption. How delighted I am to have an anthology of his poems to carry with me and comfort me on my travels.

Poetry for the Catholic Soul

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-05

Mary changes Kopeks in a subway booth. Jesus cleans a chapelfloor. St. Christopher tells the story of his holy burden. Angelsstand at a forest altar in celebration of Christ's presence. The images of the ageless Church are recreated through the wondrous poetry of Pavel Chichikov in Lion Sun. This poet is able to illuminate the reality of faith in a faithless world while helping his readers understand the impact of Christ on good and evil in everyday life. Surely, Pavel's poetry has an air of phrophecy that causes the reader to look deeply into his/her soul in an effort to examine whether Christ's truth dwells there. Lion Sun is a treasure, and a perfect gift for a faith filled friend.

A Deeply Personal Spirtual Landscape.

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-02

Pavel's work is lyrical and intensely personal. There are observations of the physical world included in the verse [including a delightful response to the goldfinch in " The Small Musician"] but most of the poems are spiritual landscapes - poems that speak of a lively mind's encounters with guilt, grace, God, the World, the Flesh and the Devil. Observations of nature are essentially the beginnings of a spiritual insight so that a toad, a dragonfly, birdsong or storm becomes emblematic of a spiritual life that transcends the physical. In this sense, his work owes much to the nineteenth century Romantics; the same sense of the poet alone in the natural world characteristic of Wordsworth or Gerard Manly Hopkins pervades the poetry of Lion Sun.

Using simple verse forms, Chichikov brings a visionary style to the work. The poet's own voice is a constant feature of the verse. Many poems begin with and specificity the poet conveys. The weakness, perhaps, is that the poet may become baffling in the allusions spun. One sometimes leaves a poem curiously unsatisfied that the power of the message is lost when a crucial element is missed by the reader. There are few contexts in which to fix the poems. The works are largely undated and there is no introduction or biographical information in which to fix the work. Where the poems work well without contexts, they are powerful and winsome.

The spiritual landscapes drawn in the verse are often on the largest canvas. Saints and sinners, giants and angels, creation and redemption figure in the poems. Political features only intrude into the landscapes for their spiritual interest as in the sonnet The Voice.

Chichikov is at his best when he is most tender and personal, when the biggest allegories give way to the fine observation and instress, as Hopkins would have it. My favourite poem in the anthology is called Creation - a sonnet written for his wife Nancy. Like the person to whom it is dedicated, the poem is gentle, subtle and intelligent

The book is stunning in its design with an exquisite typeface and display. The illustrations by Eric Young are lively and attractive. This is a book that will puzzle, charm and inspire and deserves a wider readership than poetry usually commands

Little Dog Poems

Published in Hardcover by Clarion Books (1999-03-22)

Author: Kristine O'Connell George

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Little Dog Poems

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-11

Very nice book of poems for children (my daughters are age 4 and 6). Each poem describes the various behavior of the same little dog. The dog reminds us of our Shih Tsu. Cute illustration. Pleasantly surprised with this book.

A Lovely Book of Poems

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-23

Little Dog Poems is a book full of short, cute poems about the life of a little dog and its owner. There is a one poem on each page with illustrations relating to the text. The poems go through one entire day in the life of the dog, from waking up, to playtime, and back to bed again. Children will love reading and being read this adorable little book.

The watercolor illustrations in the book tell the story perfectly. This makes it easy for a young reader, or even listener, to follow along with the words. The pictures are also very realistic, which would help the child relate to the story. The little girl even has to use a step stool in one picture. Children can easily see the love the little girl has for her puppy on all of the pages.

None of the poems use rhyming words, but they do use a poetic format. Sometimes the words are printed in straight lines or even in a spiral formation to help illustrate the story. There is odd spacing between the lines that changes the way the poems are read. Children will love to try and read these poems, and the spacing might actually help them pace themselves and succeed. The words contained in the poems are very basic and would be a great place for any beginning reader to start.

The poems in the book create many different emotions, such as happiness playing catch, sadness being left at home, and even frustration at chewed up socks. Some of the poems even create sensory images, such as taste in the kitchen poem and touch in the comfort poem. Children will love reading this book over and over, because what child does not love an adorable little puppy?

Absolutely lovely

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-21

Ms. O'Connell George's simple prose come together beautifully in this lovely story. Perfect for Pre-K through early elementary.

Younger children will enjoy the simple verses. For my 8 year old son, who is a dog lover, he just enjoyed learning the story, but also had his eyes open to how simple poetry can be... doesn't have to rhyme and be some long hard to understand thing.

A great poetry intro. Also be sure to check out Little Dog and Duncan .. which seems even better than the original little dog and is a great friendship story.

Little Dog Poems & Little Dog and Duncan

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-30

I have read both of these Little Dog books to my first grade students and they enjoyed each and every poem very much!!! Many of my students bonded with the child and her dog and had lots of stories to tell and write about their own experiences with pets.
These are two of my favorite books to read to them when I talk about poems not having to rhyme to be poems. I wish Ms. George would write more books about Little Dog and his experiences!

Endearing...

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-10-17

Kristine O'Connell George has written one of the most endearing books of the year....Every poem illuminates another incident in the busy life of Little Dog, and dog-owners are sure to recognize their own pets in him. June Otani's watercolors are as charming as the text.

Liz Larrabee's Book

Published in Paperback by Withee Publications (2000-11)

Author: Elizabeth Larrabee

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ShadoPoetry takes hat off to Liz

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-01

In our house Liz Larrabee's book is one that never collects dust on a shelf.The book has a permanent place of honor on the coffee table where anyone can (and DOES) pick it up and enjoy the marvelous talent of this exceptional writer. This is a book for young and old alike, for poetry lovers and for those whose eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the word. Liz has a style and flair that is both outstanding and pleasing, and in this book the heart of the poet sings out from every page. Anyone who doesn't have the book....by all means get it. You will not regret the choice. I have purchased several as gifts to family and friends, and they, in turn, have placed orders for still more. Kudos, Liz....your work is exquisite !

The Beauty of Words

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-08

I have almost read the covers off Liz Larrabee's book. And I'm not stopping there....My husband, who would rather eat scorpions than read poetry, after hearing me read a few excepts from the book aloud, snatched my copy and would not return it until he had finished the entire book. Thank you, Liz, for being able to get inside our hearts and our heads. Masterful!

FROM MEMORIES INTO ART

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-19

Liz Larrabee proves that the writer in all of us flowers when the ability to tap into memories is transformed into art. Her individual memory poems, short stories and nonfiction pieces are gems of language, imagination and humor. But, they rise to something greater in synergy to reveal a remarkable woman whose journey from Massachusetts to Florida takes her around the world, exploring its mysteries and people with her pen and her camera. Growing up in a time when money was scarce, young Liz finds glamour at dancing school and excitement in walking the rails of the Boston and Maine, always reaching for the brass ring of endless possibilities propelled by sharp intelligence and limitless curiosity. Married then divorced, she accepts the formidable challenges of single motherhood, often thumbing her nose at adversity with wit, wisdom, courage and vigor. Whether Larrabee is recalling a failed movie date on December 7, 1941, the shape of her hardworking mother's hands, or a Christmas with five children and no money, one that ends in the triumph of love, she touches the heart and stimulates the mind. Here is a writer who had this reader laughing through my tears, crying through my laughter and begging for more.

Like the Energizer Bunny she keeps going and going!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-13

From the 1930's onward, Liz walks you through her life. No, she runs at the speed of light, stopping only to share those precious moments that have burned their way into her memory cells. And there are many. A life filled with emotions of both happiness and sadness and sprinkled with Liz's unique sense of humor. I dare say, when readers of a younger generation pick up this book, they will undoubtedly be overcome by a wash of jealousy, wondering why they couldn't have lived in such a fulfilling time. An excellent book to leave on the coffee table, so that at any given time you can open a page at random and read the story printed there. I guarantee you will find yourself turning pages until you suddenly agree with what Liz says, "My goodness, where did the time go?"

She writes! She photographs! She's a poet! She moves me!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-10

I first read Liz's work on Francis Ford Coppola's web site, Zoetrope and have loved her stories ever since.

She has taken me on many journeys and each time it's as if I'm right there with her, living through her upbringing during the Great Depression, trying in vain to find a way to release her son, trapped in rocks as the fast-approaching tide threatened his life, making me relive them again through her eyes and skillful words.

This is such a charming look back at seventy-plus years of one woman's life and the events and non-events that made her who she is.

I would recommend this book for the young, to let them see how and why we've come so far. I'd recommend it for the old to remind them of where we've been.

I have read it through several times--it's a short read--and have loaned it to all my friends, who loved it too.

Love Lingers

Published in Paperback by Sadorian Publications (2002-02)

Author: Linda Dominique Grosvenor

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oh my...she gets it too!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-30

It wouldn't have been fair to review the husbands poetry (Lifespeak) without reviewing the wife's collection. Together they make a witty, fun-loving couple. Love Lingers was sensuous without being ridiculous and the poems were short enough for my attention span and kept me from not losing the meaning before the poem was over. Her language and use of words catches you by surprise and makes you realize that poetry really doesn't have to rhyme. I recommend this.

spokenwordwoman

Love Lingers

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-29

"Like a fine wine that gets better with age so does the spicy poetry of Love Lingers. With each succulent turn of the page the reader is held captive by the words and by the possibilities."

T.C. Matthews, Prolific Writers Network...

Love isn't the only thing that Lingers

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-18

Love Lingers is one of the tastiest poetry collections I've read in a long time. Dominique's verbal concoctions leave you wondering how in the world she came up with these images but so thankful that she did. My favorite lines include "I'm not naked, I'm in Love", and "Walked me like a mangy mutt". Grosvenor takes us head-first (or should we say heart-first)into the good, the bad, and the ugly and shows us that in life and love...it's all poetry. Dom is truly a writer's inspiration and a reader's dream. Love Lingers and so does Dom's poetry.

Love Lingers and dares you to return...

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-05

I absolutely love this collection of poetry by Linda Dominique Grosvenor. I've read the collection, countless times. Often I'd skip around to various selections according to how I'd felt or what was going on in my life. The book opens up with a quote from Nikki Giovanni stating that "we love because it's the only true adventure." Well, this collection for me is also like an adventure. It greets you at the door with a "Kiss" and then sends you through 109 different experiences. One poem after the other, daring you to inhale each thought, each word and feel beyond the obvious.

I have a few favorites. "Breasts" for some reason makes me imagine my lady, looking into the mirror, topless and perhaps noticing me spying her reflection. I gave the poem called "Chocolate" to her and told her that she needed to read that one and think about me. She laughed. It's also one of my favorites though. Other favorites are "Showering,"
"Honeymoon," "Kid," which got a quick laugh out of me, "King,"
"Truth," and "Yesterday." Actually, I could go on and on... My favorites in this collection truly depend on what's happening in my life.

I'd just like to thank Linda Dominique Grosvenor for creating such an insightful collection of poetry. One can tell that she is definitely in tuned and forever in touch with what Love is truly about. This book will forever remain displayed on my coffee table so others can peep it out. I think I better get a second copy, just in case...

Random Thoughts

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-05

When I began reading "Love Lingers" I was immediately drawn to page 101 a poem titled "Misunderstood." After reading this poem I knew Dom and I had walked the same paths once. "Assume" was also a favorite because out of all my loves this particular person assumed all the wrong things about me and lost the chance at the greatest love of all time.

Love Lingers is raw and filled with the random thoughts of love told by Linda Dominique Grosvenor. I am not sure when she felt in her heart to express her thoughts through paper and pen but we are blessed that she has.

Meet Me Halfway

Published in Paperback by Javan Press (1981-03)

Author: Javan

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Meet Me Halfway

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-09

Absolutely amazing! Javan's poems are short and sweet and straight to the point. I found this book at a time that I didn't think anyone knew how I was feeling, but after reading this book, I found that I wasn't alone. I have suggested this book to many people and will continue doing so.

Same as before

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-03

I've got to say the same as I did about some of the other Javan books. Wonderful, but just not up to the par with Something to Someone in my mind. Enjoyable, but just not as much as it could have been.

Poetry in motion

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-19

I've read, purchased again for gifts, given mine away and repurchased for myself. They are excellent bedtime reading and keep right on giving!

Timeless Classic Poetry

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-19

Javan writes soundly soul filled expressions on life. This book will stand the test of time and has universal appeal. Simple, direct and sparce use of words add to the ease of thoughtful expression. One of my favorite authors. Paper and print style add to the classic feel.

Sweet and Simple

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-01-21

A beautiful collection of works...Javan writes with a simple, straight-forward style that aims for the soul. He transforms the hardest emotions and feelings into soft, caring words and makes it seem like it came straight from your own heart. I recommend his books to anyone that, like me, doesn't always have the right words to describe how you feel.

Mostly True Collected Stories & Drawings

Published in Paperback by Storypeople (1993-08-01)

Author:

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Stays with me

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-08

So many essays stay with me. They are written in a short form but packed with a punch! I found myself needing and wanting to feel (more) centered and after reading this book..it has been achieved. It is always great to pick up a book from your bookshelf, hold it in your hands and read..and dream..and remember..and reflect again and again. :)Enjoy!!

Has stayed with me for 10 years

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-06

I bought this book maybe 10 or 12 years ago very shortly after it was published when I found it in a gift shop near my house. I fell in love with it standing in the store browsing through it and had to take it home. It has travelled with me to 4 states and 6 homes and has consistently been unpacked and placed right back on my bookshelf where it belongs. One of only about 10 books that I can say that about. It inspires me whenever I look at it, full of the most obvious and wonderful wisdom told in the most eloquent voice of Brian Andreas. You will connect with several of the stories you read, probably most of them, and like me you will want to hang them on your wall to remind you daily of how you really feel in your soul. This is a great find.

story people rule

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-21

I bought this book for a friend after he discovered the website and loved all the drawings and stories. I don't think anyone can escape from being touched by them. There is something in there for everyone, for every situation. I highly recommend you give it to someone you love today.

Warm and Fuzzy

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-16

I saw this book in a boutique in Paducah, KY about 4 years ago. Flipping through a few pages, I needed no more convincing. I purchased the book, read it and placed it in our bookcase. Within the last four years, I have had two children and moved to a different town. I was unpacking some boxes the other day when I found this book. There I sat on the floor, reading through it. I couldn't stop until I was done. I logged on to find more of Brian Andreas's work. It is amazing. So simple, yet so touching. You have to read it!

Silly, Witty and Wise

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-25

This little book defies classification. It is a collection of goofy-looking, childlike drawings, on one page, and enigmatic strange little aphorisms, on the facing page, all the way through the book. The pages aren't numbered and there are no chapters, so you just have to wander around and experience whatever you happen to find. Whatever time you spend with this book will be worth it.

Author Brian Andreas is one who thinks outside the box. He draws outside the box, too. And you will soon realize, outside the box is a very good place to be. A place to consider what is really important and meaningful: Love, relationships, children, magic. These are the important things.

The childlike manner is deceptive. This is a book of serious wisdom and serious art, with a silly and childlike appearance. If you can play outside the box, you will love this book, and you will want to give it to all your out-of-the-box friends.I can't recommend Mostly True too highly! Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

The Mouse of Amherst

Published in Hardcover by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (1999-03-26)

Author: Elizabeth Spires

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The Mouse and "the Myth".....

Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-15

"I am a mouse, a white mouse. My name is Emmaline. Before I met Emily, the great poet of Amherst, I was nothing more than a crumb gatherer, a cheese nibbler, a mouse-of-little-purpose. There was an emptiness in my life that nothing seemed to fill. All that changed the day I moved into the Dickinson residence on Main Street..." Emmaline moves into the simple, quiet, sunny upstairs bedroom, and begins her new life in the wainscoting of Emily's room. She observes the Dickinson family, and is most fascinated by her new roommate, Emily. "She always wore white. She seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once, fluttering through the house like a ghost, stirring up a batch of gingerbread in the kitchen, or walking in the garden, lost in reverie..." Emily is always sitting at her little desk in deep concentration, writing and scribbling on small scraps of paper, and this intrigues the little mouse. When a small scrap finally lands on the floor near Emmaline's door, she snatches it up and begins reading. "Imagine my surprise when I realized I was holding a poem! The words spoke to me. These were my feelings exactly, but ones I had always kept hidden for fear the world would think me a sentimental fool..." Emmaline turns the paper over and words begin to pour out of her; a poem of her own. Then she returns the scrap with her new poem on the back to Emily's desk. That night while Emmaline slept, Emily read her poem and wrote back, slipping the note paper under her little mouse door. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?/Are you-Nobody-too/Then there's a pair of us!/Don't tell! they'd banish us-you know!..." And that, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship..... Elizabeth Spires has written an engaging, gentle, and evocative introduction to the great poet, Emily Dickinson. Her charming and creative story, told often in poems passed back and forth between mouse and Myth, is sometimes poignant, often humorous, and always enlightening. Claire Nivola's black and white sketches complement the text beautifully, and together word and art paint a lovely portrait of the elusive and reclusive Dickinson and her genius, with great insight. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, The Mouse Of Amherst makes an even better read aloud book the entire family can share, and includes an Author's note about Emily Dickinson's life and her poetry to augment and enhance the story and open interesting discussions. This sweet little treasure is sure to whet the appetite of both young and old, and send kids out looking for more. It works well as a companion book to Jeanette Winter's Emily Dickinson's Letters To The World, and Michael Bedard's Emily.

A Well-Crafted, Rich Story

Helpful Votes: 29 out of 29 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-16

I am a librarian who loves children's literature. I have always been a huge fan of Emily Dickinson. When I bought this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am now in the process of analyzing it for my college classes, and I find it is even richer than I originally thought. The child who is lucky enough to read this book will come away with the idea that the written word is important, and so is to find one's own talents in life,to find what excites a child to feel that a "whirligig is spinning in my brain." The child will find the importance of friendship in this small volume, and will become introduced in an easy way to poetry and Emily Dickinson. It is a timeless piece which can be used in elementary school as well as high school, where a teacher could truly concentrate on the rich imagery and symbolism. Emmaline will touch a child's heart.

An engaging tale

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-09-05

Emmaline is a mouse who lives in a house in Emily Dickinson's room. They become friends very quickly and write poems together.

This was an excellent book, and I recommend it to everyone.

An engaging and memorable tale

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-05-30

Emmaline is a mouse who lives behind the wainscoting of Emily Dickinson's bedroom and is a small, but courageous writer. The Mouse Of Amherst is a unique and effective little story for young children that aptly introduces wonderful poetry woven into the warm and superbly crafted story. Illustrations by Claire A. Nivola are perfect augmentations to Elizabeth Spires's engaging and memorable tale.

The Mouse of Amherst

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-11

I RECOMMEND THE MOUSE OF AMHERST, ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIKE POEMS. IT IS ABOUT A MOUSE NAMED, EMMALINE WHO GOES TO LIVE IN THE SAME HOUSE AS A POET NAMED ELIZABETH. THEY WRITE POEMS TO TELL EACH OTHER THINGS. ONE DAY THE MOUSE TRAPPER COMES . WILL EMMALINE BE OK? READ THIS BOOK TO FIND OUT!

Muscular Music

Published in Paperback by Tia Chucha (1999-05-30)

Author: Terrance Hayes

List price: $11.95

New price: $10.16
Used price: $7.99
Collectible price: $27.50

Average review score:

Good

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-01

The book showed up in a timely fashion and was brand new, just like it said online.

the next "big thing"

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-25

Terrance Hayes is a name you will see again. I promise you.

An earlier edition of this book came into my hands shortly after I worked with this wonderful poet at a seminar for younger poets. A wonderful first collection. So human it hurts. Get it now that it's back in print!

Watch Out for This Poet

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-13

I just had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Terrance Hayes read at the University of Idaho. He was nervous, I think, and the room was big and strange, but this young man can write. He can really write. The new book--HIP LOGIC--is going to be terrific, and I'll bet each book that comes after will be better yet. A really splendid new talent.

Every Poem will mesmerize you...

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-31

I first became familiar with Mr. Hayes' work, when i saw his poem "Blackbird" in a 1995 double issue of ObsidianII: Black Literature In Review. It appeared opposite a poem I publshed in the journal. Every poem in Muscular Music, is a snapshot about African American life, and sings a song of america: "Late," "Goliath," "Something For Marvin," "Blackbird," "The Yummy Suite," " What I am..." The Black experience is all in here... I was laughing my ass off at " I want to be fat" and I'm a big guy.Expect Terrence Hayes to be a major poet in the literary canon.

Muscular Music is Powerful Poetry

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-01-24

Terrance Hayes has written a book where the poems have bite. These poems are hard-hitting, honest, sincere and yet suffused with "tenderness." "Yummy Suite" is one of the most powerful sequence of poems I have read anywhere that confront what is going on in our urban neighbourhoods today. I also loved "Late," "Goliath" and too many more to name. Here is a writer well worth getting to know. If I may riff on the Reuben Jackson quote that serves as an epilogue, Terrance Hayes' Muscular Music is a book that also "reveals itself" one splendid "black note at a time." Buy this book -- read it aloud and share it with a friend!

Mystery Schools

Published in Paperback by Washington Writers Pub House (2007-09-01)

Author: Bruce Mackinnon

List price: $12.00

New price: $10.44
Used price: $9.20

Average review score:

The lesson

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-11

What god or goddess at which mystery school taught Bruce MacKinnon the strong love and yearning that he shows for his father, mother, wife and son and who taught him the felicitous turns of phrase that give them life on these pages? What woman would not want to be the inspiration for "Atlantis" or the child commemorated by the "Butter Knife" or the mother so tenderly recalled in "Stories?" B. Forden

Brilliant!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-05

MacKinnon's poetry is intense, sometimes dark, definitely mood-altering, and nothing short of brilliant! I tried to limit myself to reading only one or two poems per day (not an easy task) in order to fully digest the beauty of his thought-provoking visions. I loved this book, will pass it on to friends, and will read it again and again.

Got It

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-29

I read poetry only if I happen upon it. By some good fortune I happened upon this lovely book. I got all the poems, identified with many. hope for the rest, look forward to books to follow.

Mystery Schools

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-18

Mystery Schools delightfully accessible, poignant, brutally honest, and universal in its portrayal of the author's experience. Very enjoyable reading.

Leaves of Glass - sunshine and shadow

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-13

Published in September, Mystery Schools seems particularly suited to the fall of the year. There is an underlying poignancy to many of MacKinnon's poems. It's not that they are winter-cold or somber, but the loving moments from his life, so vividly portrayed, are often tinged with sadness. The portraits of his father and mother are especially moving - even heart-wrenching - especially "Stories," "A Different Law," and "A Cabin in the Woods."

I found myself thinking of Mystery Stories as I drove alone last week, on a crisp day when the sun illuminated stands of brilliant red and orange foliage, only to be covered the next instant by scudding dark clouds.

The initiation rituals of the mystery schools were often dark, weren't they? And some of the glimpses the author gives us of his coming-of-age years reveal the careless cruelties common to the young, seen now through the mature eyes of a thoughtful, loving man, whose journey is laid bare before us in a series of reflections and meditations. Here is a soul whom we find in several poems seeking his way as a young man in a holy order: "then I'm on my knees scrubbing cracks in tile/ with a toothbrush, not at all sure how I got here,/ knowing it has something to do with light."

Ultimately, however, it's the death of the father, not the Son, which casts a chiaroscuro image, like scattered sunlight on the shadowed forest of fallen and falling autumn leaves, on all the stories of this talented poet's life.

I look forward to his next collection.

Poetry Books