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The poems in this are raw and amazing.
I can't believe I'm only now discovering this wonderful writer. She is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
I loved this collection, but how can a poet writing about being born in Augusta misspell Hallowell?
This is an easy to read, wonderful poet. There is a poem in here about a child who lost a tooth and woke up to find under her pillow a coin with glitter glued on and even toothfairy glitter steps across the room to her bed. The poem then tells of the problems of her parents, the break up of their marriage, the hardships of most of her childhood and then lookng back at that glitter covered coin. It was just a wonderful poem. Best of all? There are other wonderful poems in this book. It is not a w...
These poems are much darker than her more contemporary work. They deal with incest, divorce, raising a burgeoning teenager, mental institutions, and more explicit sex. This is her first book of poems, and feels like it. She pays attention to fingers: "a long finger sliding into the slitted denim the way that man slipped his thumb into me one summer," hair, often golden and "chopped," her parents, her father abusive, her mother a nurse that tells ER stories while her children eat their meat, the
It's possible I shouldn't read Laux. The writings of her abuse are too close to the bone, perhaps. But I'm drawn to the clarity she makes. I know what she describes is real, and I'm grateful to see it hard on the page.
Poetry. 'On The Back Porch' was posted on 'The Writers Almanac' site recently. That poem really resonated with me. I enjoyed reading some other poems of hers, but the Back Porch poem is still my favorite.
I feel like this collection deserves more stars than I gave it, because in some ways I'm punishing the book for being poetry, which I'm still trying to find more appreciation for. Still—and this may or may not be a poetry thing (if there is such a thing)—but I dislike explicitly sexual description, in any form. I guess what it comes down to, to me, is not ever feeling like I see it done in a new way, in a way that I wouldn't see in a bad erotica novel. I'm definitely not saying this is a bad pie...
Yes, Dorianne. Yes.
A new edition from EWU Press of this stunning first book by one of the most remarkable women writing today. Intense, vivid, heartbreaking and full of hope--I've been waiting a long time to read this book. Out of print for years, impossible to find until now--yay!
This book made me want to write poetry. Need I say more? It's one of the best ever...
She takes my breath away. Every time. Every single goddamn time.
"Aphasia," a poem of Doriane Laux's, was Broadsided on November 1, 2010 -- see it at http://www.broadsidedpress.org/more10...
I don’t often read modern poets, or classic poetry, to be honest. But reading more like Laux’s wouldn’t be be bad. It’s dark at times, I’ve heard her more recent poetry is on the lighter side, but her first poems are deeply personal and very much alive. On the Back Porch was my favorite from the collection, funny enough it was also the one my dad heard on NPR which originally sparked my interest in her work… it perfectly showcased my love for simplicity in life.While I’d rather not read about th...
Dorianne Laux's first collection of poems (published in 1990) stabs and sears me with its unflinching unfolding of family trauma. Especially strong on first (and second and third) reading are "Two Pictures of My Sister," "What My Father Told Me," "Awake," and the fleshly pleasures marked in "China" and "The Laundromat."
I think I ordered this for my birthday in July last year but I have only just read it. Poetry that excites me is hard to find so when I suspect that a recently found collection may be good I hoard it, until one day ... when I can bear the anticipation no longer ... I dive in. Which is what I did this morning. I made my banana smoothie, sat down to have a brief look and didn't emerge from Laux's head until I'd finished. Didn't get the kids' breakfasts, help the six year old with his homework, or
hopefull I can write a review to do justice to this one
What an excellent and precise storyteller Dorianne Laux is. An infuriatingly good first collection. Particular favorites: "What My Father Told Me," "Quarter to Six," "On the Back Porch," "The Laundromat," "The Garden."
These poems are vibrant and alive.
I discovered Dorianne Laux through one of the “Ten poems to...” books. I liked the very matter of fact language and style of that example of her work. And I’ve enjoyed that in this book as well. I like how, in some of her poems, she takes me on a journey, and often doesn’t end where the start makes me think it will. Poems I marked are: - Two pictures of my sister- The tooth fairy- Bird- Adam’s Dad teaches the kids to play ball