What book shakes you up?
I am looking to buy some new books of poetry. But while searching, I realized... It's really difficult to find a book that really has the ability to shatter me. When I find a book like that, it seems like something in me quakes and I just want to write and write. But it's been a little while since I've found such a book. The last book that really wowed me was Lark Apprentice by Louise Mathias. Before that it was Purr by Mary Ann Samyn. But since these books, I haven't read a book (for the first time) that rocks me the way these have. I wish Jeffrey Bean had a book now, because he is a new poet that is really doing something amazing.
I'm curious to know -- What book really changed you? What book opens you up as a writer and reader every time you read it? What book should I buy?
posted by Stephanie @ 9:17 AM
6 Comments:
I know it's a popular book (because it won the Yale prize last year), but have you tried Jay Hopler's Green Squall? It's really quite good.
Actually, I haven't read it yet. What did you like about it?
His voice. It's archaic and new at the same time.
His subject matter. It's arcane, fresh, bizarre, and flippant yet still maintains an urgency and an energy I've found missing a lot in contemporary poetry.
And the lyrical quality of every line. EVERY line is pitched perfectly.
I like it a lot. ;)
These rocked my world:
Wild Gratitude by Edward Hirsch
Winter Stars by Larry Levis
Some new books you might want to consider:
Ornithologies by Joshua Poteat
Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields by Ashley Capps
Hi Stephanie,
Great news about your poem in Cimarron Review.
Here are a few titles that come to mind re: books that shake/shook me, shatter me …
Anatole’s Tomb translated by Paul Auster (by Malarme)
Greg Orr’s Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved
Rexroth’s shorter poems
Thanks for all the recommendations everyone. I will check them out.
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