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jenknox's Reviews (494)
I enjoyed this book far more a few years ago. I think Kerouac's tale is decent, gloriously rebellious, but over-hyped; this book is marked with a few fantastic insights but my belief is that On The Road is only popular due to timeliness and the oft-consumed glamorization of alcoholism. Kerouac was the face of the movement, not the grit.
William Burroughs was able to write about such tales while bringing to life the disease, the twisting of the gut that follows escapades similar to Kerouac's, only with less Hollywood-style machismo. His prose was searing and linguistically-interesting. Allen Ginsberg brought the politics, the societal rebellion.
I enjoy On The Road a bit more, however, when it is coupled with his daughter's personal essays, which add a touch of reality to the narrative fiction that makes up this book. The thing needs more perspective for me now.
William Burroughs was able to write about such tales while bringing to life the disease, the twisting of the gut that follows escapades similar to Kerouac's, only with less Hollywood-style machismo. His prose was searing and linguistically-interesting. Allen Ginsberg brought the politics, the societal rebellion.
I enjoy On The Road a bit more, however, when it is coupled with his daughter's personal essays, which add a touch of reality to the narrative fiction that makes up this book. The thing needs more perspective for me now.
Flash fiction, when done well, is the love child of poetry and fiction. It's about the potency and power of language merging with the world-opening narratives of good storytelling. It's about not wasting a single word (nod to Strunk and White). That is, it's about potency and word economy IF the author knows what he's doing. Len Kuntz does. He's a master of all things flash. He proves this again and again in the 80+ stories in I'm Not Supposed to Be Here and Neither Are You. The stories examine relationships, coming of age stories, the way our past-times or fashion choices define us, the way our lives can be forever changed with a single exchange. Len Kuntz captures the moment. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the entire collection, stand-outs for me were the namesake story, "Mermaid," "Wicked Water," and "You."
The poems in Patricia Colleen Murphy's Hemming Flames shook me. One by one, they informed and entertained. More, they reminded me of my own confusions, insecurities, regrets, and growth. They examined the complexities of family dynamics that can never be fully understood, only felt across time and experience.
These poems go deep, they re-angle light. The narrative styles vary, but these poems share one thing: precision. It is Murphy's ability to see my rapid-paced, over-worked, easily distracted mind and raise me one. Thank you to the author for slowing me down with passages, such as:
"But I do know how it felt when the cat
kept slinking closer to the room
full of coyotes in costume. And even
though I let things nearly happen,
no one can say I did not live a long time
in the danger theater, where the play begins
with all the dolls behaving perfectly."
I will return to this collection. I will show it off. This is a book full of heart and grit and love. Read it.
These poems go deep, they re-angle light. The narrative styles vary, but these poems share one thing: precision. It is Murphy's ability to see my rapid-paced, over-worked, easily distracted mind and raise me one. Thank you to the author for slowing me down with passages, such as:
"But I do know how it felt when the cat
kept slinking closer to the room
full of coyotes in costume. And even
though I let things nearly happen,
no one can say I did not live a long time
in the danger theater, where the play begins
with all the dolls behaving perfectly."
I will return to this collection. I will show it off. This is a book full of heart and grit and love. Read it.
