Many great poems leave plenty of work for the reader when it comes to extracting the intricacies of the author’s meaning, but Dunn simply cannot afford to take these liberties when dealing with such sensitive and problematic subject matter. If people have changed after and felt remorse for a dark time in their lives where they were unequivocally wrong, coming clean and apologizing does not merit admonishment.
While such narrative structure allows for a more multifaceted take on traditional linear plot construction, the jarring leaps in time and indecisive switches between narrative voices render “Run Me to Earth” shallow and groundless.
Life would be much more straightforward if we all knew our explicit, definite role in society — where, exactly, we fit in.
Her themes have remained rather consistent since 2014’s “The Empathy Exams,” and her new collection “Make It Scream, Make It Burn” is a continued fleshing out of Jamison’s longtime interests.
The musician has a keen eye for detail and orchestration ― just when she brings up an anecdote that seems out of place, it suddenly begins to make sense in the larger framework of her life — the last chapter of the book is all about thumbs in her life, just because she wanted to end on a funny note.
It’s often jarring to find art that solely expresses themes contained in everyday life. Perhaps because popular artists don’t lead “normal” lives, or perhaps because people aren’t interested in the ones that do.
Even in a book defined by its skillful handling of emotions, Evans still manages to impress with his mastery of poetic form. He frequently varies his style, switching from long lines with no stanza breaks throughout an entire poem to curt, choppy lines split into small stanzas.
Olds’s spontaneous and thematically inconsistent recollection of events sacrifices an even flow between poems to obtain an authentic and unfiltered glimpse into her mind. But without access to Olds’s mind, “Arias” requires multiple readings to offer more than just this glimpse.
Little did I know that “Trust Exercise” would utterly betray me, leading me to question not only the establishment, but my own sense of self as a reader.
Deliciously cult-ish, dark and surprisingly touching, “The Family Upstairs” subverts the traditional mystery-thriller, blending together multiple genres.