Reviews (1)

Three cheers for Dr. J
An ideological exploration of the themes in Auden's later poetry.Best ever.Can you really beat Dr. J? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (Wystan Hugh),    2. 1907-1973    3. 20th century    4. American influences    5. Auden, W. H    6. Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973    7. Christianity and literature    8. Criticism and interpretation    9. English poetry    10. English-speaking countries    11. General    12. History    13. Homosexuality and literature    14. Literature - Classics / Criticism    15. Poetry    16. England    17. English    18. Poetry & poets: from c 1900 -    19. Poetry texts & anthologies   

Reviews (4)

Gay Poetry--But Not All That Poetic or Gay?
Webster's says "poetry" is concentrated imaginative language. And "gay" would relate to minority-group experience? I don't see very much high poetic quality here, nor explicit references to gay perspectives (not just sexuality, but "diversity" of viewpoints). D.A. Powell fan
To answer the other New Orleanian's question: D.A. Powell is an incredible young poet, An Iowa graduate, who has published two books of which i know, Tea, and his new one, Lunch, which isn't as good over all but which contains probably my two favorite poems of his, "[My father and me in hollywood, fading and rising starlettes]" and another about his father which ends with a reference to Gone with the Wind. He's one of the highlights of the anthology and everyone should check him out!

Don't judge this book by it's awful cover
No self respecting gay poet would have signed off on being enclosed in a bland white! cover.The anthology itself is excellent, of course not all the up and coming legendary current poets are here. Seems it is true one only sees who one sees.And to answer the previous reviewers questions regarding the inclusion of Miss Doty in another anthology:he is needed in order to elevate the status of the current lesser knowns, a basic law of signature.Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American poetry    3. Anthologies (multiple authors)    4. Gay men    5. Gay men's writings, American    6. Poetry    7. Gay   

Subjects:  1. 20th Century American Drama    2. American    3. Drama    4. Gay men    5. General    6. Plays    7. Poetry    8. Drama / General    9. Drama texts: from c 1900 -    10. English    11. USA   

Reviews (2)

poetry from the trenches
John Giorno is one of the finest spoken word poets in New York City.He is also quite adept at getting the word down on paper, too.You Got to Burn to Shine is a great collection of poems.It even includes anintroduction by William S Burroughs.Giorno writes poetry from the gut. It is free verse that swings with intensity.if you like a snifter ofrealism in your poetry then this book is for you.Giorno writes with ahard nosed frankness that is both poignant and refreshing without beingoverbearing.Poems like Stretching it Wider and (Last Night) I GambledWith My Anger and Lost are classic free verse.I read this collection withgreat delight.

A powerful look at the truth of life.
I found this book to be powerful and truthful. The context and the langauge were delicate machines portaying the life of the author. It should not be read by anyone with a closed mind. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American Contemporary Poetry    3. Gay men    4. General    5. Literary Criticism    6. Literary collections    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. New York (N.Y.)    9. Poetry    10. English    11. Poetry / General    12. USA    13. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (4)

Rite/Right/Writing
This has to be one of the most significant books on human rights...not just gay issues!Hemphill was responsible for supporting and bringing into the light many Black gay/gay Black writers, and doing so unselfishly.Of all the gay Black writers of his generation he is probably the most creative.This book is an important record of an incisive intelligence and a true human being.His poetry, ranging from brief lyric to complex sequence, is evocative and accomplished (a pity that it remains overlooked by White gay anthologists!)His essays read like finely-tuned, emotional short-stories, especially "Miss Emily's Grandson Won't Hush His Mouth". Ceremonies also contains probing attacks on racism and key thoughts about Mapplethorpe and the representation of the Black male. Essex Hemphill possessed a comprehensive political mind that embraced race issues, gender issues and class issues. In Ceremonies, his voice often rings out angrily in the name of human equality.It is a powerful voice that supports the vulnerable with concern and tenderness.A work of great honesty.

An Unselfish Gift
"I have nothing to lose tonight" -- the line that starts it all. "Ceremonies" by the late Essex Hemphill is a collection of the poet/essayist/activist's remarkable prose and poetry culled over his many years of writing. An impressive collection of memorable poetry and commentary
Ceremonies is an impressive collection of memorable poetry and commentary by Essex Hemphill, one of the few authors who dares to openly portray African American gay life. Raw, compelling, gut-wrenching verse is the hallmark of this serious and powerful compilation. American Hero: I have nothing to lose tonight./All my men surround me, panting,/as I spin the ball above our heads/on my middle finger./It's a shimmering club light/and I'm dancing, slick in my sweat./Squinting, I aim at the hole/fifty feet away. I let the tension go./Shoot for the net. Choke it,/I never hear the ball/slap the backboard. I slam it/through the net. The crowd goest wild/for our win. I scored/thirty-two points this game/and they love me for it./Everyone hollering/is a friend tonight./But there are towns,/certain neighborhoods/where I'd be hard pressed/to hear them cheer/if I move on the block. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century American Literature    2. African American gays    3. American    4. Gay    5. Gay men    6. Literary collections    7. Poetry    8. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Gay    3. General    4. Poetry    5. Poetry texts & anthologies   

Reviews (34)

The 'Angels' have come!
This remarkable play writen by the best playwrite since Shakespeare has achived not only rocking your mind with it's beautiful prose, language, and story, but also has gained the title of the most wonderufl play in modern liturature (counting plays). Its star-stricken plot will not make you put it down! It is truly wonderful.

The 'Angels' have come!
This remarkable play writen by the best playwrite since Shakespeare has achived not only rocking your mind with it's beautiful prose, language, and story, but also has gained the title of the most wonderufl play in modern liturature (counting plays). Its star-stricken plot will not make you put it down! It is truly wonderful.

I love this book!
I'm a college student majoring in Theater Design.I had to read this play for one of my classes my freshman year.So I sat down expecting to plod through a story that I'd never read again.Boy was I shocked!I loved it!I couldn't put it down until I'd read the last page, and then I got right online and ordered the sequel.Honestly, I'm not as big a fan of the second book.I haven't read it in a while, but from what I remember it's more offensive, and honestly, a little more like smut.There's an angel with 7 vaginas and it has sex with one of the characters...one of the gay characters..go figure.The second book also seems to take more pot shots at God, which I didn't appreciate as a Christian.Anyway.This is a review of the first book, not the second.(just reminding myself!)I have 7 big bookcases of books at my parents' house, plus my dad is a librarian, so I do a LOT of reading.This book is ALWAYS one of the few "Chosen" books that I take to college with me to keep in my dorm.And just as a side note, I'm not gay, so this book is NOT just for gay people like some of the people whom I've talked to seem to think.BUY IT! You'll be enlightened and inspired to think. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. American Contemporary Drama    3. Cohn, Roy M    4. Cohn, Roy M.    5. Drama    6. Gay men    7. General    8. Plays    9. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay men    3. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American    3. American poetry    4. Canadian poetry    5. Gay men    6. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Fiction    3. Gay men    4. Literary Criticism    5. Poetry    6. Literature of special Gay interest    7. Short stories   

Subjects:  1. Literary Collections / African    2. 1962-    3. Apartheid    4. Black Canadians    5. Colored people (South Africa)    6. Exiles' writings, African (Eng    7. Gay men's writings    8. Literary collections    9. Norman G. Kester,    10. South Africa   

Reviews (1)

One great story, one great poem, then a drop-off
Dennis Cooper, before turning to novels, wrote several books of poetry and short-short stories. The good news about The Tenderness of the Wolves is its super final story, a longer piece called "A Herd", where Cooper begins to explore dark areas, including mutilation, rape, and sadism, which he later returns to in his novels."A Herd" is haunting and brutal, verging on shocking on a first read.His exploration of these difficult topics is strong, yet subtle.Also included in this book is "Being Aware," among the best of all Cooper's poetry.Unfortunately, beyond that, the poems are a marked dropoff, distinctly less interesting than in Cooper's earlier book, Idols. He covers the territory of bored, sexually peaked teenagers better than anyone, but these poems don't show more than flashes of true insight. In addition, if anyone wants to read a truly overblown analyzation of Cooper's work, check out the introduction to this book, written by!noted novelist and essayist Edmund White. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Gay men    3. Literary collections    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Poetry   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. American    3. American Contemporary Poetry    4. American poetry    5. Gay    6. Gay men    7. Gay men's writings, American    8. Poetry    9. Sexuality In Literature    10. English    11. Modern fiction    12. Poetry anthologies: from c 1900 -    13. USA   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. General    3. Poetry    4. Social Science    5. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    2. Poetry    3. English    4. Gay studies (Gay men)    5. Poetry anthologies: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (2)

Compilation of Old and New
"A selection of poems from the late author's previous poetry collections, including the award-winning Love Alone, is combined with new poems, many focusing on the loss of his lover, who also died of AIDS."--� zebraz

Powerfully Lyrical Poems...
Many of the poems in this book are (by nature of their topic) full of feeling to the point where any gay man will be brought to tears. Monette's poems have powerful imagery and a lyrical quality like that of dreams andnightmares.Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay men    3. Poetry    4. Works by individual poets: from c 1900 -   

Subjects:  1. 20th Century American Poetry    2. Art in literature    3. Criticism and interpretation    4. Gay men in literature    5. Homosexuality and literature    6. O'Hara, Frank    7. United States    8. Art    9. Views on homosexuality   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Psychology    3. Self-Help    4. 05-1133,051133,1-4120-6232-2,1412062322,trafford publishing,At the Door,charles e. carr,religious,gray issues,opinions,faith,sexual abuse,poems,lyrics,homosexuality,    5. Poetry / General   

Subjects:  1. Canadian    2. Fiction    3. Gay    4. Poetry    5. Poetry / Canadian   

Reviews (3)

Locating the sacred in mundane moments
The prevalent themes in this ambitious first book by Chicago, Illinois native Wozek are travel and identity. For some, traveling means leaping to the unknown where we're somehow freer to embrace whatever or whomever all in the name of revelation. The result of this treatment of travel is poetry written not in the spirit of expression, but in the spirit of discovery. With lines like "until I shimmer like polished ivory,/ stir and thrash like a new god" and "your eyes give back/ my whole desire" we see the speaker's internal struggle in virtually every poem. As truth unravels for the speaker, it's revealing itself to the readers as well. It is this feeling of collectivism that makes reading and re-reading Dervish a cardinal experience. The logistical progression of these poems, though, is difficult to comment on. The readers wander through Italy and France, to India and Germany, to the USA and then back to France, then to Algeria, Poland, Italy and Mexico. On one hand, the sundry locations are jarring and scattered, but on the other hand they speak to that sense of dervish - how the soul simultaneously exists in many geographies, yet no one particular place. Thus, this structure is one of restlessness. Through this capricious physical setting, the poet twirls the readers. We whirl and whirl, unable to discern ground from sky. Wozek's consistently descriptive language, where precision is the primary concern, involves the readers. Textured diction such as "until they suffocated in their long manly moans" and "we swallow silk" shows Wozek's ability to accurately depict a moment. Not only this, but his poems evoke great writers such as Diane Ackerman ("I sing praises to my destroyer") and Jane Hirshfield (seen in his stellar use of directives in poems Spell for Changing Bodies and Ritual for Letting Go). However, at times the uses of language both push and pull the reader. Private and referential lines such as "not a jolt/ from a melange at the Hawelka" have a distancing effect. Yet, at the same time, Wozek's words (for example: "and let the damp gardenia air swell our lungs") convey a certain intimacy, like inviting a known voyeur into one's home. What's most remarkable about this collection is its adoration: love of language, man, travel, and love of self. So, for all who are unafraid to journey from the self and to the self by way of sex and beauty, then close the blinds, smash the television, pour a glass of Merlot, pull up a sofa, and indulge in Dervish. Fear not, for this won't be the last of Gerard Wozek. The book's final sentiment rightfully forecasts Wozek's position on our national poetry scene: "I persist."

An impressive and memorable compendium
Dervish is an impressive and memorable compendium showcasing the poetry of Gerard Wozek. A master wordsmith, Wozek's poetry is eloquent, moving, and leaves behind an intellectual and emotional impact that hallmarks him as a truly gifted poet. A calendar from Krakow/with unpronounceable days./Printed with glos-sy photos/of floodlit church steeples/and crenellated towers./Exotica to pitch/a tou-rist's imagination elsewhere./The camera lens keeps/less affluent residents/out of the frame./Perhaps they're behind/the old cloth hall/or in the pee-rancid train depot/where the old communist songs/still raise the rafters./Wood shavings on the waiting room/floor make soft nests/at the shoeless feet of comrades,/where their carved birds/wait to fly overseas/for only two zloty.

Incantory Poet
Bravo!Gerard Wozek joins hands with mystic poets Rumi, Whitman, and Rimbaud in his celebration of the body electric.Despite his earthy references (sometimes more confessional than confidential) to carnality, there is a desire in Wozek's poems to move towards beauty and transcendence.Featured at the Lambda Literary Festival 2001, this slim volume presents lyrical snapshots of the poet divining what is most sacred at both emotional and sexual crossroads.A noteworthy debut! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. Gay Studies    3. Poetry    4. Social Science    5. Sociology    6. Body, Mind & Spirit / General    7. Gerard Wozek