Raw, arresting poetry about the torments of heartache and loss.
A debut collection delivers graphic poems about “Love’s terrors.”
The epigraph for N’Dalla’s verse collection is from “The Raven”; it features the famous line “dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” But if the author is borrowing anything from Poe, it’s less daring dreams than the writer’s flair for gothic horror—and no small amount of gore. The book’s “Preface” is an uncredited, black-and-white illustration of a bare hand breaking into a glass flask to retrieve a bloody, anatomically correct human heart. The volume’s first piece is aptly titled “Jar of Hearts.” That poem ends: “I found that jar and became incensed / when I saw my throbbing heart wince and stowed / in cold blood amongst hearts that beat no more; / I fell prey to Love’s terrors and its lore.” Behind the text on this page—and all the rest—is an image of a thick liquid that appears to be blood dripping down and smeared behind the letters. N’Dalla is certainly bold. Many of the other pieces in the book are similarly striking. “Negatives From Your Photograph” features the speaker ejaculating on a picture of his one-time lover: “Saliva and semen drying, / staining a once fond face— / now a feast for flies. / Familiarity breeds contempt. / … / On that window pane you will hang, / crucified by that pitied nail, / on display for all to see.” Such graphic imagery lingers, and the speaker’s pain—and his spite—haunts even more mundane poems like “Scrabble” and “Pretzel.” Of course, that’s part of the point: The most wrenching heartbreaks have a tendency to color all memories of loves past, darkening cherished moments both moving and mundane. Some readers will undoubtedly dismiss the poet’s more explicit works as vulgar. But those who don’t will appreciate the brutally honest rendering of a soul laid bare.
Raw, arresting poetry about the torments of heartache and loss.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5320-8191-0
Page Count: 66
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
When anyone attempts to enhance and reformat a book that’s already sold more than five million copies, there’s some risk...
The iPad adaption of Boynton’s bestselling board book surveys animals and the sounds they make.
When anyone attempts to enhance and reformat a book that’s already sold more than five million copies, there’s some risk involved. What if it doesn’t translate well? Worse yet, what if it flops? Fortunately, Loud Crow Interactive and Boynton don’t have to worry about that. There’s no hint of a sophomore slump in this second installment of the Boynton Moo Media series. Much like its predecessor, The Going to Bed Book (2011), this app adapts the illustrator’s trademark creatures for iPad in a way few other developers can. The animals are fluid and pliable, which is no small feat given that they’re on a flat display. Readers can jiggle them, hurl them off screen, elicit animal sounds and in some cases make them sing (in a perfect inverted triad!). Melodic violin music accompanies the entire story, which is deftly narrated by Boynton’s son, Keith. In addition to the author’s simple yet charming prose there are little surprises sprinkled throughout that extend the wit that’s won countless babies and parents over in paper form.Pub Date: April 19, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Loud Crow Interactive
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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A little girl reviews the seasons as they leave their impression on her garden. There is spring with the business of nest-building, summer with its abundance of roses, fall with the tangy perfume of chrysanthemum, and winter with the frozen pond surrounded by whiteness. The sensitive text and poetic illustrations of Roger Duvoisin conjure up a child's garden of stirring beauty. A book to dream over, which not only introduces the child's mind, but her senses, to a world of phenomena.
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 1960
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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