Reviews
Fall 2007
When Pop Gets Culture: A Review of Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems
Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems by Elaine Equi
Coffee House Press 2007; 272 pages; $18
ISBN #978-156689-197-4 paper
by Larissa Shmailo
Anyone who knows Elaine Equi's work will not be surprised by the breadth of subject matter this "expansive minimalist" presents in this volume. Her poems are, after all, Zen koans for our time, and Equi covers it all, from "the Grecian urn/to Grecian formula 44" ("Voice Over"). Equi's work is where pop truly gets culture, understands it, loves it, buys it a drink, and takes it home at night. Read Review
Laure-Anne Bosselaar's A New Hunger
Laure-Anne Bosselaar A New Hunger
Ausable Press, 2007; Paper; 88 pages; $16
ISBN 978-1-931337-32-8
by Melinda Thomsen
What struck me about this latest collection of Laure-Anne Bosselaar's was her inside-out way of observing the world and how it sustained —or should I say fed? — these poems in both language and form. As a fan of her The Hour between Wolf and Dog (1997) and Small Gods of Grief (2001), I was eager to get my hands on A New Hunger (2007), and when I opened it, I felt like I was back with an old friend. Read Review
Kurt Brown's Future Ship Carries Heavy Cargo:
Stowaways Welcome
Kurt Brown's Future Ship
Red Hen Press 2007; Paper; 84 pages; $17.85
ISBN #978-1-59709-072-8
by Marion Brown
As a teacher, Kurt Brown insists on clarity, which he stunningly delivers in his new book of poems, Future Ship...The blinking eye, like a camera shutter, brings back dead-end kids or an aunt the poet "hardly knew" who has died across country and "enters my head, lies with me an hour in the dark." Throughout, the camera eye captures unlooked-at faces and brings them home. Read Review
Film: Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Cast: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan
Direction: Adrian Shergold
Running Time: 90 minutes
by Martin Mitchell
Pierrepoint is a magnificent film — indeed, unless your psychological defenses are impregnable, you're likely to be a somewhat different person after you've seen it... Read Review
