What Is This Thing Called Love: Poems

By Kim Addonizio

Book Overview

Revised

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393327094
• ISBN13: 9780393327090
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W.
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Girlfriend's Guide to Poetry

It is rare to find a modern free verse poet whose work is lucid and yet does not open itself to the accusation of being "prose with linebreaks." Kim Addonizio, however, manages to produce poems which do not sacrifice any clarity and yet remain musical, moving and often surprising. Kim is a poet who somewhat refreshingly writes mostly in complete sentences, but she uses those sentences to go somewhere unusual. In a poem like "Miniatures," which is entirely in complete grammatical sentences, a train of thought is followed through to a huge, unexpected conclusion. In many of her poems, the narrative itself is a metaphor or an allegory. The poems are grouped into themed sections: Section 1 = Sex, 2 = Death/Sickness/Old Age, 3=Birth/Human Nature, 4 = Decadence, 5 = Writing Poetry/Creation. There are also several formal poems in here, including Kim's own joke form, the sonnenizio, and a paradelle that is better than Billy Collins. But regardless of theme or style, the voice is always Addonizio, that of a wise, tough, sassy older sister or girlfriend. I would recommend these poems to anyone who is disillusioned with reading poetry that is either too superficial or too incomprehensible. I would also recommend these poems to anyone who has never read poetry and does not see its relevance. Read this book: you'll be surprised.

And she rocks again.

I am a devote fan of Kim Addonizio, gobbling up all of her work as fast as I can. And while I love that this collection continues her voice and her stuggle against the world, I do think that this collection is weaker than Tell Me or The Philospher's Club. This collection is divided into 5 sections corresponding to love, death, ways of the world, booze, and other. Her writing is very confessional and bluesy. She even refers to Sharon Olds, and a "form" of Billy Collins. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about love and heartache,the pains of mourning, the efforts of raising a daughter and the difficulties of minor celebrity.