Honest Effort

by Michael Carey

Poetry about the relationship of the farmer with the land.

Genres: Poetry

91 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Michael Carey has been published in fine literary magazines across the US, Ireland and Great Britain. He is the author of 5 books of poetry, a teaching manual, and two plays. He is founder and editor of Loess Hills Books and Carrauntoohil Books. He hosts a syndicated Public Radio program "Voices from the Prairie" sponsored by Humanities Iowa. He is also Artistic Chair of the Des Moines National Poetry Festival and Past-President of the Omaha Chapter of the Irish American Cultural Institute.

Reviews

[Devin Redmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Michael Carey’s book of poems, 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, in a Little Free Library. Its copyright is 1991. I grabbed it because when I glanced through it the poems felt accessible. This doesn’t always happen. The poems are about farms, farming, the land, family, belonging, and community. They reminded me of my grandma and grandpa farming in western South Dakota near the Badlands.

I really liked this book. 5 / 5 stars.

[David B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I try to find something new by this poet, I am dumbfounded by the fact that only two books are listed. His work in Honest Effort is a perfect blend of poetry and occupation. The use of farming as metaphor for so many different things is effective, even today in a society obsessed with all things urban.

[Timothy Juhl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know nothing about this poet beyond what is in his bio at the back of the book. I found this in a thrift store and since it was a collection of poetry based in Iowa and midwestern life (and because there was a recommend from Ted Kooser), I picked it up.

While not as deft or concise as Kooser's poetry, Carey does capture the life of an Iowa (or Nebraska) farmer in the late 1980s. His poetry is connected to the land and to family and his ancestors and for the most part, I loved reading his poems.

There are some missteps, three terrible typos that seem unforgiveable in a book published in 1990 (cemetery spelled with an 'a' twice in the same poem, and the word 'kernel' spelled with a final 'a'). In the poem "Only Now" there is a major problem with syntax, which throws the whole poem. I had to read the verse three times hoping it would make sense. The publisher was Mid-Prairie Books and I'm unfamiliar with them, so I suspect it was a local publisher and editing galleys was left to the poet.

I'm still keeping the book for my personal collection.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This chapbook snuck up to 4 stars by its end. It describes the landscape and social dynamics of Iowa better than any other chapbook I've read.