What do you think?
Rate this book
Songs and Stories of the Ghouls
An epic poem of genocide, designed to create power for the dead
Left dead after our cultures were broken by triumphant enemies, our stories changed to suit others. We now change them again to suit ourselves. Songs and Stories of the Ghouls purports to give power to the dead―voices to the victims of genocide both ancient and contemporary―and presence to women. Medea did not kill her sons; Dido founds a city, over and over again, the city of the present author's poetry. In these poems the poet asserts that though her art comes from a tradition as broken as Afghanistan's statuary, there is always a culture to pass on to one's children, and one is always involved in doing so. We are the ghouls, the drinkers of the blood-sacs, and we insist that we are alive.
Left dead after our cultures were broken by triumphant enemies, our stories changed to suit others. We now change them again to suit ourselves. Songs and Stories of the Ghouls purports to give power to the dead―voices to the victims of genocide both ancient and contemporary―and presence to women. Medea did not kill her sons; Dido founds a city, over and over again, the city of the present author's poetry. In these poems the poet asserts that though her art comes from a tradition as broken as Afghanistan's statuary, there is always a culture to pass on to one's children, and one is always involved in doing so. We are the ghouls, the drinkers of the blood-sacs, and we insist that we are alive.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2011
10 people are currently reading
348 people want to read
About the author
Alice Notley
85 books223 followersAlice Notley was an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she always denied being involved with the New York School or any specific movement in general. Notley's early work laid both formal and theoretical groundwork for several generations of poets; she was considered a pioneering voice on topics like motherhood and domestic life.
Notley's experimentation with poetic form, seen in her books 165 Meeting House Lane, When I Was Alive, The Descent of Alette, and Culture of One, ranges from a blurred line between genres, to a quotation-mark-driven interpretation of the variable foot, to a full reinvention of the purpose and potential of strict rhythm and meter. She also experimented with channeling spirits of deceased loved ones, primarily men gone from her life like her father and her husband, poet Ted Berrigan, and used these conversations as topics and form in her poetry. Her poems have also been compared to those of Gertrude Stein as well as her contemporary Bernadette Mayer. Mayer and Notley both used their experience as mothers and wives in their work.
In addition to poetry, Notley wrote a book of criticism (Coming After, University of Michigan, 2005), a play ("Anne's White Glove"—performed at the Eye & Ear Theater in 1985), a biography (Tell Me Again, Am Here, 1982), and she edited three publications, Chicago, Scarlet, and Gare du Nord, the latter two co-edited with Douglas Oliver. Notley's collage art appeared in Rudy Burckhardt's film "Wayward Glimpses" and her illustrations have appeared on the cover of numerous books, including a few of her own. As is often written in her biographical notes, "She has never tried to be anything other than a poet," and with over forty books and chapbooks and several major awards, she was one of the most prolific and lauded American poets. She was a recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
Notley's experimentation with poetic form, seen in her books 165 Meeting House Lane, When I Was Alive, The Descent of Alette, and Culture of One, ranges from a blurred line between genres, to a quotation-mark-driven interpretation of the variable foot, to a full reinvention of the purpose and potential of strict rhythm and meter. She also experimented with channeling spirits of deceased loved ones, primarily men gone from her life like her father and her husband, poet Ted Berrigan, and used these conversations as topics and form in her poetry. Her poems have also been compared to those of Gertrude Stein as well as her contemporary Bernadette Mayer. Mayer and Notley both used their experience as mothers and wives in their work.
In addition to poetry, Notley wrote a book of criticism (Coming After, University of Michigan, 2005), a play ("Anne's White Glove"—performed at the Eye & Ear Theater in 1985), a biography (Tell Me Again, Am Here, 1982), and she edited three publications, Chicago, Scarlet, and Gare du Nord, the latter two co-edited with Douglas Oliver. Notley's collage art appeared in Rudy Burckhardt's film "Wayward Glimpses" and her illustrations have appeared on the cover of numerous books, including a few of her own. As is often written in her biographical notes, "She has never tried to be anything other than a poet," and with over forty books and chapbooks and several major awards, she was one of the most prolific and lauded American poets. She was a recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 27, 2021
the random bits about indigenous people are particularly what was she even thinking?
"The Indians. But I could be saying the Medes, the Etruscans, the Carthaginians, etc, except that in Day the Indians are alive. The Indians’ task in Day is to rejuvenate their cultures via gambling since Fortuna has been so unkind to them. In Dead Dido may lecture to them on Fortune or Fate, but probably not in her own language. Would it be Latin or English? What would she lecture on in Phoenician? What would they say back in their languages, so many of which have disappeared? But maybe not in Dead. In Day one is only a Theory of Man; the Indians’ languages are buried in boxes beneath the people’s casinos. In Dead everything may be alive after all."
what.
"The Indians. But I could be saying the Medes, the Etruscans, the Carthaginians, etc, except that in Day the Indians are alive. The Indians’ task in Day is to rejuvenate their cultures via gambling since Fortuna has been so unkind to them. In Dead Dido may lecture to them on Fortune or Fate, but probably not in her own language. Would it be Latin or English? What would she lecture on in Phoenician? What would they say back in their languages, so many of which have disappeared? But maybe not in Dead. In Day one is only a Theory of Man; the Indians’ languages are buried in boxes beneath the people’s casinos. In Dead everything may be alive after all."
what.
December 11, 2012
"Was supposed to be endlessly
interested. I don't want you
driving towards the danger
coast, I don't want you."
what a bad ass warrior! alice says intention < attention. and I say yes! and i dig with her and care about the bodies and love the light crushing me.
interested. I don't want you
driving towards the danger
coast, I don't want you."
what a bad ass warrior! alice says intention < attention. and I say yes! and i dig with her and care about the bodies and love the light crushing me.
August 15, 2020
A generative and slightly dreadful (as in, scary!) book by Notley about founding, history, ghoulishness, love, and death. Lots of bloodsacs.
July 13, 2019
"Eat it, she says. It's knowledge. From dead cultures. It's also blood."
"Out in the world they have stories
that match the machine. The one
they appear to be in
If you have walked outside the machine
who are you?"
"Out in the world they have stories
that match the machine. The one
they appear to be in
If you have walked outside the machine
who are you?"
Read
August 20, 2020Re-read aloud in weekly installments with GHOUL SCHOOL group through the OS/Liminal Lab.
March 5, 2021
Alice Notley's work is a reminder that people still dedicate their lives to art. There is nothing more important about this book than that!
February 5, 2025
Felt pretty uneven about this one. I loved the beginning and much of the Dido stuff, but the prose poetry was far and away my favourite element and the second half left me pretty cold.
Currently reading
March 26, 2013On Page 67 and still in love. Will probably return to this text to unpack "ghoulishness" a bit more.
January 5, 2014
Some amazingly powerful and resonant images, these are complex poems inviting contemplation.
February 6, 2016
every heart i can give it #lovelove
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews