Nin Andrews is arguably the leading female voice in American prose poetry. In a 2005 feature on Andrews in Moby Lives , Denise Duhamel wrote, “Nin Andrews is a complete original. Gender-bending and genre-blurring, Andrews is a fabulous fabulist. . . . Her work is always surprising, sharp and wild.” In Sleeping with Houdini , Andrews speaks as a little girl who wishes she could vanish at will, just as Houdini did. As she grows, Houdini becomes a personal icon, a magical being, a muse, an ultimate lover, and a metaphor for longing. Nin Andrews is author of the highly acclaimed The Book of Orgasms and other collections.
Three stars, four stars, I don't know. Reading the first third of the book, "Making the Sun Rise," I thought the poems just aren't grabbing me. They're interesting little bits, but . . . Well, I couldn't put my finger on it. In the second third of the book, Deja Vu," I was much more engaged (my mood? or the quality of the work? I don't know) but I kept wanting to see these prose poems lineated. I'd imagine how they might look on the page as "real poems" -- and that was distracting. And yes, of course, they ARE real poems. I thought that artful line breaks would make the pieces more powerful, though. [Disclaimer added laater: I am now reading a book on prose poetry and am seeing it in a whole new way. I know I should reread Andrews's book with my newfound insights and perspective!] In the third section, "The Beautiful Lie," I stopped thinking about line breaks. I was swept away by the poems, by the language and images and ideas, and the way they're woven together. But I'm now moved to return, reread, and reevaluate. Because something that's wonderful about this book is the way it works as a whole. It's more than a collection of individual poems. Themes appear, disappear, reappear. One feels always between darkness and light. Anything might turn out to be an illusion. Or to be real. (It's my appreciation of the book as a whole, the way the poems work together, that makes me bump this from 3 stars to 4.) I especially loved "The Last Frenchman," the last piece in the book. But I'd have called it a short story. (But it doesn't matter!) Also, I love the way that lies and lying are threaded through the book. The very first poem ends, " It is only by lying that she can stay alive." Is it not true of every girl? every woman? every poet?
I tend to be overly generous with stars. If you're more conservative, then chop one off each of my reviews. At one time, I thought I'd only give 5 stars if a book changed my life, Then I realized that every book does that.
Nin Andrews' prose poems skate masterfully from the everyday into another world that is both playful and haunting. What begins as childhood recollection tilts into a place where thoughts have a life of their own and the usual boundaries no longer apply. Selves from alternate lives challenge reality, the dead mingle with the living, people transform, ascend, and vanish.
I have too many favorite poems to mention here but some of the lines that struck me were:
"All over her skin the handprints of strangers keep traveling"
The dead "walk right through you on a whim"
and "she felt all the empty rooms inside her and someone hiding in every one."
I discovered Nin Andrews through Nance Van Winckel. Andrews is a VC grad as well and has done very well for herself. I love her quirky, fun, sexy poems. This one is all prose poems, which I admire since I find them difficult to pull off myself.
Nin Andrews is hands down my favorite prose poet. This collection was another fun read. If you want to better understand how prose poetry can work, this book is worth a read.
I enjoyed reading many of these prose poems. I read a great interview with the author inspiring me to find her book. A section has poems that derive out of childhood, but she also included sections on sexuality, all of her poems are fanciful; she writes almost in a magical realism style and one of her topics is orgasms. She has an earlier book titled "The Book of Orgasms," which my library did not carry. My favorite poem is titled Zip Codes. She has transcribed French poet Henri Michaux, so has skills in French. She writes interesting fantasies about French lovers. There are many great lines to be found, some poems stronger than others.