What do you think?
Rate this book
Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond
Duluth, Minnesota is a city of breathtaking beauty and harsh winters. Having lived, worked, and studied there for many years, years, the author explores the people, places, and environment that make it unique. There are appearances by famous people such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Bob Dylan, as well as unknown auto mechanics and truckers. The arts and contemporary issues share space with changing seasons and road trips. Whether one is a visitor or resident, they will find relatable, enlightening poems in this thoughtful volume.
- GenresPoetry
95 pages, Paperback
Published May 16, 2023
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 29, 2023
Deep Cuts: A Review of Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond by Jan Chronister
You don’t have to be from the Twin Ports to get the subtle references in Jan Chronister’s new book of poetry, Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond. She graciously spends two pages at the end of this collection to explain some of the hidden nuggets that might only make sense to a local.
Since I’ve lived in Duluth for about 20 years, I got most of the deep cuts right away. She masterfully gets you to wonder what Bob Dylan’s dad might have thought about the horrific 1920 lynching in the poem “Superior Street Revisited.” Dylan appears again in the poem “At the Armory.” He was a “seventeen-year-old” in the audience who wouldn’t let the music die after Buddy Holly died in a plane crash shortly after a Duluth concert. I knew Miller Creek’s trout were under pressure from the mall parking lot runoff, so Chronister’s imagined future in “Miller Hill Mall 2050” is satisfying. But even I was surprised when she wrote about a Buffalo Bill Cody connection to Duluth.
Her book is full of surprises, sectioned in four categories: Town Life, Almanac, Waterways, and Roads. I once read that laughter happens because your brain gets surprised. So, judging by my chuckles, Chronister hooked me repeatedly in this collection. There are several punchlines in these poems that will make you smile. Or maybe it’s better to say that there are lines of sugar that help make the medicine go down. Either way, there are pleasant surprises throughout.
Chronister’s book is an honest ode to Duluth and the area. She guides you through the seasons and waterways and roads around Duluth. Maybe her finest tribute comes at the end of “Painting the Town.” Consultants from out of town were paid to come up with a color palette for the newspaper. Chronister writes “They could have just asked / the people who worked there.” Get a copy of Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond and let Jan Chronister paint that picture for you.
- Eric Chandler, Author of Kekekabic (Finishing Line Press, 2022) and Hugging This Rock (Middle West Press, 2017)
You don’t have to be from the Twin Ports to get the subtle references in Jan Chronister’s new book of poetry, Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond. She graciously spends two pages at the end of this collection to explain some of the hidden nuggets that might only make sense to a local.
Since I’ve lived in Duluth for about 20 years, I got most of the deep cuts right away. She masterfully gets you to wonder what Bob Dylan’s dad might have thought about the horrific 1920 lynching in the poem “Superior Street Revisited.” Dylan appears again in the poem “At the Armory.” He was a “seventeen-year-old” in the audience who wouldn’t let the music die after Buddy Holly died in a plane crash shortly after a Duluth concert. I knew Miller Creek’s trout were under pressure from the mall parking lot runoff, so Chronister’s imagined future in “Miller Hill Mall 2050” is satisfying. But even I was surprised when she wrote about a Buffalo Bill Cody connection to Duluth.
Her book is full of surprises, sectioned in four categories: Town Life, Almanac, Waterways, and Roads. I once read that laughter happens because your brain gets surprised. So, judging by my chuckles, Chronister hooked me repeatedly in this collection. There are several punchlines in these poems that will make you smile. Or maybe it’s better to say that there are lines of sugar that help make the medicine go down. Either way, there are pleasant surprises throughout.
Chronister’s book is an honest ode to Duluth and the area. She guides you through the seasons and waterways and roads around Duluth. Maybe her finest tribute comes at the end of “Painting the Town.” Consultants from out of town were paid to come up with a color palette for the newspaper. Chronister writes “They could have just asked / the people who worked there.” Get a copy of Duluth: Zenith City & Beyond and let Jan Chronister paint that picture for you.
- Eric Chandler, Author of Kekekabic (Finishing Line Press, 2022) and Hugging This Rock (Middle West Press, 2017)
June 16, 2024
As a fan of the many facets of Duluth, I appreciated this volume of free verse, organized spatially from town, moving outward on waterways and roadways. Chronister delves into Duluth's history and geography and offers its lessons through poetry. The poem "Beach Confession" personifies Mother Nature, while "Winter Dreams" has Orion wading and tromping on "the tiara of far-away Duluth," for example. Some of Duluth's historical events alluded to in the poems sent me to google to find out more facts about the incidents. An enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews