The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon: Poems

by Willie Perdomo

A suite of poems about a percussionist in 1970 Spanish Harlem music circles, from the author of The Crazy Bunch

A National Book Critics Circle 2014 Finalist for Poetry

Through dream song and elegy, alternate takes and tempos, prizewinning poet Willie Perdomo’s third collection crackles with vitality and dynamism as it imagines the life of a percussionist, rebuilding the landscape of his apprenticeship, love, diaspora, and death. At the beginning of his infernal journey, Shorty Bon Bon recalls his live studio recording with a classic 1970s descarga band, sharing his recollection with an unidentified poet. This opening section is followed by a call-and-response with his greatest love, a singer named Rose, and a visit to Puerto Rico that inhabits a surreal nationalistic dreamscape, before a final jam session where Shorty recognizes his end and a trio of voices seek to converge on his elegy.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2014

About the author

Willie Perdomo is the author Where a Nickel Costs a Dime and Smoking Lovely, which received a PEN America Beyond Margins Award. He has also been published in The New York Times Magazine and Bomb and his children's book, Visiting Langston, received a Coretta Scott King Honor. He is a NYFA Arts Fellowship winner, Pushcart Prize nominee, a Urban Artists Initiative/NYC grant recipient and was recently a Woolrich Fellow in Creative Writing at Columbia University. He is currently Artist-in-Residence, Workspace, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. He is co-founder/publisher of Cypher Books.

Reviews

[Sidik Fofana · Rating 4 out of 5]

SIX WORD REVIEW: Can hear clave in the words.

[Michael Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What accounts can / We place in the ledger when / All we have left are the pieces," ends the first poem of the collection. In Willie Perdomo's poetics of fragmentation - including the wonderful burst of image - lives the possibility of sound, of which, if anything, is a timeline of relationships. The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon is this sonic boom. A masterful collection, in which Perdomo invites a re-listening to the historical soundscape of his late uncle Pedro Perdomo the percussionist, also known as "Cortijito" in the 1970s Spanish Harlem music scene. A collection very much about recovery and survival, this collection - an exciting, exciting piece of history! - is the sound and "word for what [was] lost."

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the sense of humor in these poems. The back cover of my copy mentioned the word 'rhythm' more than once, but it keeps coming back to me when I think of this book. The storyline here reminded me of noir movies, and like a noir movie, it's a well-painted world laid out in front of you, not an immersive one.

[Jim Manis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea, but interesting to see what others think is good poetry.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, political, music in verse.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In your face language that literally sounds like the music it references.

[xiwen]

Willie Perdomo is coming to do a reading at our school so i'm reading this

[Carla Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so in awe of how Mr. Perdomo crafts his imagery. Highly recommend!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie Perdomo launched Oglethorpe Out Loud, the annual poetry reading at Oglethorpe University, and brought this book to life. Listen to the audio book, read by Perdomo.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially, this collection jump off the shelf and right into my hands, and with great enthusiasm I read straight through. I was very much impressed with a great deal of these some what jazzy proses written about a man whom died a very long time ago.

In the introduction the poet states that he did not know of his uncle with the exception of attending his funeral. There isn't really a greater homage then a collection of prose and poems written about a person you've only meet through stories an other people. I would suggest this book for a person looking for a quick read.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Salchicha con Juevo

The scene was sprayed with a breakfast fix,
Even the dust heads stopped riffing for free.
Out came the mandolins for the mandarins,
Violins for the vespers—Our Thing
Used to be for the stay alive, the sangre viva,
The sacred & the snakes, too. When her
Heart exploded, you could see fame’s
Chipped tooth, the house-­‐fire, the attempt—
Not one but two. Her rubies were stashed
In paper bags, Bustelo cans, graveyard dirt.
Told Rose in downbeat, in up-­‐tempo, told her:
Yo, you could be the center of your song, but
You can’t be the star of it, babe.

[Timothy Volpert · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful turns-of-phrase here and there, but ultimately this was an intimate portrait of a world with which i don't have enough familiarity to be drawn in. That, of course, is not a criticism of the book, just an indication that i'm not necessarily its intended audience

[Matthew Murawski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very rhythmic. I especially liked the two longer poems near the end. The acknowledgements section is a chapter unto itself.

[birdmaddgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

perdomo is clearly having fun with this.

[Martina Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor of hearing these poem read aloud by Perdomo and was mesmerized by the rhythm and the content. Perfect.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal.