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A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge. Poems
This book is a lighthearted takeoff on "A Night Without Armor," the bestselling book of poetry by the popstar called Jewel. The 22-year-old Mr. Sia has dispensed with the poems written by Jewel but retained Jewel's titles and written 109 new poems using those titles. The poems are mostly very funny, occasionally very serious, often very sexy. The book is not an attack on Jewel. It is a showcase for the writing of a very talented and amusing young poet. It was released on the same day as his first CD, "Attack! Attack! Go!"
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1998
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About the author
Beau Sia
7 books18 followersBeau Sia is a Tony Award winning poet, who is the son of Chinese immigrants from the Philippines. Raised in Oklahoma City, Beau discovered poetry as a way to seem less foreign, to hack belonging, and to articulate what wasn’t in textbooks. Through poetry, he was able to attend NYU’s Tisch School Of The Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Dramatic Writing.
The stage has always been where Beau Sia’s poetry stands out. As an original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. As one of the poets asked to tour with the show for Edinborough Fringe Fest, Sydney Theatre Festival, & the Auckland Theatre Festival. As a member of six National Poetry Slam teams, two of which won the championship. As a poet for Norman Lear’s Declaration Of Independence Road Trip. As a poet sharing his work in spaces such as The Congressional Tri-Caucus, Harvard, and the million man march.
This performance transcended the stage and found its way onto screen. His work has been featured on all 6 seasons of HBOs Def Poetry. His time on The Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe national slam team is captured in the documentary SlamNation. He is one of the poets in Amber Tamblyn presents The Drums Inside Your Chest. Beau Sia has also been featured sharing his work for ESPN, Nickleodeon, and Showtime! At The Apollo.
Sia is featured in Rachel Getting Married, Hitch, and the Camera D’Or winning Slam. His solo play, Fish Out Of Water, won the Jury Prize for Best Alternative Event at The Aspen Comedy Festival. His improvisational solo play, Unguarded, was commissioned by The Museum Of Chinese In America.
As an author, he has written 3 collections of poetry, A Night WIthout Armor II: The Revenge, The Undisputed Greatest Writer Of All Time, and Well Played. His poems are featured in anthologies such as The Last American Valentine, Spoken Word Revolution, and Chorus. He has been commissioned to write poems for The Angel Island Foundation, People For The American Way, and APA Rock The Vote.
He has received the Creative Work Fund grant, been a writer-in-residence for Youthspeaks, and was the Artistic Director for Get Lit. Fortunate to share his experience and knowledge as a poet, he has mentored youth at Brave New Voices, AAWW, and Yale.
The stage has always been where Beau Sia’s poetry stands out. As an original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. As one of the poets asked to tour with the show for Edinborough Fringe Fest, Sydney Theatre Festival, & the Auckland Theatre Festival. As a member of six National Poetry Slam teams, two of which won the championship. As a poet for Norman Lear’s Declaration Of Independence Road Trip. As a poet sharing his work in spaces such as The Congressional Tri-Caucus, Harvard, and the million man march.
This performance transcended the stage and found its way onto screen. His work has been featured on all 6 seasons of HBOs Def Poetry. His time on The Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe national slam team is captured in the documentary SlamNation. He is one of the poets in Amber Tamblyn presents The Drums Inside Your Chest. Beau Sia has also been featured sharing his work for ESPN, Nickleodeon, and Showtime! At The Apollo.
Sia is featured in Rachel Getting Married, Hitch, and the Camera D’Or winning Slam. His solo play, Fish Out Of Water, won the Jury Prize for Best Alternative Event at The Aspen Comedy Festival. His improvisational solo play, Unguarded, was commissioned by The Museum Of Chinese In America.
As an author, he has written 3 collections of poetry, A Night WIthout Armor II: The Revenge, The Undisputed Greatest Writer Of All Time, and Well Played. His poems are featured in anthologies such as The Last American Valentine, Spoken Word Revolution, and Chorus. He has been commissioned to write poems for The Angel Island Foundation, People For The American Way, and APA Rock The Vote.
He has received the Creative Work Fund grant, been a writer-in-residence for Youthspeaks, and was the Artistic Director for Get Lit. Fortunate to share his experience and knowledge as a poet, he has mentored youth at Brave New Voices, AAWW, and Yale.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 21, 2017
maybe even 2.5, 2.7 I never really thought there'd be a book of poems I'd not be too keen on, but here we are. There's definitely some poems in here that I like, but as a overall cohesive set I didn't really enjoy it as much. I'm not really one for sexual stuff generally, and there was a lot in there that didn't jive with me because of it. Like others, I wonder if this might be more appreciated if I'd read the book it's based on. If I can track it down I suppose I'll give it a shot and see.
September 4, 2014
This book is hysterical. I have it on an end table in my living room, along side Jewel's A Night Without Armor. You should read them together for the full effect. He has everything down--the picture on the back cover, the titles to the poems, his preface… it's brilliant.
If you happen to love Jewel's poetry, you may find this book upsetting... Or? … ENLIGHTENING.
Jewel is not a good writer. Although... this book could be the best thing that ever happened to Jewel's book; it probably sells more accompanying this book than it does on it's own :)
Also: This is a great gift idea for those people who you don't know what to give for Christmas and who you only exchange little gifts with-- your brother, the colleague at the office with a sense of humor, your roommate, etc. Best to package it with Jewel's book too.
If you happen to love Jewel's poetry, you may find this book upsetting... Or? … ENLIGHTENING.
Jewel is not a good writer. Although... this book could be the best thing that ever happened to Jewel's book; it probably sells more accompanying this book than it does on it's own :)
Also: This is a great gift idea for those people who you don't know what to give for Christmas and who you only exchange little gifts with-- your brother, the colleague at the office with a sense of humor, your roommate, etc. Best to package it with Jewel's book too.
January 3, 2008
I almost fell over reading this. If you are tightly wound about your poetry this is not for you, but if you can laugh outloud in a book store or cafe and not think "oh! how embarassing" then this is for you. Vulgar, sarcastic, caustic, and it just gets better from there...
March 9, 2009
Funny and mechanically more complex that its source material. Whenever anyone turns the establishment on its ear (especially when the establishment is using fame in another medium as a proxy for actual talent), that is my favorite flavor of subversion.
April 2, 2013
funny, but not THAT funny. I like his spoken word stuff, but the whole fake-Jewel conceit gets old fast. and he just talks about sex 90% of the time. I accept that though, I think of poets as lovers by trade. I'm suspicious of any poet who doesn't leave a bunch of lovers/spouses in their wake
June 2, 2014
Wondering if this would be better with editing. Found some of the poems offensive like "Fat Girl." Wondering if it might be more interesting if I compared it to Jewel's poems. Given Beau Sia's influence on the New York slam scene, I hope he is better than this odd book.
October 5, 2019
I read this after reading Jewels book A Night Without Armor and found the parody of it very entertaining. If I had not read Jewels book or if I had really enjoyed it I am not sure I would have been able to enjoy this one that way that I did.
January 31, 2019
Give this man more stars for taking the opportunity to stand up for the poetic qualities of someone famous who got some harsh criticism , even though his poetry isn't much better.
March 30, 2020
Hilarious book. I've read it through the years over and over, particularly select poems that have made me laugh every time I come back to them. Nothing ground-breaking or revolutionary, but it was a refreshing take on what poetry could be. Nowadays, I can barely stand to read any poetry collections from anyone. Even Beau Sia's later releases haven't come close to the magic ANWAII was able to produce. This will probably be my strongest interest in "contemporary" poetry until I can find a newer poet who doesn't read as obnoxious or pretentious in their work. Overall, I can only give this classic book 3 stars because it isn't something that needs to be experienced for most people, but a lot of readers will have fun with it, as I have, and find it top-notch comedy (with serious moments) in a palatable, accessible package for poetry-readers and those who dislike poetry, alike.
July 11, 2016
This book is a parody of Jewel's book A Night Without Armor. I've never read the book by Jewel, but I've been wanting to read this book by Beau Sia ever since I heard about it by reading Alloy Book's Slam collection in middle school. So when I finally managed to get my hand on a copy, I was pretty happy.
It's a short read, only 115 pages, and quite a few of those pages are illustrations or short poems. Most of the poems are about having sex, wanting to be famous, hating some random fat woman, and mocking his gothic sister. But I liked it anyway. It was honest. What writer doesn't want to be rich? I got the feeling a lot of the poems were made up in order to fit with the titles Jewel had originally come up with, but I liked not knowing what was real and what wasn't.
It's a short read, only 115 pages, and quite a few of those pages are illustrations or short poems. Most of the poems are about having sex, wanting to be famous, hating some random fat woman, and mocking his gothic sister. But I liked it anyway. It was honest. What writer doesn't want to be rich? I got the feeling a lot of the poems were made up in order to fit with the titles Jewel had originally come up with, but I liked not knowing what was real and what wasn't.
June 4, 2015
i read this waaaaay back. it's still funny and sassy and smart, although there are admittedly a few missteps where just a little more grounding would get the joke/point across better in this context.
October 12, 2007
witty! hilarious! go get this!
January 25, 2008
Quite funny, especially at the time it was released. There is a definite mix of seriousness throughout, though, that is surprising...
February 28, 2008
This is slam poet Beau Sia's response to Jewel's book of poetry, "A night without armor" He has kept the titles, just written his own versions of jewel's, um, poems.
June 7, 2009
Beau is one of my top favourite authors - witty, well written, humorous, relatable, skilled, intelligent, and just all around amazing.
November 14, 2010
This collection of poetry is hilarious; everybody I've shown this book to has laughed hysterically! I loved this book!
December 29, 2010
Beau Sia is great - this book is meant to be kind of a joke, and while some of the poems are hilarious, some of them are insightful.
"I am patient" and "pretty" are my favorites.
"I am patient" and "pretty" are my favorites.
September 3, 2011
Hilariously Barbed. I hope someone never does this to me one day. . . then again, it might be pretty freaking cool.
July 27, 2015
What's up with the fat-phobia in this book? I've read his newer poems and like beau sia as a fellow As Am poet, but these poems from his earlier work turn me off.
April 2, 2009
i heart beau sia and his brilliant, brilliant poems...
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews