Becoming Lyla Dore

by Teri Youmans Grimm

In this collection of persona poems, Teri Youmans Grimm weaves the public history of silent film with the personal history of a fictional silent film star. Becoming Lyla Dore recounts the provocative fall and rise of a young woman whose coming of age coincides with that of moving pictures. Lyla's need to be desired becomes her downfall as well as the catalyst that drives her to success as a silent film actress. Through stunning imagery a character's vulnerabilities and strengths, her heartbreaks and triumphs are explored through the lens of history reimagined. These poems are luminous as nitrate film and just as incendiary.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published April 13, 2016

Reviews

[Kat Clyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. It was so good, that at the reading, I bought one for my dad and had it signed by the author for Christmas.

[Erin Tuzuner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becoming Lyla Dore finely tunes the explosive nature of early film canisters, nascent female sexuality, and the perpetual desire youth exerts on self-immolation as personality. Visiting Norman Studios or your local library, you may have discovered Jacksonville could have been Hollywood, or some version of a sinful locus of moving pictures and moving hips. Walking around downtown nearly one hundred years later in the shadow of First Baptist Church stifling the possibility of liquor drinkin’ and dancin’, it’s fascinating to envision an alternate reality of downtown as written by Grimm in the halcyon days of Jacksonville.
The slim volume of persona poems contained in Lyla Dore provide an entrée for Grimm’s work and a peculiar introduction to the sepia toned and Spanish moss draped Jacksonville. She has been featured in both national and local publications ranging from the The Rumpus to Perversion Magazine. You can purchase her work from her website http://teriyoumansgrimm.com/shop.html or locally in Chamblin’s or San Marco Bookstore. If it’s hot enough and you are lucky enough, you may even hear her read selections while she swirls your appreciation for the Deep South like a mid-level scotch in a rocks glass.

[Kali · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review in Green Mountains Review. This is an excellent collection of persona poems about a fictional silent film actress.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book, or set poems, for English class. I don't read much poetry, but I found this set of poems well written and very interesting. It was hard to become accustomed to understanding the words, but once I did, I found the story, told through the poems, to be very enlightening. I have been a native to Jacksonville all my life, but never knew anything about the silent film industry that once boomed in this city. These poems bring your mind and body back in time into the life of a silent film actress through the highs and lows of her career and personal life. I highly suggest this set of poems for reading, but make sure you take your time interpreting the words. You will be confused if your don't! It make take two reads to fully interpret this set of poems. If your native to Jacksonville, this is a great read.

[Weasel Weasel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becoming Lyla Dore is a captivating collection, catching its readers from the first poem and pulling us further into the strength and flaws of the actress. Persona poems are not my strong suit, but this collection from Teri Youmans Grimm was rather stunning. I received a complimentary copy of Becoming Lyla Dore in exchange for an honest review, and I was pretty impressed with the collection as a whole. It reads like a movie, balance in lighting and character development, I felt as if I were watching a classic in the theater. This collection really immerses the reader as we move through it. There is life in this narrative, and it is stunning.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful creation and evocation of this character and this time. An iconic age that both relegated past wonders and was itself relegated as past wonder, Grimm brings forth that age and an imagined person within it marvelously. The lyrical lines, the way they resonate the reader to the character's emotion, it's really something else. Absolutely love it.

[Reba Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read poetry, read this collection.