Something I Expected to Be Different

by Joshua Beckman

Of Beckman’s follow-up collection to his APR-Honickman award winning first book, Tomaz Salamun writes: "There are no similarities with Apollinaire or Ginsberg, except with what they were doing to Time while they were young." The contemplative poems of this collection unfurl in startling and beautiful new ways.

Genres: Poetry

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Joshua Beckman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of six books, including Take It (Wave Books, 2009), Shake and two collaborations with Matthew Rohrer: Nice Hat. Thanks. and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is an editor at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Poker by Tomaz Salamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry in Translation Award. He is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including a NYFA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Seattle and New York.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/31-...

Reviews

[Jeffrey Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with Beckman’s first collection, this one got off to a slow start for me. The first 3 poems were a pleasure to read but I found myself losing focus at times and not struck by lines that stopped me and pulled me in. But About the Days and Block Island were different. They had my attention and admiration throughout. The sadness and hopeless hope and acceptance-surrender woven throughout these poems gave them an intense emotional beauty. I look forward to reading them again.

[justin]

"your presence / somewhere else is the sad warm thing / blowing around my room."

[nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something I Expected To Be Different is actually pretty exemplary of the other books of Beckman's I've encountered (in particular, my very favorite, Shake). This book, however, while not by any means sentimental, allows for a kind of emotional vulnerability that, in Beckman's later books, strikes me now as slightly stifled.

Something I Expected To Be Different is more than worthwhile for its sequence entitled "About the Days," which opens with this wonderful segment:

Open moments of winter
are two, your brown eyes
darkened departing your
brown eyes nothing but
Europe but winter will do
for the window opens
and the arm extends
from it saying January
make me cold as you must
and the body is dedicated
to you full of armfuls
of you, that is two,
how it was with you and
how the winter was and
how the winter was within it.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole book was good, but the poem "Block Island" was amazing. It made me feel good about poetry again, when I'd been depresses about it for a while.

[Tony R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is "Block Island" the best long poem of our generation? Yes. I think so. Yep.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally. and how.

[Holly Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of several fine books bought at Ada Book in Providence in late May, 2010. I feel good just typing that, very nostalgic, gosh.