Telling My Father

by James Crews

In Telling My Father, James Crews explores familial bonds, memory, and grief through a beautifully written collection of poems. This Cowles Poetry Prize winning manuscript is a risky, bold, and elegant exploration of coming of age against a backdrop of profound loss.

Genres: Poetry

68 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound and intense, Telling My Father is a coming-of-age story told through poetry that touches on loss and mortality, sexual identity, loneliness and love, and nature. Many of the poems, especially those in the book's first section (and then intermittently throughout the remaining three sections) are about Crews' dying father -- a rugged, once-indomitable "man's man" succumbing to a fatal sickness. As Crews provides a first-hand account of this experience, he interweaves poems concerning his own sexual awakening as a gay man and how he comes out to his father. It is an interesting contrast: the brutal physical unraveling of Crews' father and the acceptance and love he gives to his son, despite the implication that, in the past, he has not shown much tolerance (and even flashes of cruelty -- see the poem "The Inheritance"). We see the faults and strengths of the man laid bare, and watch Crews subtly explore his and his father's concurrent emotional development against the tragic backdrop of a life ending -- a sharp contrast of decline and growth.

Telling My Father takes the reader through settings urban and rural, on trains and restaurant patios and through the woods to commune with otters and elks and herons. Crews is an astute observer of the world around him, no matter where it may be, and he shares himself in such an honest way that as you read the poems, you feel that he is speaking directly to you. And because of this, he makes you care about the younger version of himself explored in the pages of this book.

It is a rare collection of poetry that can be called a "page-turner," but this is one such book -- you want to see what becomes of this young man, and you want to see what is going to happen to (and between) him and his father. It is a slim collection, but the words grab hold of you from the start, and do not let you go until you've read them all.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

While savoring each poem in this beautiful collection, I used a little laminated bookmark with the words “Simple Joys” written on it. Exactly! Attending, noticing, appreciating, gathering up and preserving the extraordinary in the ordinary… that is what James Crews shares with those of us lucky enough to discover his poems. He does this with honesty and with craft, with exquisite mastery of image and sound.

[Emma Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through the arrangement of poems, I felt there was one speaker who welcomed me into their vulnerable fescue viewing. With sweet images of "a jar of raw honey, amber-gold / as an autumn sunset" and more casually-descriptive than poetic language, the poetry held a tone of nostalgic poignancy, one that recognized the romanticization of memory while addressing the melancholy of the facts (or what was perceived as the facts).

Although the variety of forms was limited to mainly couplets and single free verse blocks, there was a consistency that solemnly occurs in one's life unless found in peace or a narrow rut. But I would not call this collection a rut, more so a ravine that returns to where it started. Overall, I enjoyed this collection and the narrative the poet wished to share with me as the reader.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard James Crews read his poetry in April when he came to Oak Park as a guest of Elizabeth Berg.

Crews himself, his voice and his words exude kindness.

The poems in this collection powerfully recall his father who dies too young.

[Kim Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, thoughtful poems. Spent time with them.