Matadora

by Sarah Gambito

With seriocomic tone, these elliptical lyrics reveal illusions and exclusions at the heart of America’s global narrative of economic “progress,” and the attendant loss of cultural identity and memory. At the same time, Matadora challenges traditional Fillipina gender norms, beginning with the title which feminizes a word and profession traditionally masculine. New York (Sweet and Sour Sauce) I (Asian girl) was eating pasta with a dancer (Asian girl) last night in front of the Asian-American tirade. She quoted a book of 144,000 blank pages and she said, sometimes do you feel crazy? I was biting off my chicken. I said let’s go through an exercise. Someone is sleeping very peacefully in a bed next to you. Who is this person? A sculptor (from LA he said just visiting) listened to us. He said I’m working on a 50 ft. bamboo thing. He said you should come by. “Early in Sarah Gambito’s book, we learn that ‘You cannot be in two places at once.’ In fact, the personality presented in these poems (they are personal poems; that is to say, they have their own unique and consistent personality) seems to have come from Elsewhere, on the way to Everywhere.”—Keith Waldrop Sarah Gambito holds degrees from The University of Virginia and The Creative Writing Program at Brown University. Her poems have appeared in such journals as The Iowa Review , The Antioch Review , The New Republic , Quarterly West and Fence .

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this book is organized: how it's searing, and sinister, funny, and touching- how it's fearless to encompass all emotions and ask the big questions about history, ethnicity,religon, tradition, life, etc. etc.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Gambito wields words as a sword and poetic form as a sheath, and each poem in this strong collection will pierce the reader.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Matadora" challenged me to think about poetry as more than a simple rhyme scheme on paper - It is a medium for activism in itself.

Gambito's voice throughout this collection is aggressive, but fair. Many times, I was forced to take on a slower reading pace to truly absorb the imagery and rely less on the words alone to tell the story. Work that allows room for criticism and critical voice is hard to find in the age where everyone seems afraid to say what they really mean.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

queen

[Aldric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this language is gorgeous and electrifying, but ultimately a little too cerebral for me.