Throwing the Crown

by Jacob Saenz

“His themes are easily sentimental. . . . There’s a tension in the work that I just find incredibly fresh.” ―Gregory Pardlo, judge of the 2018 Honickman First Book Award Winner of the prestigious Honickman First Book Award from the American Poetry Review, selected by Pulitzer Prize winner Gregory Pardlo, Throwing the Crown describes a boyhood on the edge. Set in a Chicago neighborhood dominated by gang life, Saenz sets the sweetness and vulnerability of youth against the cold reality of a gun pressed against a forehead. Full of accelerative sound―tight rhymes and short, percussive lines―these poems follow a fast-paced trajectory from danger to survival, pausing to acknowledge the beauty and humor in the details along the way. From “Blue Line Incident”: . . . the boys of 15th and 51st, I say,
they’re my boys, my friends.
I was fishing for a life-
saver & he took, hooked him in
& had him say goodbye like we was boys
& shit when really I should’ve
gutted that fuck w/the tip
of my blue ballpoint. Jacob Saenz was born in Chicago and raised in Cicero, Illinois. His poetry has been anthologized in The Open 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry Magazine and The BreakBeat New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop . A CantoMundo fellow, he has been the recipient of a Letras Latinas Residency and a Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship. He serves as an associate editor for RHINO.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2018

Reviews

[Jeffrey Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first impression as I dive into Throwing the Crown is that this is a coming of age / slice of life memoir-poetry collection. It largely stuck to that theme throughout, progressing from adolescence to bachelorhood.

After progressing half way through part I, I took a step back and read through Pardlo’s introduction to get a view into the mind of the judge. It seemed to me after reading Pardlo’s words that there is a clear confusion between the diverse and culturally rich poems describing Seanz’s unique and uniquely American story which has an undoubtedly inherent and significant value, and the poetic strength, complexity and beauty that he claims to find within this collection but that seems to be largely lacking. For me this collection leans more towards pop poetry, which is ok. My overall view of the collection will be based on poetry at a different level.

Ok, so I thought I was being too hard on this collection... until I got to that poem on Flamin’ Hot Cheetos!! And this would not be their last appearance.

I’ll admit that after pushing through part 1, the poems of The Bachelor series showed sparks of goodness. For the most part they were well structured and had a nice flow to them when read aloud. Sure, they sounded like they were written by a single guy who spends all day in his apartment watching tv and eating crap, but I think that’s part of the image and voice this series was hoping to portray. That’s success in a way.

Overall, as I finished the collection my view came back to where it started. There is a story here that is interesting and is compelling; I just wish the poetry lived up to it.

[Danahamm2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great imagery!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the shape of these, the rhythm, the images. To be read aloud, for sure, and more than once.