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There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2017)There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé uses political and pop-cultural references as a framework to explore 21st century black American womanhood and its complexities: performance, depression, isolation, exoticism, racism, femininity, and politics. The poems weave between personal narrative and pop-cultural criticism, examining and confronting modern media, consumption, feminism, and Blackness. This collection explores femininity and race in the contemporary American political climate, folding in references from jazz standards, visual art, personal family history, and Hip Hop. The voice of this book is a multifarious one: writing and rewriting bodies, stories, and histories of the past, as well as uttering and bearing witness to the truth of the present, and actively probing toward a new self, an actualized self. This is a book at the intersections of mythology and sorrow, of vulnerability and posturing, of desire and disgust, of tragedy and excellence.
2 pages, Audible Audio
First published February 14, 2017
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About the author
Morgan Parker
15 books658 followersMorgan Parker is the author of There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, a Goodreads Choice Award semi-finalist, and Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night, selected by Eileen Myles for the 2013 Gatewood Prize. Her poetry and essays have appeared in Tin House, The Paris Review, The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop, Best American Poetry 2016, The New York Times, and The Nation. She is the recipient of a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a 2016 Pushcart Prize, and a Cave Canem graduate fellow. She is a Sagittarius.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 737 reviews
September 5, 2016
Outstanding collection of poems. So much soul. So much intelligence in how Parker folds in cultural references and the experiences of black womanhood. Every poem will get its hooks into you. And of course, the poems about Beyoncé are the greatest because Beyoncé is our queen.
June 2, 2024
Anyone who thinks poetry doesn't matter anymore needs to read this vibrant collection of poems from Morgan Parker.
The poems are bursting with life, with insightful commentary on race, feminism, celebrity culture, and more.
This collection of poems will leave a long lasting impression on you. This is among the best poetry collections I've ever read.
The poems are bursting with life, with insightful commentary on race, feminism, celebrity culture, and more.
This collection of poems will leave a long lasting impression on you. This is among the best poetry collections I've ever read.
June 26, 2019
A major book - one to keep coming back to:
The President Has Never Said the Word Black
To the extent that one begins
to wonder if he is broken.
It is not so difficult to open
teeth and brass taxes.
The president is all like
five on the bleep hand side.
The president be like
we lost a young boy today.
The pursuit of happiness
is guaranteed for all fellow Americans.
He is nobody special like us.
He says brothers and sisters.
What kind of bodies are moveable
and feasts. What color are visions.
When he opens his mouth
a chameleon is inside, starving.
The President Has Never Said the Word Black
To the extent that one begins
to wonder if he is broken.
It is not so difficult to open
teeth and brass taxes.
The president is all like
five on the bleep hand side.
The president be like
we lost a young boy today.
The pursuit of happiness
is guaranteed for all fellow Americans.
He is nobody special like us.
He says brothers and sisters.
What kind of bodies are moveable
and feasts. What color are visions.
When he opens his mouth
a chameleon is inside, starving.
July 1, 2017
". . . There are more beautiful things than Beyoncé: self-awareness,
Leftover mascara in clumps, recognizing a pattern
This is for all the grown women out there
Whose countries hate them and their brothers
Who carry knives in their purses down the street
Maybe they will not get out alive
Maybe they will turn into air or news or brown flower petals
There are more beautiful things than Beyonce:
Lavender, education, becoming other people
The [f----ng] sky
. . .
Leftover mascara in clumps, recognizing a pattern
This is for all the grown women out there
Whose countries hate them and their brothers
Who carry knives in their purses down the street
Maybe they will not get out alive
Maybe they will turn into air or news or brown flower petals
There are more beautiful things than Beyonce:
Lavender, education, becoming other people
The [f----ng] sky
. . .
March 13, 2017
I thought I was going to like this collection of poems more than I did, especially when I saw the blurb on the cover by Terrance Hayes. I wish she wouldn't have used this title for her collection of poems. My favorite poems: 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl, These are Dangerous Times, Man, Afro, and Hottentot Venus. There alerts of pop culture references so if you aren't into that you probably won't enjoy these poems. One thing is certain I'd love to hear these performed by Morgan Parker.
March 12, 2018
Find this and other Reviews at In Tori Lex
I wanted to love this collection more than I did. I thought from the title Beyonce would be used as a launching pad to reference the problematic ways women exist in media. This isn't a rebuke of Beyonce which the title hints at. This book used Beyonce and other pop culture references, in a way that didn't resonate with me. I wasn't familiar with some of the references, but the ones I recognized didn't make sense in the context.
The poems centered around race and womanhood were thought provoking. However none of the language resonated with me in a emotional way. It's hard for me to pin point what I didn't enjoy in this poetry collection. The way people experience poetry is subjective and personal. So my opinion will certainly differ from other readers. The topics and stories told in these poems were important and reflective. We need more poets addressing issues of black womanhood. I enjoyed some of the poems but wished I was more drawn in and connected to others.
Recommended for Readers Who
-enjoy modern poetry
-appreciate thoughts on race and womanhood
-resonate with pop culture references
I wanted to love this collection more than I did. I thought from the title Beyonce would be used as a launching pad to reference the problematic ways women exist in media. This isn't a rebuke of Beyonce which the title hints at. This book used Beyonce and other pop culture references, in a way that didn't resonate with me. I wasn't familiar with some of the references, but the ones I recognized didn't make sense in the context.
The poems centered around race and womanhood were thought provoking. However none of the language resonated with me in a emotional way. It's hard for me to pin point what I didn't enjoy in this poetry collection. The way people experience poetry is subjective and personal. So my opinion will certainly differ from other readers. The topics and stories told in these poems were important and reflective. We need more poets addressing issues of black womanhood. I enjoyed some of the poems but wished I was more drawn in and connected to others.
Recommended for Readers Who
-enjoy modern poetry
-appreciate thoughts on race and womanhood
-resonate with pop culture references
February 22, 2022
This is a collection in which the whole is greater than its parts, which is not to say the parts don't consist of superb poems, because they do. But like Lemonade, this is a conceptual work so is best appreciated in its entirety.
To convey a sense of Morgan Powers, these are her group Acknowledgments at the end:
I bow to my muses: John Coltrane, Carrie Mae Weems, Billie Holiday, Nelly, Drake, Peanut Butter Wolf, W. B. Yeats, Fania All Stars, Digable Planets, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jay Z, and of course, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
In an interview with Mother Jones (2/15/17) Parker was asked the meaning of the title and responded:
That’s a question I could spend about 30 minutes answering. I also don’t want to narrow down the interpretation for readers—there are so many ways to read the sentence, and all of them are applicable. I guess the only thing I’d say is it shouldn’t be read as “Beyoncé is not beautiful.”
Titles include Slouching Toward Beyonce, 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl, It's Getting Hot in Here So Take Off All Your Clothes, Ain't Misbehaving and Beyonce Celebrates Black History Month. There's range within the collection and often within a single poem: she frequently precedes or follows a playful line with one that's piercing.
Earlier in the Mother Jones interview she said, I remember thinking, these poems are going to be really irrelevant in a year. Not so. Oh no.
excerpts from 99 Problems:
4. They made me the wild creek between Class Clown & Most Unique
33–35. Fucked a white boy
36-42. American History
43. Where are you from?
44. Prozac Weight
58. OKCupid
59. White Saviors
60. Karaoke
61. Limited cocktail shrimps
62–70. Please check all that apply: panic attacks hopelessness decreased socialization guilt general overwhelming stress suicide attempts
71. Are you OK?
72 Tyler Perry
73. Hangovers
76. James Franco
94, Teacher called me Sheila
95. Sheila was the other Black girl
96. Sheila hated me
97. What we mean by “come up”
98. Be strong
99. I’m tired
To convey a sense of Morgan Powers, these are her group Acknowledgments at the end:
I bow to my muses: John Coltrane, Carrie Mae Weems, Billie Holiday, Nelly, Drake, Peanut Butter Wolf, W. B. Yeats, Fania All Stars, Digable Planets, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jay Z, and of course, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
In an interview with Mother Jones (2/15/17) Parker was asked the meaning of the title and responded:
That’s a question I could spend about 30 minutes answering. I also don’t want to narrow down the interpretation for readers—there are so many ways to read the sentence, and all of them are applicable. I guess the only thing I’d say is it shouldn’t be read as “Beyoncé is not beautiful.”
Titles include Slouching Toward Beyonce, 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl, It's Getting Hot in Here So Take Off All Your Clothes, Ain't Misbehaving and Beyonce Celebrates Black History Month. There's range within the collection and often within a single poem: she frequently precedes or follows a playful line with one that's piercing.
Earlier in the Mother Jones interview she said, I remember thinking, these poems are going to be really irrelevant in a year. Not so. Oh no.
excerpts from 99 Problems:
4. They made me the wild creek between Class Clown & Most Unique
33–35. Fucked a white boy
36-42. American History
43. Where are you from?
44. Prozac Weight
58. OKCupid
59. White Saviors
60. Karaoke
61. Limited cocktail shrimps
62–70. Please check all that apply: panic attacks hopelessness decreased socialization guilt general overwhelming stress suicide attempts
71. Are you OK?
72 Tyler Perry
73. Hangovers
76. James Franco
94, Teacher called me Sheila
95. Sheila was the other Black girl
96. Sheila hated me
97. What we mean by “come up”
98. Be strong
99. I’m tired
February 28, 2021
I really liked the themes of black culture, feminism, freedom and contemporary times in this poetry collection. While the first poems weren’t ones that I loved, I quickly warmed up to the writing style, the form and the stylistic devices the poet used. My favourites in the collection were Afro, 13 Ways to Look At a Black Girl and It’s Getting Hot in Here so Take off All Your Clothes. Admittedly, I picked up this collection due to its title and wanting to know what could be more beautiful than Beyoncé. It turned out the author is just as much of a fan as I am and it was more a compliment to Beyoncé than anything else. Which made me smile. The poems are engrossing, beautifully written and well structured. I’m fussy with my contemporary poetry but this was my cup of tea.
This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2021/0...
This review and others can be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: https://oliviascatastrophe.com/2021/0...
February 21, 2017
Crying over beautifully written Black girl poetry on a Monday night, wyd?
March 9, 2017
Just as good as a Beyonce album with surprise bonus tracks that you didn't know were there.
June 29, 2017
Beautiful, important, feminist to the highest degree. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce is a exploration of black girl magic.
November 23, 2017
This is for all the grown women out there whose countries hate them and their brothers.
October 5, 2017
Hardcore and hilarious and beautiful and bad ass are really, really poor descriptors for this brutal, gorgeous book.
I have never really read poetry, do not know how to read it, and have only embarrassing memories of a misspent youth wearing black and writing "poems" about crying tears of blood and being in hopeless, unrequited love with...whoever I was in love with that particular week.
My point is I have no frame of reference so this could be terrible poetry that everyone who's anyone in poetry circles knows is terrible and I would neither know nor care.
But I think it far more likely though that the poetry loving world is already well aware of Morgan Parker and her delicious, diva voice.
Reading her poems out loud is amazing. You feel like you're the star of the poetry slam and you can't help it but your voice gets all Lin Manual Miranda doing a freestyle and you almost want to start dancing cause saying these words just make you feel good and they've got an intoxicating rhythm.
These are angry and hopeful poems that fly back and forth across the black American experience stopping to comment on sexuality, the absurdity and horror of the racial divide, the quest for sexual and emotional connection and, of course, the titular Beyonce and our obsession with her.
I think the mark of good poetry for me will likely be how many times I pick up the book again to reread something because god knows I picked this one up often enough.
I have never really read poetry, do not know how to read it, and have only embarrassing memories of a misspent youth wearing black and writing "poems" about crying tears of blood and being in hopeless, unrequited love with...whoever I was in love with that particular week.
My point is I have no frame of reference so this could be terrible poetry that everyone who's anyone in poetry circles knows is terrible and I would neither know nor care.
But I think it far more likely though that the poetry loving world is already well aware of Morgan Parker and her delicious, diva voice.
Reading her poems out loud is amazing. You feel like you're the star of the poetry slam and you can't help it but your voice gets all Lin Manual Miranda doing a freestyle and you almost want to start dancing cause saying these words just make you feel good and they've got an intoxicating rhythm.
These are angry and hopeful poems that fly back and forth across the black American experience stopping to comment on sexuality, the absurdity and horror of the racial divide, the quest for sexual and emotional connection and, of course, the titular Beyonce and our obsession with her.
I think the mark of good poetry for me will likely be how many times I pick up the book again to reread something because god knows I picked this one up often enough.
Read
March 23, 2017Incisive poetic work about gender, race (specifically Blackness) and mental illness, some truly stunning lines. I took some closeups for Instagramming purposes :)
I liked the engagement with Beyoncé, Lady Gaga etc. that the book is generally praised for, but something else also struck me that I don't see mentioned in reviews - I felt that at times this book had an approach that seemed inspired by queer and trans work on femininity, without the author actually being queer or trans (AFAIK?). I have been expecting something like this to happen as QUILTBAG work becomes more and more mainstream, that now even straight people get inspired by it, but this must be the first time I see it in a non-genre poetry book (Feb 2017 release.) The author cites Audre Lorde etc. so this was surely a conscious inspiration. It did not strike me as appropriative (unlike e.g., the discussion just now in my Twitter feed where straight people want to be called queer because they are kinky) but rather that discourse about gender has been broadened out by QUILTBAG people allowing straight, cis, non-intersex etc. people also to engage in this broadening, and contemplate their gender in ever more complex ways. Does this make any sense?? I think this is a positive development and very cool to see.
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library
I liked the engagement with Beyoncé, Lady Gaga etc. that the book is generally praised for, but something else also struck me that I don't see mentioned in reviews - I felt that at times this book had an approach that seemed inspired by queer and trans work on femininity, without the author actually being queer or trans (AFAIK?). I have been expecting something like this to happen as QUILTBAG work becomes more and more mainstream, that now even straight people get inspired by it, but this must be the first time I see it in a non-genre poetry book (Feb 2017 release.) The author cites Audre Lorde etc. so this was surely a conscious inspiration. It did not strike me as appropriative (unlike e.g., the discussion just now in my Twitter feed where straight people want to be called queer because they are kinky) but rather that discourse about gender has been broadened out by QUILTBAG people allowing straight, cis, non-intersex etc. people also to engage in this broadening, and contemplate their gender in ever more complex ways. Does this make any sense?? I think this is a positive development and very cool to see.
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library
May 30, 2017
I love this book so much I'm teaching it in my Intro to Literature class.
Watching TV and thinking "White people are crazy"
Watching YouTube and thinking "Kanye West
is crazy"
Looking in the mirror
Everything crazy is the best
It's what I learned from aunties
& empty bottles after midnight
Watching TV and thinking "White people are crazy"
Watching YouTube and thinking "Kanye West
is crazy"
Looking in the mirror
Everything crazy is the best
It's what I learned from aunties
& empty bottles after midnight
January 5, 2017
I don't think Morgan Parker woke up one day and said, "I'm gonna write poetry that Ken Stampe will like." I'm willing to conceded that I may not be the target audience for this book.
But...
I love poetry and thought I was pretty open-minded about poetry. I use Kendrick Lamar, Tupac Shakur and even Beyonce in my English classes. But not one poem from "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce" will make it inside my room.
So many of these poems were impossible for me to relate to. Where I struggle with accepting the rave reviews of this book as poetry is in the amount of unbalanced, unrhymed, disconnected poetry in this book. It seemed to rely more heavily on celebrity names like "Robo Beyonce" or "Freaky Friday Starring Beyonce and Lady Gaga" then on any actual poetic devices. The index of poems was more enjoyable than the book of poetry.
Here is an excerpt from "Rebirth of Slick"
"I was born this way: unsatisfied
My color is a bridge with no other side
In a second life my voice is a drum kit
Reigning over green hills like weather
I am king & anthem
I know how to relax"
This is the last stanza of five and makes no sense to me. The imagery is inaccessible and disconnected. Why is this even a stanza? I can't see the connection woven from first line to last let alone through the poem and they are all similarly odd.
The exception are the poems "Afro" - a humorous and creative short piece, and "All They Want is My Money, My P****, and My Blood" which despite it's title is a moving and passionate piece.
Overall, this seemed like a money grab, trading on celebrity names. It read like urban hipster trying to out-urban and out-hipster the reader. I'm sure I just don't get it, wasn't supposed to get it, and those that loved this book are probably THRILLED that I don't get it. If I did, then this book would probably instantaneously stop being hip.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for a review.
But...
I love poetry and thought I was pretty open-minded about poetry. I use Kendrick Lamar, Tupac Shakur and even Beyonce in my English classes. But not one poem from "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce" will make it inside my room.
So many of these poems were impossible for me to relate to. Where I struggle with accepting the rave reviews of this book as poetry is in the amount of unbalanced, unrhymed, disconnected poetry in this book. It seemed to rely more heavily on celebrity names like "Robo Beyonce" or "Freaky Friday Starring Beyonce and Lady Gaga" then on any actual poetic devices. The index of poems was more enjoyable than the book of poetry.
Here is an excerpt from "Rebirth of Slick"
"I was born this way: unsatisfied
My color is a bridge with no other side
In a second life my voice is a drum kit
Reigning over green hills like weather
I am king & anthem
I know how to relax"
This is the last stanza of five and makes no sense to me. The imagery is inaccessible and disconnected. Why is this even a stanza? I can't see the connection woven from first line to last let alone through the poem and they are all similarly odd.
The exception are the poems "Afro" - a humorous and creative short piece, and "All They Want is My Money, My P****, and My Blood" which despite it's title is a moving and passionate piece.
Overall, this seemed like a money grab, trading on celebrity names. It read like urban hipster trying to out-urban and out-hipster the reader. I'm sure I just don't get it, wasn't supposed to get it, and those that loved this book are probably THRILLED that I don't get it. If I did, then this book would probably instantaneously stop being hip.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for a review.
May 17, 2017
Read Morgan Parker's "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce," until you memorize every word, get swallowed in every mood, and exist in a fantastic reality not yet defined! Without exaggeration, Morgan Parker is-- *expletive*-- amazing.
Morgan's poetry reminds me of hearing my real voice and meeting my hidden personality while wandering through the late 80s and early 90s New York city: gritty, pleasant, affectionate, deadly. I have heard her work before, that incredible voice echoing, bellowing or whispering from the speakeasies that were planted from SoHo to Harlem, on trains that seemed to have no destination, and in parks where voices and emotions just wanted to be heard before forever silenced. I know her work because she speaks the language of familiarity and truth. And if you think her truths are not yours, keep reading -- you'll catch on.
A truly mammoth work!
Morgan's poetry reminds me of hearing my real voice and meeting my hidden personality while wandering through the late 80s and early 90s New York city: gritty, pleasant, affectionate, deadly. I have heard her work before, that incredible voice echoing, bellowing or whispering from the speakeasies that were planted from SoHo to Harlem, on trains that seemed to have no destination, and in parks where voices and emotions just wanted to be heard before forever silenced. I know her work because she speaks the language of familiarity and truth. And if you think her truths are not yours, keep reading -- you'll catch on.
A truly mammoth work!
March 1, 2019
The thing about Beyoncé Is that we are all Beyoncé and Beyoncé is all of us. Morgan Parker exalts, rests in truths savoury and unsavoury and really just gives life to every word in these poems.
There's something magical, extraordinary and ordinary about black womanhood. Something powerful in all things black and female. Morgan captures it all here.
My favourite poem was All They Want Is My Money, My Pussy, My Blood -- bisshhhhh!!!!! read this shit and relate in the real world.
Beyonce on the Line for Gaga -
Fucking gorgeous and true. Thanks Morgan Parker for writing this! It's too dope!
There's something magical, extraordinary and ordinary about black womanhood. Something powerful in all things black and female. Morgan captures it all here.
My favourite poem was All They Want Is My Money, My Pussy, My Blood -- bisshhhhh!!!!! read this shit and relate in the real world.
Beyonce on the Line for Gaga -
"I pour into them, weave first
fierce nymph of Texas
holy in black.
You feel me? This booty
is smooth running water.
I shake too thick for love,
push records like dimes,
rep the hustleslick as legs."
Fucking gorgeous and true. Thanks Morgan Parker for writing this! It's too dope!
April 22, 2017
!!! https://africanbookaddict.com/2017/04...
3.5 stars really. My favorite poems were: 'Hottentot Venus' (this poem was golden!!); '13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl'; 'These Are Dangerous Times, Man' and 'Welcome to the Jungle.'
3.5 stars really. My favorite poems were: 'Hottentot Venus' (this poem was golden!!); '13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl'; 'These Are Dangerous Times, Man' and 'Welcome to the Jungle.'
July 11, 2018
Beautifully insecure
coveting what others find desirable
ending on finding
what works best for her
Cop this poetry collection. Women of any race, class, sexuality, and religion can certainly relate to what she captures on the page.
4/5
coveting what others find desirable
ending on finding
what works best for her
Cop this poetry collection. Women of any race, class, sexuality, and religion can certainly relate to what she captures on the page.
4/5
July 30, 2018
Excellent collection of poems that sparked my emotions and intellect (what there is of it, at any rate).
February 9, 2022
There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé explores how black femininity, womanhood, and beauty standards-specifically for black women- are examined in the media. Morgan Parker uses pop culture references to Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Jay Z, and Parker even has a poem titled “Slouching Towards Beyoncé”, referencing Joan Didion’s work.
Frequently referencing pop culture is a bit of a risk in my opinion, since doing so heavily relies on the reader’s understanding of the moment’s cultural significance. At times, I thoroughly enjoyed how Morgan Parker used these moments to introduce very moving and tender pieces surrounding beauty, mental health, sex, and desire , especially from the perspective of a black woman speaker. However, I found the metaphors and language used in some of the poems to be unclear at times, which muddled the meaning for me.
Overall, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé is a compelling poetry collection. If you’re a fan of Beyoncé or pop culture, and you would like to read more poetry written by black women, I recommend that you check this one out.
3.5/5 ⭐️
Frequently referencing pop culture is a bit of a risk in my opinion, since doing so heavily relies on the reader’s understanding of the moment’s cultural significance. At times, I thoroughly enjoyed how Morgan Parker used these moments to introduce very moving and tender pieces surrounding beauty, mental health, sex, and desire , especially from the perspective of a black woman speaker. However, I found the metaphors and language used in some of the poems to be unclear at times, which muddled the meaning for me.
Overall, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé is a compelling poetry collection. If you’re a fan of Beyoncé or pop culture, and you would like to read more poetry written by black women, I recommend that you check this one out.
3.5/5 ⭐️
December 31, 2019
So I thought I could squeeze this slim collection here at the end, and it was quite an experience. Many of the poems' themes revolve around Beyoncé, but not all. I felt that the amount of poems was just right. While the language is sometimes rough, the poems are packed with images, life pictures, and comment on living as a black woman in America.
"What Beyoncé Won't Say on a Shrink's Couch"
what if I said I'm tired
and they hear wrong
said sing it
It's very true that although the book is not a thick one, the poems are all something that you might want to reread over time, so that they open more for you. They are funny, crazy, longing, sharp, full of observations and humor. I think my favorite was "99 Problems" which seemed to put everything about the other poems into one, in a funnily crazy sort of way. This is a collection that might not be in the toplists, but should be. Strange, wonderful a read, for sure.
"What Beyoncé Won't Say on a Shrink's Couch"
what if I said I'm tired
and they hear wrong
said sing it
It's very true that although the book is not a thick one, the poems are all something that you might want to reread over time, so that they open more for you. They are funny, crazy, longing, sharp, full of observations and humor. I think my favorite was "99 Problems" which seemed to put everything about the other poems into one, in a funnily crazy sort of way. This is a collection that might not be in the toplists, but should be. Strange, wonderful a read, for sure.
April 14, 2018
Strong voiced poems that demand multiple readings, with just enough Beyoncé.
Favorite poems include:
-The President Has Never Said the Word Black
"To the extent that one beings
to wonder if he is broken...."
-Afro (online in no. 7 of the Portable Boog Reader)
-The Gospel of Jesus's Wife
-Heaven Be a Xanax
"...And I will take the offering on my tongue
And it will not be a vault
And someone will not invade me
And I will kneel to pray
And I will address the prayer to myself
And I will be allowed."
-Slouching Towards Beyoncé
"...I keep thinking
the only city left
is outer space
where we lived
before
we had tongues...."
Favorite poems include:
-The President Has Never Said the Word Black
"To the extent that one beings
to wonder if he is broken...."
-Afro (online in no. 7 of the Portable Boog Reader)
-The Gospel of Jesus's Wife
-Heaven Be a Xanax
"...And I will take the offering on my tongue
And it will not be a vault
And someone will not invade me
And I will kneel to pray
And I will address the prayer to myself
And I will be allowed."
-Slouching Towards Beyoncé
"...I keep thinking
the only city left
is outer space
where we lived
before
we had tongues...."
July 3, 2016
"Art hurts," wrote poet Gwendolyn Brooks, "Art urges voyages." Morgan Parker's poems hurt deeply and voyage widely. They do not let you sit comfortably and idly and safe, but take you on an adventure like no other. Like the "Fantastic Voyage" promised by R&B legends Lakeside, Parker's work is "live, live, all the way live." Get on board this trip; it is like no other.
March 27, 2017
This wasn't for me. I don't think I cared that much about the subject and did not connect with most of the poetry. Overall I just didn't like it.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
Read
February 3, 2022Not sure if I was reading through this at the wrong time or while too tired, but it just didn’t do it for me. Poetry that heavily references pop culture or any particular subculture can be a tricky thing - could be ‘YES!’, could be ‘huh?’. There were some images and insights here and there that fell into the former category for me, but those moments were too fleeting. Maybe I’ll pick it up another time and find it really exciting.
December 16, 2016
"It’s mostly about machine tits"
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley.)
This is for all the grown women out there
Whose countries hate them and their brothers
Who carry knives in their purses down the street
Maybe they will not get out alive
Maybe they will turn into air or news or brown flower petals
There are more beautiful things than Beyoncé:
Lavender, education, becoming other people,
The fucking sky
("Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé)")
I don't read a ton of poetry, since it mostly tends to go over my head. There are the rare exceptions, of course: stories written in verse, and the occasional feminist title; see, e.g. The Princess Saves Herself in this One. But mostly I shy away from it, since it makes me feel ... not the sharpest tool in the shed.
That said, between the title and the cover, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé proved pretty much impossible to pass up. While I'm sure I missed out on many of the cultural references - I'm white, and this is a collection of poetry about black womanhood - and didn't pick up all the varied and more veiled messages that Parker was putting down, I enjoyed it all the same. I read it cover-to-cover three times in two days, and with each successive reading, discovered something new. Parker's poetry sparkles and shines and cuts more deeply, the more time you spend with it.
It's hard to play favorites, since each piece has at least one or two especially memorable lines. (To wit: "At school they learned that Black people happened.") But among the poems that really stood out to me are Hottentot Venus; Beyoncé On The Line for Gaga; Afro; These Are Dangerous Times, Man; RoboBeyoncé; 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl; The Gospel According to Her; The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife; White Beyoncé; What Beyoncé Won’t Say on a Shrink’s Couch; It’s Getting Hot In Here So Take Off All Your Clothes; The Book of Revelation; 99 Problems; and the titular Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé).
There are forty-two poems total, twenty-five of which have previously been published elsewhere. For those keeping count at home, thirteen have Beyoncé in the title. The Beyoncé/Lady Gaga mashups are fun, if only because I enjoy imagining them hanging together - or swapping bodies in a Freaky Friday twist.
I feel like I should say more but idk how to read poetry, let alone review it. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé is a fierce, funny, and subversive collection of poetry. You don't need to be a member of the Bey Hive to love it (but it sure doesn't hurt). It's earned a permanent spot on my Kindle so I can return to it as needed over the next four to eight (please dog no) years.
Table of Contents
ALL THEY WANT IS MY MONEY MY PUSSY MY BLOOD
The President Has Never Said the Word Black
Hottentot Venus
Another Another Autumn in New York
Poem on Beyoncé’s Birthday
Lush Life
Beyoncé on the Line for Gaga
We Don’t Know When We Were Opened (Or, The Origin of the Universe)
My Vinyl Weighs a Ton
Beyoncé is Sorry for What She Won’t Feel
Afro
These Are Dangerous Times, Man
Rebirth of Slick
RoboBeyoncé
Delicate and Jumpy
Freaky Friday Starring Beyoncé and Lady Gaga
13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl
The Book of Negroes
The Gospel According to Her
Black Woman With Chicken
The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife
White Beyoncé
The President’s Wife
Welcome to the Jungle
Beyoncé, Touring in Asia, Breaks Down in a White Tee
What Beyoncé Won’t Say on a Shrink’s Couch
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Untitled While Listening to Drake
Beyoncé in Third Person
Heaven Be a Xanax
Beyoncé Celebrates Black History Month
Earth Wind & Fire Reunion Tour 2013
It’s Getting Hot In Here So Take Off All Your Clothes
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
The Book of Revelation
99 Problems
Slouching Toward Beyoncé
Let Me Handle My Business, Damn
Beyoncé Prepares a Will
Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé)
Funeral for the Black Dog
So What
http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/02/13/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley.)
This is for all the grown women out there
Whose countries hate them and their brothers
Who carry knives in their purses down the street
Maybe they will not get out alive
Maybe they will turn into air or news or brown flower petals
There are more beautiful things than Beyoncé:
Lavender, education, becoming other people,
The fucking sky
("Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé)")
I don't read a ton of poetry, since it mostly tends to go over my head. There are the rare exceptions, of course: stories written in verse, and the occasional feminist title; see, e.g. The Princess Saves Herself in this One. But mostly I shy away from it, since it makes me feel ... not the sharpest tool in the shed.
That said, between the title and the cover, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé proved pretty much impossible to pass up. While I'm sure I missed out on many of the cultural references - I'm white, and this is a collection of poetry about black womanhood - and didn't pick up all the varied and more veiled messages that Parker was putting down, I enjoyed it all the same. I read it cover-to-cover three times in two days, and with each successive reading, discovered something new. Parker's poetry sparkles and shines and cuts more deeply, the more time you spend with it.
It's hard to play favorites, since each piece has at least one or two especially memorable lines. (To wit: "At school they learned that Black people happened.") But among the poems that really stood out to me are Hottentot Venus; Beyoncé On The Line for Gaga; Afro; These Are Dangerous Times, Man; RoboBeyoncé; 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl; The Gospel According to Her; The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife; White Beyoncé; What Beyoncé Won’t Say on a Shrink’s Couch; It’s Getting Hot In Here So Take Off All Your Clothes; The Book of Revelation; 99 Problems; and the titular Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé).
There are forty-two poems total, twenty-five of which have previously been published elsewhere. For those keeping count at home, thirteen have Beyoncé in the title. The Beyoncé/Lady Gaga mashups are fun, if only because I enjoy imagining them hanging together - or swapping bodies in a Freaky Friday twist.
I feel like I should say more but idk how to read poetry, let alone review it. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé is a fierce, funny, and subversive collection of poetry. You don't need to be a member of the Bey Hive to love it (but it sure doesn't hurt). It's earned a permanent spot on my Kindle so I can return to it as needed over the next four to eight (please dog no) years.
Table of Contents
ALL THEY WANT IS MY MONEY MY PUSSY MY BLOOD
The President Has Never Said the Word Black
Hottentot Venus
Another Another Autumn in New York
Poem on Beyoncé’s Birthday
Lush Life
Beyoncé on the Line for Gaga
We Don’t Know When We Were Opened (Or, The Origin of the Universe)
My Vinyl Weighs a Ton
Beyoncé is Sorry for What She Won’t Feel
Afro
These Are Dangerous Times, Man
Rebirth of Slick
RoboBeyoncé
Delicate and Jumpy
Freaky Friday Starring Beyoncé and Lady Gaga
13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl
The Book of Negroes
The Gospel According to Her
Black Woman With Chicken
The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife
White Beyoncé
The President’s Wife
Welcome to the Jungle
Beyoncé, Touring in Asia, Breaks Down in a White Tee
What Beyoncé Won’t Say on a Shrink’s Couch
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Untitled While Listening to Drake
Beyoncé in Third Person
Heaven Be a Xanax
Beyoncé Celebrates Black History Month
Earth Wind & Fire Reunion Tour 2013
It’s Getting Hot In Here So Take Off All Your Clothes
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
The Book of Revelation
99 Problems
Slouching Toward Beyoncé
Let Me Handle My Business, Damn
Beyoncé Prepares a Will
Please Wait (Or, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé)
Funeral for the Black Dog
So What
http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/02/13/...
November 5, 2017
This is one of my favorite collection of poems ever. The rhythm, the thoughts expressed, come together to make moving, exciting poems. Written by an African-American woman and focused often on themes of race, I nevertheless felt invited into the poems, perhaps because of the feminism or individual struggles, but mostly by their beauty, energy, and intensity.
Using Beyonce (and the Obamas) as a trope for racial choices and struggles, the poems are often outright, laugh aloud funny which heightens the seriousness of what they are dealing with. Although I often needed to keep my phone with me to look up many of the current vocabulary (I now know many more contemporary slang words than I did before-although not, apparently, rivaling my daughter's who was often more useful than the web), I understood (or believe I did) much of the passion that drives these poems.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone, simply because they are wonderful, but also because they deal with important issues.
Using Beyonce (and the Obamas) as a trope for racial choices and struggles, the poems are often outright, laugh aloud funny which heightens the seriousness of what they are dealing with. Although I often needed to keep my phone with me to look up many of the current vocabulary (I now know many more contemporary slang words than I did before-although not, apparently, rivaling my daughter's who was often more useful than the web), I understood (or believe I did) much of the passion that drives these poems.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone, simply because they are wonderful, but also because they deal with important issues.
June 13, 2021
All my friends are changing religions and getting laid. I have been too patient.
The verse displayed is confidently insecure. The judgement is rendered from a position of privilege. I accept the terms and can applaud the swagger. I believe I prefer her Magical Negro to this earlier collection. That assessment is likewise shrouded in memory, an unreliable currency.
The verse displayed is confidently insecure. The judgement is rendered from a position of privilege. I accept the terms and can applaud the swagger. I believe I prefer her Magical Negro to this earlier collection. That assessment is likewise shrouded in memory, an unreliable currency.
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