New Exercises

by Franck André Jamme, Charles Borkhuis (Translator)

“A writer of rare quality.”—Henri Michaux Like tiny poetic word searches, these small poems reveal themselves as tightly packed aphorisms, physically manifesting themselves in the world with a wisdom that is somehow simultaneously novel and ancient. Franck Andre Jamme has published twelve books of poems and fragments since 1981, as well as numerous illustrated books. In 2005, he won the Grand Prix de Poesie de la Societe des Gens de Lettres. His work has been praised by Edmond Jabes and Rene Char and translated by John Ashbery.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

Franck André Jamme has published fifteen books of poems and fragments since 1981, as well as numerous illustrated books (with Jaume Plensa, James Brown, Zao Wou Ki, Marc Couturier, Suzan Frecon, Yang Jie Chang, Olivier Debre, Acharya Vyakul, Philippe Favier). He has been praised by Edmond Jabes, Henri Michaux and René Char (whose Complete Works he has edited in La Pléiade), and has been translated by John Ashbery. He is also a specialist and curator of contemporary Indian Tantric, Brut and tribal arts (for Magiciens de la terre at Centre Pompidou, Fondation Cartier and Galerie du Jour/Agnes b., Paris, the CCA and Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, Feature Gallery, The Drawing Center and Lawrence Markey Gallery, NYC). He has published numerous works in the United States, including Moon Wood (Selavy Press, 2000); Extracts from the Life of a Beetle (Black Square, 2000); The Recitation of Forgetting (Black Square, 2003); Another Silent Attack (Black Square/Brooklyn Rail, 2006); New Exercises (Wave Books, 2008). He is one of the authors of The Yale Book of French Poetry, 2004. For his life work, he received in 2005 the Grand Prix de Poesie de la Societe des Gens de Lettres. He lives in Paris and Burgundy.

Reviews

[Scott Satterwhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting experimental work..I liked the intro and the challenge of reading these poems. You can't fly through these poems. You must slow down to understand.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly poems...gnomic inscriptions, more like.

[Tom Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is my new spirit animal

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jamme understands the human mind very well. In the introduction, he notes the format brings back an effort to reading, a task that becomes a thoughtless endeavor at some points. Each piece contains so much in terms of thought and relation. There is no need for a subject because he covers everything from life to death, happiness to sadness, discovery to loss. A sensational read for thinkers.

[Chris Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a quick but deep read. The form of word arrangement almost seemed like a gimmick at first, but quickly became a very engaging experience that drew me into the language. The frame of the form really opens up the poets phrases, enhancing their quirks and invigorating what could otherwise be somewhat stale sayings. I couldn't really put it down after I started. The poet does a great job of developing poems that feel fresh and contemporary and still somewhat classical, and their proverb-like style feels endlessly applicable.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would probably be a four-star book except that its format so closely mimics the "word find" puzzles that teachers give to students that one is virtually dared to find words in each poem which are not intentionally there. And then one can decide how or if they fit the intended words. And since this is a translation, the "unintended" words apply only to these English versions and not to the original French, so… What fun!

[Jeremy Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening reminder is good: "Not too fast." Can be a quick read, but more importantly it's a fun book to go through. Deciphering the exercises adds strangeness and joy to the activity of reading.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The New Tablet

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