Tapping Out: Poems

by Nandi Comer

The relentless motions and blinding colors of lucha libre, the high-flying wrestling sport, are the arresting backdrop to Nandi Comer’s collection Tapping Out. Mexican freestyle wrestling becomes the poet’s lyrical motif, uncovering what is behind the intricate masks we wear in society and our search for place within our personal histories. Comer’s poetic narratives include explorations of violence, trauma, and identity. The exquisite complications of the black experience in settled and unsettled spaces propel her linear explorations, which challenge the idea of metaphor and cadence.  

The harsh realities of being migrant and immigrant, being birthright and oppressed, are as hard-pressed as the plancha move to the body. Each poem in Tapping Out is a “freestyle movement” of language and complexity put on full display, under the bright lights and roars of survival. Comer’s splendid and barbed, Detroit style of language melts the masks with searing words.
 

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2020

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I thought it was going to be a smart, literary book about wrestling – and it was that, but also so much more. Complex, thoughtful, beautiful poems about race, gender, family, identity, love. One of my favourite poetry collections of the year.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

(ARC via netgalley) The more I read this collection the more I loved it. The conceit of Tapping Out is imaginative and inventive. I loved the inclusion of definitions and images. The collection uses the conceit as a means of discussing wider topics like race, womanhood, love, culture, home, etc. The poems about being a woman of color, specifically a black woman, were the strongest of the collection. "castes" in particular was a stand out poem.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tapping Out by Nandi Comer relies heavily on imagery and language tied to lucha libre, or Mexican freestyle wrestling, as she explores the roles of identity, changes in our identities, and the masks that we often wear when faced with violence, trauma, and other situations. The poems are like the high-flying maneuvers of the wrestlers in lucha libre and many times Comer references the colorful masks of the wrestler-narrators in the poems to explore unsettling realities of migrant and immigrant experience. There are bumps and bruises along the way, and it's hard to turn away from Comer's poems. Reality is harsh and she displays it all.

A powerful collection of narrative poems that melds the Mexican wrestling world with the realities of immigrants and minorities. It's match after match, fear around the corner at every turn, and constant exhaustion in fighting to live. To ignore these narratives, is to ignore the humanity of all of us. To ignore the injustices of the world, is to be an ostrich with its head in the sand.

Read the full review: https://savvyverseandwit.com/2020/07/...

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s very difficult for me to give this collection a rating because I feel like two stars are very dismissive of the messages that the book was trying to get across. This book has important ideas and themes that I know will relate to a large audience. Tapping Out delves into the hardships of being black, finding identity, and similar themes along those lines. As someone just beginning to delve into poetry, I found that this style of poem is not for me. If you enjoy poetry that tells more of a “bigger picture” rather than small segments of an idea, I would recommend this to you. This collection had a lot of poems that were long, and often in small paragraph form. For me, this made the book drag on, as I didn’t really read this book as poetry, but more like a short story.

I really loved the culture that was pumped into each poem, many of which featured Spanish as well as references to different cultures. Like I mentioned before, this book delves into some pretty serious topics. racism is handled from a different perspective, describing racism as not only an offense that white people use to harm minorities but also to show how minorities are racist against other minorities (or colorism). For me, as an Asian American, this discussion is very important and I appreciated the inclusion of this topic.

This collection had some poems I really liked! These were the poems that I felt I understood most easily, and they did not heavily feature the wrestling motif. Overall, the poems had depth and contained lots of imagery.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The relentless motions and blinding colors of lucha libre, the high-flying wrestling sport, are the arresting backdrop to Nandi Comer’s collection Tapping Out.

As the collection goes on, the more impressed I become. Using the slang of Lucha Libre wrestling, Comer in this collection delivers some really good poetry that encapsulates people and moments perfectly. This for me particularly shows in poems such as ‘Rudo’ a poem about the heels or bad guys of wrestling and why someone would like them, this poem certainly certainly shines here.

How the poetry changes to deliver the message of every line works so well throughout this collection as the poet emphasises how everything feels, and in moments it almost feels like you are right there watching the action through the words - Comer paints a picture throughout this collection with such ease.

An exploration of wrestling, culture, and race, this collection delivers some real moments of quality that builds into something great.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley for review).

[Christine Chatelain Latimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really kind of hard to push through this collection of poetry. The visuals were awesome. The poems were a little too long for me. In a way the words got lost in translation. It was more like short stories which I’m not a huge fan of. This is a really read for readers that are into short storiesThe Lucha Libre terms are well defined. Learned a couple of new things. I loved how Ms. Comer discussed racial inequalities and hardships in each poems. I felt her words as black woman living her words almost everyday. Do I recommend? Yes and no. I would recommend to avid readers of the genre or established fans of the author, but otherwise no. I do want to finish my thoughts with an honest thank you to the publisher Northwestern University Press, author Nandi Comer and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Books ‘n Bobbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Poetry can be difficult for me to read and understand, but I adore wrestling and lucha libre, so I could not pass up an opportunity to read this. I overall enjoyed reading the poems, but I found myself getting lost at points. It is definitely a niche collection, and if you do not have much knowledge about lucha libre or know Spanish, it could be hard to get through. The poems flowed nicely, but they were long and the metaphors were hard to understand at points.

To me, poetry is even more subjective than fiction or novels. I did not connect to all of the poems, but I could see how other people may connect more. I recommend trying out this poetry collection if you are interested in race, gender, language, or lucha libre.

[Smileitsjoy (JoyMelody) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to be in love with this collection!
I was so eager to read it because I am determined to read more poetry every year and unfortunately, I just didn't love it
I feel like I may read it again to see if I just wasn't in the headspace because sometimes that is the case with poetry.

There were some amazing lines in some of the poems that I definitely highlighted and made little notes on my kindle.
I think it has some parts that are relatable but others that require a lot more context.
I am not afraid to admit that maybe this book just wasn't for me.

[Jacqueline Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is not my usual genre, I’m more of a crime/thriller reader therefore am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Kaitlin Lopez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to push through this collection of poetry. The visuals were awesome. The poems were a little too long and confusing. If you don’t know Spanish you won’t understand or know what’s going on. I learned a couple new things though so it wasn’t all bad.

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool wrestling stuff, but the poetry itself was kinda hit or miss

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comer was just named Michigan's second poet laureate ever, the first in 63 years.

Would recommend overall. Loved how she used lucha libre as a common thread, nothing feeling forced. She doesn't always stick the landing. I'm super excited to see what comes next.

[Bob Woodley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nandi Comer is the Poet Laureate of Michigan. This book has a nice structure based around the different moves of lucha libre. But it feels to me like journalism in verse. It uses violent imagery to increase the drama. And of course there are the identity/race topics that granting agencies require of POCs these days.