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God I Feel Modern Tonight: Poems from a Gal About Town
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2021)Poems of heartbreak and sex, self-care and self-critique, urban adventures and love on the road from the millennial quarantine queen and comedy sensation.
in L.A. we got naked and swam in the ocean
we ate cured meats and carrots
& sat in the back of a red pickup truck
like we were in a film where two old friends fight
& wrestle their way into a hug
heave-sobbing as the dust settles
I want to be famous for being the first person
who never feels bad again
In these short, captivating lyrics, Catherine Cohen, the one-woman stand-up chanteuse who electrified the downtown NYC comedy scene in her white go-go boots, and who has been posting poignant, unfiltered poems on social media since before Instagram was a thing, details her life on the prowl with her beaded bag; she ponders guys who call you dude after sex, true love during the pandemic, and English-major dreams. I wish I were smart instead of on my phone, Cat Cohen confides; heartbreak, / when it comes, and it will come / is always new. A Dorothy Parker for our time, a Starbucks philosophe with no primary-care doctor, she's a welcome new breed of everywoman--a larger-than-life best friend, who will say all the outrageous things we think but never say out loud ourselves.
in L.A. we got naked and swam in the ocean
we ate cured meats and carrots
& sat in the back of a red pickup truck
like we were in a film where two old friends fight
& wrestle their way into a hug
heave-sobbing as the dust settles
I want to be famous for being the first person
who never feels bad again
In these short, captivating lyrics, Catherine Cohen, the one-woman stand-up chanteuse who electrified the downtown NYC comedy scene in her white go-go boots, and who has been posting poignant, unfiltered poems on social media since before Instagram was a thing, details her life on the prowl with her beaded bag; she ponders guys who call you dude after sex, true love during the pandemic, and English-major dreams. I wish I were smart instead of on my phone, Cat Cohen confides; heartbreak, / when it comes, and it will come / is always new. A Dorothy Parker for our time, a Starbucks philosophe with no primary-care doctor, she's a welcome new breed of everywoman--a larger-than-life best friend, who will say all the outrageous things we think but never say out loud ourselves.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2021
51 people are currently reading
5540 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews
February 2, 2021
“I can’t tell if my therapist is cool or just has short bangs”
April 9, 2021
Library -overdrive -audiobook...read by the author. Forty minutes long.
This was my first experience with Catherine Cohen. I found her very likable.
Hilarious was the first word I thought of when sitting down to write ‘something’ to share about what I just listened to, though.....
....not hilarious in a haha way...
rather I say ‘hilarious’ to contextualize....
shameless, porny, incorrigible, raunchy visual lyrics about sex, food, the body, work, obsessions, anticipations, pride, innocence, love, and other sensations of self-inquiry....
contemporary conventional modern day musings!
I enjoyed it.
Didn’t feel like poems....
It felt like listening to a woman share not terribly shocking-things — but it did lurk considerable complexities-
things not often spoken out loud —
so, that made it as funny as it was twisted.
Unfiltered, jocular.....
and, I liked it!!
Would listen to Catherine Cohen again!
This was my first experience with Catherine Cohen. I found her very likable.
Hilarious was the first word I thought of when sitting down to write ‘something’ to share about what I just listened to, though.....
....not hilarious in a haha way...
rather I say ‘hilarious’ to contextualize....
shameless, porny, incorrigible, raunchy visual lyrics about sex, food, the body, work, obsessions, anticipations, pride, innocence, love, and other sensations of self-inquiry....
contemporary conventional modern day musings!
I enjoyed it.
Didn’t feel like poems....
It felt like listening to a woman share not terribly shocking-things — but it did lurk considerable complexities-
things not often spoken out loud —
so, that made it as funny as it was twisted.
Unfiltered, jocular.....
and, I liked it!!
Would listen to Catherine Cohen again!
June 13, 2021
It’s hard to review this book. She’s clever and funny but this collection is basically the fleshed out tweets from a smart, young, beauty-privileged woman. I’m very over the “conventionally attractive person feels cold towards the world but also can’t stop telling us how much sex they have with strangers,” but I guess that still translates as literary in some circles.
January 5, 2022
you're surprised when I tell you I pray
but I like the idea of wanting something
all the way
into space
(from "poem I wrote after I took a photo of my tits with a self-timer alone like an adult")
this was meant to be my last read of 2021, but instead it's my first of 2022! and what's more, i read it on my phone. how modern of me, right?
I'm in the kitchen alone, which is romantic in a way
anything can be romantic if you sigh a lot
(from "poem I wrote after I masturbated while wearing airpods")
it's a collection of sometimes dark, sometimes funny, often relatable poems about being filled with the existential dread of the times. the titles are memorable and quirky, but i do wish the titles tied in more closely with the content poems. sometimes they make sense, but sometimes they feel completely unrelated. and sometimes the poems feel like a smushed combination of three random events / feelings / observations; and again, i wish they vibed with each other better.
jealousy is cool because it is like swallowing a house
that you just set on fire
(from "poem I wrote after I asked my personal trainer if he believed in god")
nonetheless, a lot of them resonate with me. if you find these poems unrelatable, then you will likely hate them. if you can relate, then hopefully you'll enjoy.
I felt so serious spelling out I Love You.
(and putting a period at the end)
so you would know I really meant it
I only meant it because I was lonely
but I don't see at all why that wouldn't count
(from "poem I wrote after you told me 'I don't think you're as amazing as you think you are'")
May 16, 2021
I haven't disliked a poetry collection this much since Rupi Kaur. Cohen tries way too hard to provide #relatablecontent and it comes off as just random babble. These are meant to be comedic, but I don't think I laughed or chuckled or even smirked once. I don't want to say it was a complete waste of my time but...
July 15, 2022
Catherine Cohen, a well-travelled Princeton graduate, is not what came to mind when I read "a welcome new breed of everywoman." Do you know how unrelatable Paris trips and a fine arts education are to most women?
Anyway. That bit of criticism to her marketing team aside, this is certainly a collection that will speak to the horny-30-something-white-millenial woman. A lot of this was even funny and clever, just not particularly worthy of 80 printed pages.
Anyway. That bit of criticism to her marketing team aside, this is certainly a collection that will speak to the horny-30-something-white-millenial woman. A lot of this was even funny and clever, just not particularly worthy of 80 printed pages.
July 20, 2022
At first, I thought it was funny, like a comedy routine. Then I thought it was surprisingly good, like poetry. Then it got to be a bit much. I was left with the feeling that I would not want to be a young woman today, and that living in New York City seems like kind of a crazy thing to do.
July 21, 2021
Reading this made me wish I was illiterate
April 6, 2021
poem I wrote after reading God I Feel Modern Tonight
I think I liked most of the poems
isn't it funny how women always say "I think"
before saying what they know is fact?
I especially enjoyed the poem about dieting
did I log in my Weight Watcher points today?
how is Kirkland's single-serve hummus five points but
I can eat all the eggs in this carton and still be at zero?
how I feel when reading well-written poetry
and bring out my old red pencil that I stole from
a crush in fifth grade and attempt to write
on a blank journal page
If all these mentions and reflections are true,
then Catherine Cohen has lived an exciting life.
I think I liked most of the poems
isn't it funny how women always say "I think"
before saying what they know is fact?
I especially enjoyed the poem about dieting
did I log in my Weight Watcher points today?
how is Kirkland's single-serve hummus five points but
I can eat all the eggs in this carton and still be at zero?
how I feel when reading well-written poetry
and bring out my old red pencil that I stole from
a crush in fifth grade and attempt to write
on a blank journal page
If all these mentions and reflections are true,
then Catherine Cohen has lived an exciting life.
February 9, 2024
This is the collection of tweets by a person you followed only because they knew you in real life and would feel bad blocking, so you just mute them.
The person who makes a TikTok account to do story-times about their dating life cause no one likes them enough after the first date to ever come back for a second one so they're bored at 1am.
The person who makes a TikTok account to do story-times about their dating life cause no one likes them enough after the first date to ever come back for a second one so they're bored at 1am.
March 8, 2021
This collection of poems is so sneaky and clever and made me want to write, which I think is what good books do to me. I love the big feelings of messiness and emotion and figuring it out and being unhappy and also just the way it feels to be ~alive~ as described in these poems. It made me desperately miss “normal,” and like, walking to the subway on a humid summer eve after work or running around and feeling weird at parties. If you like to laugh and also simultaneously be touched by poignant turns of phrase then this book of poems may be for you.
January 16, 2021
"you're surprised when I tell you I pray
but I like the idea of wanting something
all the way
into space"
There are some really funny and earnest jewels like this one sprinkled throughout the collection, and I enjoyed the read.
But.. I don't know if it's fair to judge a book or author by the intro and blurb, but I really hate when a person who went to Princeton and talks a lot about Paris is described as an "everywoman".
but I like the idea of wanting something
all the way
into space"
There are some really funny and earnest jewels like this one sprinkled throughout the collection, and I enjoyed the read.
But.. I don't know if it's fair to judge a book or author by the intro and blurb, but I really hate when a person who went to Princeton and talks a lot about Paris is described as an "everywoman".
October 12, 2021
Full disclosure that I'm still trying to find my niche/preferences in poetry and am in no way an expert.
That said... I didn't love this collection. She may be described as a (the) voice of this (Millennial) generation but she's not my voice. I had a hard time relating to her experiences (at least as told in this writing style). I did like a few poems - usually a few lines that made me laugh or connect with her (we're close in age) or that were really well crafted. But mostly I found it basic and the poem content disjointed from its title, which focuses on the cause/context of why she wrote the poem and not to the content of the poem itself (again not my preference).
A lot of poetic musings and commentary on Millennial life in Brooklyn/NYC with her fuck-ups, hook-ups, and anxiety about what people think of her. However the few poems that were written during/focused on the pandemic I really appreciated and related to.
Overall not my cup of tea but I can see a lot of 20 and 30 somethings really connecting and enjoying her poetry.
That said... I didn't love this collection. She may be described as a (the) voice of this (Millennial) generation but she's not my voice. I had a hard time relating to her experiences (at least as told in this writing style). I did like a few poems - usually a few lines that made me laugh or connect with her (we're close in age) or that were really well crafted. But mostly I found it basic and the poem content disjointed from its title, which focuses on the cause/context of why she wrote the poem and not to the content of the poem itself (again not my preference).
A lot of poetic musings and commentary on Millennial life in Brooklyn/NYC with her fuck-ups, hook-ups, and anxiety about what people think of her. However the few poems that were written during/focused on the pandemic I really appreciated and related to.
Overall not my cup of tea but I can see a lot of 20 and 30 somethings really connecting and enjoying her poetry.
February 15, 2021
I liked about 4 of the poems in this collection. The rest were about fingering, yeast infections, and Instagram. Gag.
March 31, 2021
Weird but into it.
August 3, 2022
Obsessed with prose that reads like Tweets but couldn’t relate except when she talks about her vagina and also crying in Europe listening to Lana Del Ray. Would give 3.5 stars if I could but I followed the author on Instagram which I feel she would appreciate more
December 12, 2021
no one is talking about this book as one of the greatest books of poetry this year. I find that personally offensive because it’s like Rupi Kaur but for people who are awful the way that I am awful and also actually know how to read.
June 26, 2021
this poetry gave me whiplash
July 21, 2021
we should both get more into therapy I think
November 30, 2021
I honestly can't tell the difference between good poetry and bad poetry, but so many of these made me laugh so I'm gonna say they were a success...?
November 27, 2022
it's so crazy how I'm literally a girl who's about town right this very moment?
December 25, 2024
"no one ever got any good ideas
from feeling perfect"
3.75 rounded. It took halfway in for me to like this collection. It came across linear through the author's mid-to-late twenties. Halfway through, the pandemic happened and all that partying and sleeping around turned into alcoholism and mental illness. It went from being carefree and sad to being funny in that existential crisis that we can all relate to kinda way. It was interesting to see the poet mature in their talent.
from feeling perfect"
3.75 rounded. It took halfway in for me to like this collection. It came across linear through the author's mid-to-late twenties. Halfway through, the pandemic happened and all that partying and sleeping around turned into alcoholism and mental illness. It went from being carefree and sad to being funny in that existential crisis that we can all relate to kinda way. It was interesting to see the poet mature in their talent.
April 12, 2021
I picked up this book solely because of the cover art so I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. An interesting collection of poetry that ranges from introspection, sex, New York City, UTIs, ex boyfriends, and more. I'm not a great critic of poetry so I'm not sure how this rates as a whole - but it was very interesting. I really liked the poem titles and there were a few standouts that I re-read - but overall the collection was just ok. If you're looking for humorous, edgy, and unique then you will love this collection. If the TV show, Girls, had a book of poetry based off it - I assume it would be this exact collection.
March 22, 2023
How can poems be so charming and funny while also feeling brutally honest and sometimes deeply sad? I like how her humor has this bite to it. I like that I feel like I’m having cocktails with a friend who’s telling me this hilarious story but then I realize they’re laughing so they’re not crying and you don’t know how to feel except maybe to take an awkward drink and laugh with them. Anyways. These poems probs aren’t for everyone but they were certainly for me.
March 24, 2023
I don’t even know what to say. It feels weird to read this.
April 25, 2022
Ok so listen as some of you will know (bc I told you) I read this book very quickly while in a Barnes and Noble right after I got my eyes dilated. But during that time I formed some thoughts that I would like to write down. I certainly welcome other input (not that a ton of discourse usually goes down in my goodreads comments but I’m just saying)
First I will tell you one of my favorite poems. It’s from Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems,” which I could see Cat Cohen emulating a bit. Here it is:
————————
an invitation to lunch
HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?
when I only have 16 cents and 2
packages of yoghurt
there’s a lesson in that, isn’t there
like in Chinese poetry when a leaf falls?
hold off on the yoghurt till the very
last, when everything may improve
————————
Much like Cohen’s poems, this is short with no rhyme scheme. It seems like it could be about nothing. But it employs literary devices that Cohen does not really attempt. And it is much more meaningful for that reason.
In case you accuse me of being sexist or elitist or romanticizing the past, here’s another of my favorite poems. This one is by Britney Spears and was posted as an Instagram caption in May 2021. To me it is about the freedom we felt at that time when it seemed like the pandemic was over, as well as the freedom Britney desired when she was under her conservatorship. I genuinely think it’s really meaningful.
—————————
Where are we going beautiful
people???? We going to Asia ... Europe... Australia.
... Kansas ... the arcade ... the candy
store ... HOME ? ???? What do you think
these ladies would find in the deep ocean???? Sharks
... fish ... turtles???? Tell me, what do you think FAM
?!?!
—————————
I didn’t include the emojis ‘cause they didn’t copy and paste but look it up for the full poem bc those are a part of it. The photo goes along with it too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CO_l8yIg8...
And here is one of Cat Cohen’s poems from this book. the title is: poem I wrote last night when I couldn't go to sleep because there are no sheets on my bed because I perioded on my other sheets and cannot be bothered to put new ones on
————————
I'm sorry I friended your fiancé on facebook
I just meant to look at his profile pictures
I was on my phone
I haven't spoken to you in at least seven years
but you can't get engaged to your personal trainer
and not have me stalk him
————————-
🤨
My initial reaction to these poems was very negative. I would be inclined to say some of them are flat out disrespectful to the medium of poetry. But that doesn’t mean I think Cat Cohen is necessarily a bad writer or an uncreative person.
I think the main concept explored in this book certainly has the potential the be interesting. I understand this theme as the feeling that you are kind of a mess in a world that overall seems like it sucks but you still think you have something to say even though that might seem kind of ridiculous.
This is a familiar concept to me! I feel this way all the time. A lot of the poetry is relatable and funny, and I see why people would be interested in that. I completely relate to her talking about how she is addicted to her phone and I can see some of this as sort of a satire of privileged white millennials in Brooklyn from someone in that cohort.
However, I don’t see that very much effort was put into this. One style thing that was immediately off putting to me is how the titles of the poems have nothing to do with the poems themselves. I don’t know if it’s true that she wrote the poems after she did the thing she says she did in the title.
I think it’s genuinely hard to embrace sincerity right now. I always feel somewhat embarrassed when I present my writing to other people, especially if it’s personal.
To me, Cohen’s poems do not read like they were written by someone who actually likes poetry or has some reason for choosing this medium. Pretty much every line could be expanded on. She could’ve written a few David Sedaris-esque essays based on some of the concepts in this book and at least then we could see she tried.
To me, this book reads like Twitter drafts. Which is sad. Because she could’ve done more!
First I will tell you one of my favorite poems. It’s from Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems,” which I could see Cat Cohen emulating a bit. Here it is:
————————
an invitation to lunch
HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?
when I only have 16 cents and 2
packages of yoghurt
there’s a lesson in that, isn’t there
like in Chinese poetry when a leaf falls?
hold off on the yoghurt till the very
last, when everything may improve
————————
Much like Cohen’s poems, this is short with no rhyme scheme. It seems like it could be about nothing. But it employs literary devices that Cohen does not really attempt. And it is much more meaningful for that reason.
In case you accuse me of being sexist or elitist or romanticizing the past, here’s another of my favorite poems. This one is by Britney Spears and was posted as an Instagram caption in May 2021. To me it is about the freedom we felt at that time when it seemed like the pandemic was over, as well as the freedom Britney desired when she was under her conservatorship. I genuinely think it’s really meaningful.
—————————
Where are we going beautiful
people???? We going to Asia ... Europe... Australia.
... Kansas ... the arcade ... the candy
store ... HOME ? ???? What do you think
these ladies would find in the deep ocean???? Sharks
... fish ... turtles???? Tell me, what do you think FAM
?!?!
—————————
I didn’t include the emojis ‘cause they didn’t copy and paste but look it up for the full poem bc those are a part of it. The photo goes along with it too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CO_l8yIg8...
And here is one of Cat Cohen’s poems from this book. the title is: poem I wrote last night when I couldn't go to sleep because there are no sheets on my bed because I perioded on my other sheets and cannot be bothered to put new ones on
————————
I'm sorry I friended your fiancé on facebook
I just meant to look at his profile pictures
I was on my phone
I haven't spoken to you in at least seven years
but you can't get engaged to your personal trainer
and not have me stalk him
————————-
🤨
My initial reaction to these poems was very negative. I would be inclined to say some of them are flat out disrespectful to the medium of poetry. But that doesn’t mean I think Cat Cohen is necessarily a bad writer or an uncreative person.
I think the main concept explored in this book certainly has the potential the be interesting. I understand this theme as the feeling that you are kind of a mess in a world that overall seems like it sucks but you still think you have something to say even though that might seem kind of ridiculous.
This is a familiar concept to me! I feel this way all the time. A lot of the poetry is relatable and funny, and I see why people would be interested in that. I completely relate to her talking about how she is addicted to her phone and I can see some of this as sort of a satire of privileged white millennials in Brooklyn from someone in that cohort.
However, I don’t see that very much effort was put into this. One style thing that was immediately off putting to me is how the titles of the poems have nothing to do with the poems themselves. I don’t know if it’s true that she wrote the poems after she did the thing she says she did in the title.
I think it’s genuinely hard to embrace sincerity right now. I always feel somewhat embarrassed when I present my writing to other people, especially if it’s personal.
To me, Cohen’s poems do not read like they were written by someone who actually likes poetry or has some reason for choosing this medium. Pretty much every line could be expanded on. She could’ve written a few David Sedaris-esque essays based on some of the concepts in this book and at least then we could see she tried.
To me, this book reads like Twitter drafts. Which is sad. Because she could’ve done more!
January 6, 2022
i can’t lie and say these poems aren’t a little facile and self-involved and annoyingly glib or that they don’t read like what would come out if you fed the so-sad-today twitter and dasha redscare to a neural network. but i enjoyed them! plus like who among us doesn’t want to be “the first woman / in ill-fitting pants to be on an episode / of succession” ??? exactly
January 27, 2022
"there's nothing wrong with feeling on fire
if it's embarrassing it's probably good"
Like if Hannah from Girls wrote a poetry collection during the pandemic that was a little fun and a little sad. I know this sounds like an insult, but before we all decided Hannah was the Worst, I watched the early seasons of that show and was like "oh wow I am such a Hannah." So I guess what I'm saying is I enjoyed this because it felt like I could have written it in another life, where I moved to NYC to be creative and didn't need A/C to live.
if it's embarrassing it's probably good"
Like if Hannah from Girls wrote a poetry collection during the pandemic that was a little fun and a little sad. I know this sounds like an insult, but before we all decided Hannah was the Worst, I watched the early seasons of that show and was like "oh wow I am such a Hannah." So I guess what I'm saying is I enjoyed this because it felt like I could have written it in another life, where I moved to NYC to be creative and didn't need A/C to live.
July 31, 2024
oh to be back in the park reading with this with my friends in the sun and not finishing it during my lunch break at work in my boyfriends house
March 8, 2021
a lot of these are good, some of them are bad, i think this is the most anyone can hope for in a poetry collection.
i especially liked 'oh god' and 'it's worse than i thought' :)
i especially liked 'oh god' and 'it's worse than i thought' :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews