Piece Work

by Barbara Presnell

Poetry. "One does not know which to admire more in this collection--its fierce documentary honesty, or the perfect pitch of its imagined speakers. The two come together memorably in poem after poem, giving us deep and abiding insight into industrial and post-industrial America. This, too, is part of poetry's task: to tell what happened, and why it still matters"--Jared Carter.

Genres: Poetry

71 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mary Vecellio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a book of poems quite like this. This book moved me much more than I thought it would. It was phenomenal, one to binge-read in a single sitting. The movement of the story through time and the lives of everyone involved. Each tale intertwined, just like the knitting and sewing in the textile mill. I felt like I had a "book hangover" after finishing this one, I needed to sit with this for a moment to really absorb what I had just experienced. It took me only a couple of hours to read, but I felt like I had just experienced a lifetime twice over. The death of Bill really hit me hard. The poem about the olive drab sent to Vietnam. The kids growing up and continuing the work or not. You get sent textile mill at its peak and you get to experience it all the way until it dissipates. Being born and raised in Randolph County, North Carolina made this book genuinely speak to my heart. It reminded me of all the people I was raised around; it felt like home. I will never forget this book, not in a million years. Barbara Presnell has written something so authentic, there is nothing like her writing. Even as I write this review I'm still in awe of this masterpiece.

[Rebecca Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened upon this book when I was searching the library catalog for things about the industries of North Carolina, my recently adopted home state. And lo and behold, there was a poetry book about garment workers in the textile industry. Who knew?

The book was similar in structure and tone to another book I read in the last couple of years about the West Virginia mine wars of the early 1920s, which I'd known nothing about. But maybe the similarity is only that they would both be considered documentary poetry. Presnell's book is less harrowing than Diane Gilliam Fisher's Kettle Bottom, but it presents characters that the reader comes to know. And one feels the clank and hum of the factory as the book progresses through their work lives.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best poetry books I have ever read. Presnell offers a whole book of personal poems in the voices of workers at a garment factory. We hear from the men and women who operate the cutters, sewing machines, and quality control, as well as their supervisor and the big boss. Their voices are human, as real as if they were talking to us in person. When word gets out that the plant is closing, its work being moved to Mexico, we feel their pain as they face unemployment, uncertainty and anger. This book reads like a story, a very important one.

[Seamus Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part poetry collection, part documentary history, this is poetry as community -- the life of a mill in the voices of the millworkers. From "Velma in Packaging" and "Marla, Working the Cutter" to "Charlie, the Foreman" and "Carl, Human Resources Manager", Piece Work is filled with real and beautiful voices. From their first days on the job to the all-too-inevitable shutting down of the mill, there is the arc of Life here too. The life of the mill and the lives of the workers.

A sample -- the first and part of the last stanzas of "Velma in Packaging:"

If I could shrink wrap misery,
I'd put in all twelve years with Roy,
his bottles, lost paychecks, excuses,
and that sorry boy turned out to be
just like him. Pile the whole wad
on this belt and run 'em through

***

I'd shrink wrap this mill and ship it
off to Satan. Hell, I'd shrink wrap
this shrink wrap machine. Only thing
ain't misery is that three o'clock whistle.

[Sally Buckner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned how millworkers appreciated their community of workers, how they valued their jobs (and yes, how some of them hated the work itself), how they helped one another I already knew how the closing of mills disrupted their lives, but it is important to hear the workers decry that disruption in their own distinctive voices.

[Ashley]

A wonderful collection full of atmosphere and emotion. Presnell expertly describes regional aspects of North Carolina while making the collection speak to a larger audience. Characters are moving and 3 dimensional. I could write pages on this collection, but just a great, great read.