Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night: Poems

by Morgan Parker

The debut collection from award-winning poet Morgan Parker (There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce; Magical Negro) demonstrates why she’s become one of the most beloved writers working today. Her command of language is on full display. Parker bobs and weaves between humor and pathos, grief and anxiety, Gwendolyn Brooks and Jay-Z, the New York school and reality television. She collapses any foolish distinctions between the personal and the political, the “high” and the “low.” Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night not only introduced an essential new voice to the world, it contains everything readers have come to love about Morgan Parker’s work. 

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Feminism, Race, Womens, Short Stories, Essays

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Morgan 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.

Reviews

[Alex Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy fucking shit, I love this book.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This did not do much for me. There were excellent passages but as a whole it felt frenetic and often jumbled, a very free stream-of-consciousness output but one that is unfocused and that collapses under the author's very large assumptions of reader understanding. To me this feels like a book for the writer rather than a book meant to be read by others; work that is cathartic but not resonant with external thought.

[mel🕯 · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When the snow comes
you come
For a taste of your neck I would
burn my tongue"

not nearly as good as Morgan Parker's other collection "There are Things more Beautiful than Beyonce" in my opinion but i appreciated it

[Keight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am more comfortable
being mourned than loved.
· • ·
The past has not been as rewarding
as I had hoped.

Waiting nearly four months to write about a book makes it nearly impossible to write anything substantive. I remember that there weren't any complete poems that struck me, rather these few lines that I noted. Reading them now they feel a bit darker in tone than I recall the book being, and I suspect part of their impact may have been their context. Overall Morgan Parker's writing felt young and fresh — and young is not a criticism. She has the perspective of someone not at all convinced by the power of the status quo. She's questioning and challenging, yet weaves in humor. This was her first book, with There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé following last year. And she is publishing a lot in the next year or so: her site notes she has a forthcoming poetry collection Magical Negro coming out early 2019, a young adult novel in late 2019, and then a nonfiction book in 2020.

[Misse Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

YOUNG, SASSY, AND BLACK
I use these words to distract you

Morgan Parker’s, Other Peoples Comfort Keep Me Up At Night is her debut collection of poetry that is everything contemporary, insightful, and commanding. Here, in this reissue, Parker highlights several previously published pieces that for me do not disappointment.

There are poems that are lyrical, thoughtful, and explore grief and anxiety. There are also those that are light, reflective and utterly HUMOROUS.

I have become a true fan of Parker’s work and look forward to her future work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House for providing me a copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides being razor sharp, pleasingly rowdy, and culturally on point, Parker's poems are also really freaking funny at times. The humor throughout this collection gives her poems a brilliant sheen. And this is just the beginning--I can't wait for her Tin House book (in early 2017).

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely took me back to 2015 (in a good way), lots of pop culture references and the tone is very of that time: both funny and anxious, playful and sad. really good to read out loud.

favorites: real housewife defends herself in front of a live studio audience; boys, boys, boys; rest stop / fresno county line / january

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

really invigorating poetry, most people could write reality tv confessional poetry and make it so bad but morgan parker makes it SO biting and beautiful in its insight and cruelty. thanks babe

[alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

“i am more comfortable / being mourned than loved”

3.5/5 stars

fleabag + weed + a little too much how to lose a guy in 10 days = an all around good (albeit confusing) time!

[Michelle | musingsbymichelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan Parker's Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night is being reprinted! This is the first collection of the author's. Her other notable works are There are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé and Magical Negro. This version has a new forward by Danez Smith, where he sings nothing but well-deserved, high praises of Parker.

Stylistically, these poems have a flow to them as the poet draws inspiration from rappers such as Jay-Z. At the heart of the poems are the trappings of a young Black girl navigating space with a slew of millennial pop culture references. These poems are as fun as they are breathtaking. An incredibly impressive set of debut poems that I'm so glad is going out into the world again.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Tin House Publishing. I am giving this review voluntarily.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

cool to read given that I am a Morgan Parker fan, def reads like a first book. which isn't a diss bc i am in the midst of writing my first book. but you can see the evolution, ya dig?

[Jungian.Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.6/5 stars

[jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me refer to myself in glorious ways... I'm trying to keep my tenderness in check .

This was a find at Kepler's with Limbo. Morgan Parker's words were/are the type to make me pay attention, recontend with myself. The words have been far away lately but reading these made me feel like they could come back soon or that maybe I could pretend for a while if they don't.

What I mean to say is this: ... I don't know who I am while I am doing these things

I started this on the bus to lab and finished it waiting for my bacteria to finish incubating asdlfjaks It feels like foggy days and made me nostalgic for the good parts of second grade when the rain would cancel recess and it made me sad and dread-y to stay inside and pretend to want to watch stuart little but something about the dark classrooms and the cafeteria lunches and the games of twister with the striped socks and the tracked mud felt kind of comfy and somewhere in there the memory turns good and maybe that's what makes it nostalgia.

22 and grad school feels like I am getting to know // used to myself all over again and i guess sometimes that comes with these little bonus fry memories of second grade. Beyond that, great book, best I've read in a bitty, will be keeping and worth a round two :))

[Nuha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Tin House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available July 13th 2021.

The first time I came across Morgan Parker's work, I was awestruck. Hanging in an art gallery in front of me was the most sublime poem I had ever seen, "Towards a New Theory of Negro Propaganda", with its chaotic yet inspired amalgamation. In a similar vein, Parker's "Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night" is a bombastic celebration of all things Black and pop culture. With a natural cadence and soul to her work, Parker takes on a slew of subjects - anything from an ex hookup to a Real Housewife to ancient philosophy. With dry humor and wry wit, Parker makes each of these subjects shine. A captivating collection from one of America's best contemporary poets.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sought out more Morgan Parker poetry after reading There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé and she did not disappoint. Other People's Comfort Keeps Me up at Night is an insightful and hilarious volume of poems about living in the 21st century. The poems range from multiple pages to two-liners but they all pack a punch. I especially enjoyed her running set of poems titled "Miss Black America." Morgan Parker is definitely one of my favorite poets and I am so looking forward to reading more from her.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book, written in verse. It was raw, rowdy and visceral, but also very funny in unexpected spots. There were several interesting poems -- my favorites were the ones titled "Miss America" and the one where she imagines herself as part of "The Cosby Show". There were poems that I didn't quite get, but there were also ones that seemed like I wasn't going to get them, then, POW, you get hit with a line or two that really hits you -- I re-read several that had that impact on me. I would rate it as a light 4, but definitely recommended.

[Rachel Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I read slowly over time and kept taking screenshots of to send to my friends. Morgan Parker is one of my favorite poets/writers/writing role models, so I’m biased as hell. But this is a work that does work. Point blank. Read it.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god this book is spectacular. Months later pieces from this book still randomly pop into my mind. The only thing better than reading this book is hearing the author read from it. If you have the opportunity go see her read.

[Harper Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't grip me like Morgan’s previous work but overall enjoyable. Also, I have no idea what was up with the ebook formatting but poem titles were often laid over text and it was odd. Not sure how something like this happens at this stage.

[Elizabeth Quarles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me that my poetry is actually as interesting as soup can labels. This book is a must read the poetry literally so good.

[Kandace · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to describe this collection of poetry? Words interwoven with art, music, and nature collapsing space and time. In this second edition of the book Danez Smith writes, "Morgan, to me, is as timeless as a person can get. I don't mean old school cause there's too much future here, and I also don't wanna remove possibility from the past. I mean there is a long sense of time and lineage in these poems...Morgan sits a the feet of her elders, a student of Black Time, taking up their tools and messin' around. A historian. A time/less writer, one free from time's limitations." Smith's insights into Morgan's timelessness is how I felt in the poems. Especially true with this line, "The past has not been as rewarding as I had hoped." Right there with you Morgan. Right there with you.

[Sunday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morgan Parker reads like she doesn't care if I know how to listen; I like how she gets me to anyways.

This gem walked into my life with Jco's guidance, and I'm very appreciative of both. I like the way the words bite, but also firmly. Morgan Parker is an expert in weaving together Blackness, womanhood, anti-capitalism, and the depth of our own humanities; also, I admire the multiple doors she would leave open throughout the collection.

All in all, enjoyed it a lot! Definitely will keep in arm's reach

[Izy Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not an expert in reading poetry but Parker’s words melted together so nicely I wanted to read some of the poems four times over. She is certainly an expert—her descriptions of life and love and art and politics floored me. She is also silly! Lots of tongue-in-cheek poems about reality TV, celebrities, beauty pageants, and movies. Loved “Poems made of empty prescription bottles from the garage in front of bill murrays house” and “how to piss in public and maintain femininity.” If you want to dabble in poetry reading I highly recommend this collection!!

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so happy that I was selected to review a reprinted edition of Morgan Parker's debut poetry collection Other People's Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night. A couple of year's ago, I read and enjoyed Parker's more recent collection. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé. In both this and that collection, Morgan Parker shares in powerful poems what it means to be a Black woman in modern society, with observations about everything from reality TV to texting. As a bit of reality show junkie, I loved the ones about reality TV. Too real.

I highly recommend this collection, even if you aren't a big poetry fan. :)
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!

[jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

i completely understand why so many reviews call morgan parker one of the most important poets of today — she is! i love the rhythm in her work, i love the pop culture references she plays with, and i love the “Miss Black America” series. fuck yeah can’t wait to read more from her

[Meg Tuite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parker is a master of language and heat! DEEP DEEP LOVE!
Some Quotes: "The sky was acting exactly like/my mind: taking in the same quickness/
day by day, always about to rain/over traffic cones. If my words today/
were not airless flags, they would be/ something you don't hope for/
but wonder about years later."
"The vision is closing in like a tight dress."
"The shops in the village are leaking bodies.
Spilt oil rolls over cash like hands, some glorious bullshit."

Searing and mesmerizing, brilliant and unforgettable!

[Matty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan Parker exercises a lot of concision and specificity that I greatly appreciate here.

[isabella :3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

i only got this because of the soul crushing title

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting. You just want to keep reading to see what Morgan Parker line will hook you next!

[mikaylabry · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god. review to come but WOW.