Walkman

by Michael Robbins

A new collection from an audacious, humorous poet celebrated for his "sky-blue originality of utterance" (Dwight Garner, The New York Times )

Michael Robbins's first two books of poetry were raucous protests lodged from the frontage roads and big-box stores of off-ramp America. With Walkman , he turns a corner. These new poems confront self-pity and nostalgia in witty-miserable defiance of our political and ecological moment. It's the end of the world, and Robbins has listened to all the tapes in his backpack. So he's making music from whatever junk he finds lying around.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021

About the author

Michael Robbins is the author of two books of poetry and the essay collection Equipment for Living: On Poetry and Pop Music. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Harper’s, Bookforum, The Nation, and several other publications. He is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Montclair State University.

Reviews

[Patrick Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. I liked this much better than Robbins’s previous collections. The formal pyrotechnics are largely absent, which is a shame, but the poems are much more relatable. He seems to care more about communicating with the reader, and there are far fewer poetry world allusions and inside jokes (though there are still some, which is fine, he’s a poet after all). In one poem he gently chides himself for writing about “bourgeois shit” but these poems feel far less bourgeois in their sensibility than his former work, more William Carlos Williams and less John Ashbery. I’m really glad I picked this up, it was just what I needed right now.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robbins’ characteristic hacking away at modern reality with icons of popular culture, wielded with aplomb. But this collection passes from the deft wit of his earlier work to quiet morosity, much like late era George Carlin bits changed from his earlier delightfully funny to more pure outrage.

So it was nice to run across the occasional contemplative poem, such as:

Scallop draggers far offshore/pull up tusks where long before/megafauna browsed in grass—/ocean now. This too shall pass.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 very good poems in this collection. Emotion 1.5/5.

[Downward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I once saw Michael Robbins do a reading at Montclair University, a school at which he was in the middle of working toward a teaching position that he would eventually get, and someone in the audience asked him about his poems being technically proficient but without much emotional content. He answered that the emotional content was the easy part. I remember the people that I was with being disappointed with his answer, their belief being that NO THAT WASN'T THE EASY PART, which you know fair enough. Anyway, this one is Michael Robbins doing what he previously noted as "the easy part" and it's really good.

[Allan Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Less is more, they say. Lucky me” That’s from Michael Robbins’
Walkman, his latest book from Penguin. But these are not spare
poems on shuffle, they are keen, sometimes acerbic and always
revealing counterpoints that play behind daily encounters.
It might mean he could get by with less, but these life commentaries
with backup are too wild and at large for simplicity. The title poem,
Walkman, and the last, The Seasons, are field guides, or play lists.
Reverent and irreverent are in the queue, get your copy, Press Play.

[Vicki Haid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really only like two of poems in this collection.The rest.... meh, just not for me.

[Gabriel Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC given by Edelweiss+ for Honest Review
A refreshingly pessimistic collection of poetry. Robbins speaks to feeling tired and hopeless in such a weirdly hopeful way that it really holds the reader and shakes them to their core. Like it's saying "It's okay that you're sad!!! We are all sad!! Here listen to some music."

A little on the psuedo-intellectual side of confessional poetry but also brings a refreshing mix of faith into it.
Overall, something I'd definitely pick up for myself.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy is the same age as me and from almost the same place so partly out of a sense of self hatred I started reading this. The first and last poem are stunning. In between is a bunch of crap, these crap poems are very short though.
. . . The pasture
assembles a coyote
out of whatever it has
lying around, he is the color
of the tall rushes with a pretty
name I can barely tell
him apart from. I make him
nervous. I call "It's OK"
to where I think he is.
And I could swim
through the Lyme
vectors to the coyote,
but I don't need
to be forgiven.

[Aaron Ambrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always feel intimidated and uncertain in the face of poetry, and to some extent that's part of the appeal. I know there are rules, but that the rules are broken or disregarded a lot, and you're supposed to read out loud - or maybe not? And the line breaks add layers of meaning - or not. Or do/not?

These by Robbins are approachable, but also coy. Vulnerable and petulant. And the word that came to mind at the end was KEENING. Something about that sounds right. Wounded, defiant, alert, uncertain, intimidated . . . oh my god, I think we're connecting.

[Collin Kavanaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robbins pulls from pop culture and his strong personal wit to produce cynical musings on the state of our world. His form is clear at best, bland at worst, and The Seasons presents the strongest piece in the work. It’s good work, but embittered but heartbreak over relationship, the youths, and the fuckery of the world.

[Caleb Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robbins has a gift for long, skinny, run-on poems that perfectly capture both the constant buzz of the speaker’s thoughts and every detail of the hyper-stimulating world around them. This collection is bookended by two particularly incredible pieces of poetry. Only giving it four stars because I found some pieces to be mild in comparison, but a great read all the way through.

[BookDrunkard is on storygraph as bookdrunkard78 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of Walkman in exchange for an honest review.

This book of poetry was a quick read. I enjoyed the nostalgic feel to the writing. I also liked that it felt like I was having a conversation with the author. I would definitely read more by him.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strong book of poems. I think fans of the "early, funny ones" will like these more mature, deeper poems, but they made need to adjust their expectations.
I look forward to seeing where he goes next.

[Neal Jochmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great! Makes the reader feel like it's possible to write a good poem.

[Brianna Kinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not my typical poetry reading but it was a standout. Robbins viewpoints make the reader feel like there actually in the situations he puts himself in.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

As good as anything he's done before, probably better. There is a lot less of the allusive....sampling? More sentimental, but the hellscape can do that to a person. I laughed aloud so often.

[Luke Gorham · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2. Michael Robbins' best collection yet still isn't all that good.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very loose free verse that is sharply observational and occasionally very funny. Robbins every now and then trots out some more formal light verse. I enjoyed it.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection. Standouts include the title poem, "Shed," "Prayer," and "Throwing the Yijing in Bullhead City."

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

For when you want long form poetry with hints of pop culture and God.

[Jayant Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a fun book. Very unconventionally done— initially, a long poem feels too discontinuous and then it becomes a set pattern that complements to the theme of the said poems. Lovely and necessary.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

favorites: "What They Mean" "Prayer" "John Says the Elders Came Over"

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm going into kinkos and mailing dire threats to the news too

[S]

"Just think: there was a song / that I didn't know / would be the last song / I would ever play on a Walkman. / I listened to it like it was just / any old song, / because it was."

"Even in my / shed I want a shed."

"They say / what you love will live on after. / What they mean is / here's a noose and there's a rafter."

"I'm just dying. I'll be / OK in a minute. / I saw a billboard that said HELL IS REAL. / Well, duh, / they put up a billboard in it."

"Scallop draggers far offshore / pull up tusks where long before / megafauna browsed in grass–– / ocean now. This too shall pass."

"That bear / two summers ago –– / like seeing a refrigerator / sprint."

"pray / that young people like you / (except for the clipboard) / might hear my message: / if you don't smoke, start / and don't stop. It's not / a world to get so / damn worked up / about leaving."