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The Trouble With Palm Trees
In The Trouble with Palm Trees Iris Berry takes you on a tour of Los Angeles that’ll haunt you like one of the City’s famous unsolved murders. Her writing is gritty and scarred, but loaded with details, and an ironic, wry sense of humor. Whether she’s paying tribute to a deceased cat, or describing the suicidal tendencies of a gangster x-boyfriend, there is always a connecting thread—survivors’ wisdom and a sense of universal hope. ~ Pleasant Gehman
49 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2021
3 people want to read
About the author
Iris Berry
27 books23 followersIris Berry is one of the founding creative minds behind Punk Hostage Press. She is a native Angeleno who writes about her personal experiences from the sun baked asphalt
violent streets of Pacoima, running away to the allure of late 70’s Hollywood, at the age of 15,
looking for a better life against the historical backdrop of the Los Angeles skyline.
Her poetry and prose, as well as her performances in such memorable groups as the Lame Flames and the Ringling Sisters, are an integral part of L.A.'s contemporary literary movement. She has recently featured articles and interviews in Slake, her most recent being an in depth interview with Art Kunkin, the founder of the Los Angeles Free Press back in the early 60s.
Her latest book, The Daughters of Bastards, features some of her most intimate work she has shared with the public to date. A working title that she has compiled these personalized stories under for the last 10 years, these poems and stories represent a grappling with the idea of origin and the drift that occurs when the umbilical has been cut and the search begins for what might have been lost at the beginning.
It reflects her experiences and gives insight to some of her adventurous times growing up on the streets of Hollywood in the golden era of the LA punk rock scene.
“Iris Berry's frank and touching effort, The Daughters of Bastards, brings the radiant beauty of her poetic voice to the strange, funny, grotesque and poignant events of
a life lived in extremes, a journey to the end of night that ends with the break of luminous day.”
Richard Modiano –
Director of Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center
“I will not speak in cliché about Iris Berry, nor will I use unnecessary superlatives. When I think of this artist I think of enchantment and beauty. I think of intelligence and perspicacity. Iris is one fine talent honed by life and all the better for it. She writes with grace and strength
and allows you to live the moments she creates so that you not only wish you were there with her to experience life as she beholds it but for all intents you are there experiencing the ragged emotion and reality that
makes an Iris Berry work come to life.”
Larry Jaffe – Poet
“Iris Berry has no choice but to give witness. The universe ordained it with her birthplace and time and her path from there… the white chick from Pacoima with a hard edge and soft heart, the obedient princess reporting
observances of special climates at guarded campfires, whose journey spanned regions most others can only dream of. Iris is the only L.A. punk diva that survived the time's brutal but privileged initiations; from sitting
shotgun on suburban rides to sitting at her throne in the tinsel town underground with "the tick tick ticking" of her celluloid memory, saving it all for later, for her precision finesse in story telling… there is no other writer's witness that is as crucial to this city's history during its sexiest defiance, the punk rock Hollywood scene, as seen and transposed by a humble diva whose honesty reflects her deeply felt experiences told in a pure raw beauty of expression, weaving a noir that
only Iris has lived through and here shares with us until we sweat glitter, guitars, needles and leopard skin. And we marvel at her success in never losing that sexy sweetness only a true punk princess is born with: an
unconditional love and compassion for all things outside of the box.”
Yvonne de la Vega – Los Angeles poet/organizer -World Poetry Movement. Author of “Tomorrow, Yvonne – Poetry & Prose For Suicidal Egotists”
“There are far too few writers today who write from the heart about the damned. Far too few who let lost souls scream from the page once more. Iris Berry is one of these writers. Her words are haunting and her imagery
cinematic. Iris Berry is a straight Razor wrapped in a garter belt. She leaves nothing but her blood on the page."- Edaurdo Jones
violent streets of Pacoima, running away to the allure of late 70’s Hollywood, at the age of 15,
looking for a better life against the historical backdrop of the Los Angeles skyline.
Her poetry and prose, as well as her performances in such memorable groups as the Lame Flames and the Ringling Sisters, are an integral part of L.A.'s contemporary literary movement. She has recently featured articles and interviews in Slake, her most recent being an in depth interview with Art Kunkin, the founder of the Los Angeles Free Press back in the early 60s.
Her latest book, The Daughters of Bastards, features some of her most intimate work she has shared with the public to date. A working title that she has compiled these personalized stories under for the last 10 years, these poems and stories represent a grappling with the idea of origin and the drift that occurs when the umbilical has been cut and the search begins for what might have been lost at the beginning.
It reflects her experiences and gives insight to some of her adventurous times growing up on the streets of Hollywood in the golden era of the LA punk rock scene.
“Iris Berry's frank and touching effort, The Daughters of Bastards, brings the radiant beauty of her poetic voice to the strange, funny, grotesque and poignant events of
a life lived in extremes, a journey to the end of night that ends with the break of luminous day.”
Richard Modiano –
Director of Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center
“I will not speak in cliché about Iris Berry, nor will I use unnecessary superlatives. When I think of this artist I think of enchantment and beauty. I think of intelligence and perspicacity. Iris is one fine talent honed by life and all the better for it. She writes with grace and strength
and allows you to live the moments she creates so that you not only wish you were there with her to experience life as she beholds it but for all intents you are there experiencing the ragged emotion and reality that
makes an Iris Berry work come to life.”
Larry Jaffe – Poet
“Iris Berry has no choice but to give witness. The universe ordained it with her birthplace and time and her path from there… the white chick from Pacoima with a hard edge and soft heart, the obedient princess reporting
observances of special climates at guarded campfires, whose journey spanned regions most others can only dream of. Iris is the only L.A. punk diva that survived the time's brutal but privileged initiations; from sitting
shotgun on suburban rides to sitting at her throne in the tinsel town underground with "the tick tick ticking" of her celluloid memory, saving it all for later, for her precision finesse in story telling… there is no other writer's witness that is as crucial to this city's history during its sexiest defiance, the punk rock Hollywood scene, as seen and transposed by a humble diva whose honesty reflects her deeply felt experiences told in a pure raw beauty of expression, weaving a noir that
only Iris has lived through and here shares with us until we sweat glitter, guitars, needles and leopard skin. And we marvel at her success in never losing that sexy sweetness only a true punk princess is born with: an
unconditional love and compassion for all things outside of the box.”
Yvonne de la Vega – Los Angeles poet/organizer -World Poetry Movement. Author of “Tomorrow, Yvonne – Poetry & Prose For Suicidal Egotists”
“There are far too few writers today who write from the heart about the damned. Far too few who let lost souls scream from the page once more. Iris Berry is one of these writers. Her words are haunting and her imagery
cinematic. Iris Berry is a straight Razor wrapped in a garter belt. She leaves nothing but her blood on the page."- Edaurdo Jones
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 8, 2021
Iris Berry has gone from being a leading figure in the Los Angeles punk music scene to being a world class poet and head of the indie publishing company, Punk Hostage Press. I’m a couple of decades older than Iris, so punk rock was not my thing. But I have always been a fan of good poetry, and I think hers is eloquent and moving. My appreciation of her writing was elevated to a high level by her previous book of poems, ALL THAT SHINES UNDER THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN. This new poetry collection is equally good. To me, Iris’ style is reminiscent of the Beat poetry of the ‘50s and ‘60s. But her voice is her own and the imagery and feelings of love, loss and nostalgia she writes about are relayed in a way that make them both highly personal and universally human at the same time. If you’re a fan of poetry in general – or of Iris in particular – you’ll want to buy this book.
December 17, 2021
This is a lovely slim elegiac book. I loved it as I always love Iris’s writing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews