Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina

by Dara Barrois/Dixon

Highly anticipated poems from beloved contemporary poet Dara Barrois/Dixon (formerly Dara Wier).

In her latest collection, Dara Barrois/Dixon brings generous attention to the things we love—be they animals, books, skyscapes, movies, poems, or other human beings—and the ways in which our stories around them help shape our sense of being.

With the same tender honesty found in all of her poetry, the poems in Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina are curious about the world we inhabit and the worlds we create. Here, with emotional exactitude, is a collection of poems that is unafraid to express "love humor despair loving kindness love humor empathy/humor joy sympathy love kindness courage."

Genres: Poetry

75 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2022

Reviews

[Emily Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell yeah.

Barrois/Dixon knows how to end a poem.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Concerning the woman Tolstoy named Anna Karenina and what made her maker make her for obliteration, as fate and words pretend she kills herself rather than be her maker's victim, I'm thinking about what it means when someone calls something a tragedy when in fact it amounts to a crime" (71).

[Bob Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly well-written, but apart from a few poems it didn’t really speak to me that much.

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems in Barrois/Dixon's book have this remarkable ability to pinpoint an occasion or tension that should be worthy of a poem, or worthy of further consideration, like falling in love, or being in love, or trundling through love and realizing all the different rhythms love has, even between two people, or with one person and the world around her. And if a poem is really going to take this situation on, which it should, because poems and love have always been about being in love with one another, because there's so much to say about each to each about each other. Then the poem should go on. And not just "go on" like in length, "go on," like conversationally, where the listener says, with anticipation, "Go on." And Barrois/Dixon's poems oblige, but their "going on" usually happens in the middle of a sentence. The pacing feels rhetorical. Where rhetoric is that sensitivity to taking to one another, to the poet aware of how she's fashioning this speaking voice, so you'll listen, but you'll also feel like how she's feeling, or you'll listen like it feels when you're deep in thought and listening with someone. What a rhetorical deliciousness. And thought.

And the poems are just so aware and being. And I would say love is a considerable subject here. As is dying or death or, as in one of my favorite poems in the collection, someone who says they feel sorry for you. And under your breath you're like, "I'm sorry?" And the poem takes that under-the-breath moment and gives voice to it, and addresses the person who said it. And pushes and pushes that situation along without breaking the elasticity of the statement as it's heard on either side.

[Becky Shepkowski Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of poetry, some of which I enjoyed, much that I could pass on. Lovely nods to literature throughout, though some of that lacked the emotional depth present in the third part of the collection.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible collection of poetry. A subtle dry wit throughout.

[William Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard the poet read from this book and was captivated. I think you might be too.