Two and Two

by Denise Duhamel

Denise Duhamel's much anticipated new collection begins with a revisionist tale--Noah is married to Joan of Arc--in a poem about America's often flawed sense of history. Throughout Two and Two , doubles Noah's animals; Duhamel's parents as Jack and Jill in a near-fatal accident; an incestuous double sestina; a male/female pantoum; a dream and its interpretation; and translations of advertisements from English to Spanish. In two Möbius strip poems (shaped like the Twin Towers), Duhamel invites her readers to get out their scissors and tape and transform her poems into 3-D objects. At the book's center is "Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted," a gathering of journal entries, personal e-mails, and news reports into a collage of witness about September 11. A section of " Mille et un sentiments ," modeled on the lists of Hervé Le Tellier, Georges Perec, and George Brainard, breaks down emotions to their most basic levels, their 1,001 tiny recognitions. The book ends with "Carbó Frescos," written in the form of an art guidebook from the 24th century. Innovative and unpretentious, Duhamel uses twice the language usually available for poetry. She culls from the literary and nonliterary, from the Bible and product warning labels, from Woody Allen films and Hong Kong action movies--to say difficult things with astonishing accuracy. Two and Two is second to none.

Genres: Poetry

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Denise Duhamel's most recent books are Ka-Ching! (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009), Two and Two (Pittsburgh, 2005), Mille et un Sentiments (Firewheel, 2005); Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (Pittsburgh, 2001); The Star-Spangled Banner (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999); and Kinky (Orchises Press, 1997). A bilingual edition of her poems, Afortunada de mí (Lucky Me), translated into Spanish by Dagmar Buchholz and David Gonzalez, came out in 2008 with Bartleby Editores (Madrid.) A recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she is an associate professor at Florida International University in Miami.

Reviews

[Annie Sand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved several of the poems, but the two longest poems are, in my opinion, not worth reading

[Stephani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant work that plays with form a lot, including using pieces of real emails and adopting forms from French poets. I would give this book 4 stars, but I'm not happy with 3 lines from "Mille et un sentiments" a list poem that includes the following items:
"45. I'd rather be killed than raped.
46. I feel like rape is killing."
As a sexual assault survivor, these lines really hurt, and I've heard women who aren't survivors say these kinds of things before. Does this mean that we survivors should be dead, or are walking dead? I know Duhamel would probably say she doesn't mean it that way, but I know I'm glad I'm not a murder victim. Even with the lifelong emotional disabilities that being a survivor left me, life is better than death.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Denise Duhamel. Both as a poet (which I have been on her side since the first time I read her words) and as a human being (I still have e-mails saved from her to prove that she is a very cool head-on-the-ground sort of person that doesn't let success -such as it is in poetry - go to her head).

I have enjoyed everything she has ever written and this collection is no exception.

The only thing is, this collection feels much more uneven and much less self-assured to me.

I feel like I need to read it again and question why it feels a bit more disjointed to me, but it just was not quite as duhamel-y as I expected in some way.

When I write of her on an empty handball court, this collection will be more of a footnote, I will just say that.........

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no question that the star of this collection is Duhamel's long 9-11 poem, "Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted". From start to finish, this 25-page poem is powerful and seemingly effortless, juxtaposing the personal against the media against the political, and bringing separate voices together in a way that makes the poem literally ring from the page. This poem, honestly, made the collection worth reading.

But, this said... there weren't many poems here that I enjoyed besides this hallmark piece. Too many of them felt more like unedited exercises or wandering rants, and while most all of them had some interesting language moments, there just wasn't enough for me to enjoy reading them on any level.

If you're a poetry lover, I'd absolutely recommend looking up the long poem here--especially if you're interested in long poems (although, the sections in this one are so short that it doesn't read like the average long poem), though I'm afraid I can't recommend the collection as a whole.

[Steven Felicelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

strong content, weak execution

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this book is weaker than Duhamel's previous books--The Star Spangled Banner is one of my all-time favorites--or if my tastes have changed and I like her style less.

It was a pretty solid book altogether. It starts off strong with "Noah and Joan", which I liked a lot. Soon, though, Duhamel starts experimenting with form. "Incest Taboo" is kind of an interesting sestina variation. "Our Americano" plays around with the alphabet and aliteration and kind of got on my nerves. "Warning" felt like a workshop exercise (though I liked the last line). The mobius strip poems annoyed me some but also ended up being ultimately likeable. The "Lawless Pantoum" I kind of didn't get.

"Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted" is a very long poem, the centerpiece of the book, and it caused me some difficulty--it's about the events of 9/11, engaging in those events from the perspective of many different characters. On the one hand, I haven't seen a lot of poets write about this, and I think it's a valuable thing to do, a thing that needs to be done, so I hate to criticize, but it really felt too long to me. It doesn't go overboard into sentimentalism, though, and it's kind of an interesting meditation. It actually creates a meditative sort of effect as you read on. And on, and on.

Duhamel also included a long excerpt from "Mille et un sentiments", which I thought was a creative concept and also interestingly meditative in its repetitiveness, but which overall I didn't really care about. I think I will not be purchasing the complete "Mille et un sentiments".

There were poems I really liked: "Noah and Joan", "The Accident", "Embarazar", and "Beneficiary". There were also poems I thought were kind of self-indulgent, and I didn't really feel drawn in by Duhamel's experimentations with form. This is a playful book, and I still believe Duhamel's at the top of her game as a woman poet--she's got a sharp eye and ear, and some of the images are dead-on perfect and tight. Overall, though, this book is not going to be a favorite for me.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a rare day when I find myself moved enough by a collection of poetry to either cry or laugh out loud. Two and Two made me do both.

Through these svelty, sometimes very serious, sometimes comical pieces, Denise Duhamel was really able to elucidate the difficulties we feel trying to navigate the many different kinds of duality in our world. I was struck the most by the uncomfortable dissection of sexual transgressions in 'Incest Taboo,' and by the surprisingly moving 'Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted,' a painful reminiscence about September 11, 2001 (and this is coming from a U.S. resident who has found almost no writing about 9/11 to be either moving or meaningful.)

There are also some screamingly funny moments in this collection. 'Embarazar' is definitely one of them: 'The Dairy association's huge success with the campaign 'Got Milk?' promoted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention that the Spanish translation read, 'Are you lactating?'

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.

[Vittorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duhamel uses language in a wonderfully creative and playful manner. The poem made up of warnings was particularly clever. I read her collaboration with Maureen Seaton years ago and I was not nearly as impressed. I also want to read "Kinky" which has been highly praised by some of my book reads friends

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of her new one. ok, but more a book than a collection. the centerpiece is a "found poem" composed of emails and conversations surrounding september 11th. i like duhamel's humor and quirky take on life. she should stick to that.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her 9-11 poem is worth the price of this book.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like it. i don't care what anyone else says.

[Bronwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book of poetry, including one that deals with the fact that many Americans think that Joan of Arch was Noah's wife.

[Sarah]

Two And Two (Pitt Poetry Series) by Denise Duhamel (2005)

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Denise Duhamel is a guilty pleasure about which I feel absolutely no guilt. I would like to be the executor of her estate.

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to use this book in the fall with my freshman comp classes...see what happens...

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome, of course :-D

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, insightful and lots of references to pop culture.