Promises of Gold

by José Olivarez, David Ruano (Translator)

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
Named one of NPR's Books We Love

“How many bad lovers have gotten poems? How many crushes? No disrespect to romantic love—but what about our friends ? Those homies who are there all along—cheering for us and reminding us that love is abundant.”

In this groundbreaking collection of poems, José Olivarez explores every kind of love—self, brotherly, romantic, familial, cultural. Grappling with the contradictions of the American Dream with unflinching humanity, he lays bare the ways in which “love is complicated by forces larger than our hearts.”

Whether readers enter this collection in English or via the Spanish translation by poet David Ruano González, these extraordinary poems are sure to become beloved for their illuminations of life—and love.

“¿Cuántas malas parejas han inspirado poemas? ¿Cuántos crush es? Sin faltarle el respeto al amor romántico—pero ¿qué hay de los amigos? Esos compas que están ahí todo el tiempo—animándonos y recordándonos que elamor es abundante”.

En esta innovadora colección de poemas, José Olivarez explora cada tipo de amor—el propio, fraternal, romántico, familiar, cultural. Lidiando con las contradicciones del sueño americano, con una humanidad inquebrantable, deja al descubierto las maneras en que “el amor se va complicando por fuerzas más grandes que nuestros corazones”.

Ya sea que los lectores entren a esta colección en inglés o a partir de la traducción al español del poeta David Ruano González, estos extraordinarios poemas serán amados seguramente por sus iluminaciones sobre el amor y la vida.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Latinx, Audiobook, Race, Contemporary, Adult

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 14, 2023

About the author

José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/ Jean Stein Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. It was named a top book of 2018 by NPR and the New York Public Library. Along with Felicia Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he is co-editing the forthcoming anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT. He is the co-host of the poetry podcast, The Poetry Gods and a recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, Poets House, the Bronx Council on the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, & the Conversation Literary Festival. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. In 2018, he was awarded the first annual Author and Artist in Justice Award from the Phillips Brooks House Association and named a Debut Poet of 2018 by Poets & Writers. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Mai H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually love or "get" poetry, but I think the message that José is trying to send resonates well. I read better on print, but I think this collection of poems works quite well on audio.

My review is for the first 2/3 of the book. I don't understand enough Spanish for the last bit. To be fair, it might just be the original untranslated poems. My school Spanish, which I have not used in years, is not up to par. We really need to do something about the language learning skills in the States. Other countries actually take this seriously.

What does it mean to be Mexican? To be Mexican American? Inherently, these things are different. The nuances are explained here.

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

[Traci Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was so good. So much vulnerability and humor. I loved what Olivarez had to say and how he said it. Such accessible and enjoyable poems.

[Sarah]

BR w/ Zana

Zana recommended the audiobook so I checked it out after reading the paperback and I second that recommendation!

Olivarez recorded the audiobook in front of a live audience and his performance is so worthwhile, evoking his slam poetry roots. On the recording, he also offers additional comments on the book, for example, about the context in which a poem was written or its inspiration.


--
idk how to rate poetry

I'm not really a poetry person, but I basically bookmarked every page.

[Sharon Velez Diodonet · Rating 5 out of 5]

"dear god, I'll never understand
how some people meet
a drowning person & offer
INSPIRATIONAL advice
instead of offering a hand or rope"

I'm celebrating love today with this heartwarming collection. Promise of Gold/Promises de Oro by José Olivarez publishes today and I need you all to run and gift yourself his words. This collection has me pausing, breathing a little clearer, drawing emojis in the pages, texting screenshots, thinking about ways to dismantle systems, clinging to memories and remembering the ancestors. I am also being reminded that it's OK to not be OK and self-care is also letting others love me when I need to heal.

This one is perfect for today because love is one of the prominent themes and explored in so many poems: in the ways we care for each other and ourselves, the way we use our voices to advocate, the ways that men love through actions and less words, the ways that love shapes communities and so many other aspects. Olivarez's collection also captures themes of immigration, racism, love, family, masculinity, friendship, the pandemic, mental health and grief. The format takes you on an exploration, transforms you and gives you a nice big abrazo at the end. Olivarez wore his heart on his sleeve and the emotions just bleed through. For me, the bilingual format was golden. I read through it first in English and then flipped it over and read in Spanish. Palabras hit different in español. I love you doesn't melt my soul the way te amo does. Olivarez is a word magician and his prose will cast a spell on you. Thank you @henryholtbooks for the gifted copy.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

I predict this collection will go very far and reach a wide audience. It's extremely accessible and powerful and smartly accompanied by a translation that honestly persuaded me to purchase the book (and my Spanish is rusty at best).

[Simon Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a huge poetry fan, but this was written in a way that was really accessible and didn’t come off as pretentious. Current events and issues are tackled with a hint of comedy. Definitely worth a read!

[Adri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing poetry is an artform I have not mastered, so you'll have to give me some grace. But I really enjoyed this collection from José Olivarez.

He feels very much like a poet for the people. It feels like he's writing poetry *for* his community. The imagery, form, and language of his poetry is informed by his experience of Mexican culture, and I think he communicates that experience in a way that's vibrantly accessible but still layered and complex.

José is the type of writer who can turn something like Cheeto dust on someone's fingers into a poem—into something *worthy* of being a poem. He reveals beauty *from* his subjects and not the other way around, which I really appreciate. There's familiarity but also power in the things he chooses to write about, and his knack for bringing the extraordinary out of the ordinary is really what makes this collection sing.

The dust jacket bills this collection as "poems for the homies," and that spirit of celebrating connection and community is definitely what I felt the most as I read through it. And I think there's so much value and depth in having a collection like this that coexists as both translated and untranslated all at once. Reading the poems over in Spanish was its own unique experience, and made me appreciate the words and the emotions even more.

The reason why this is a four-star collection for me is because some poems didn't quite land. Obviously that's subjective, and again I'm no scholar of poetry, so I can't articulate it further than that, but for me there was a significant enough ratio of flat poems to flat-out incredible poems that I felt this to be a four-star collection overall. I'm excited to read more of Olivarez's work in the future though.

[Gary Anderson]

Promises of Gold is one of those rare books that isn’t marketed directly to young adults but is nonetheless a great fit for teen readers. This poetry collection from José Olivarez hits the sweet spot between accessible appeal and artistic challenge. Olivarez writes about rap, country music, the pandemic, capitalism, Chicago and Calumet City, marriage, family, friendship, basketball, migration, therapy, and poetry itself. The emotions include rage, pride, sorrow, nostalgia, anxiety, and frustration, all infused with various forms of love. The poems come in a variety of textures and structures both formal and informal that are alive with powerful images and fine-edged wordplay. Olivarez generously acknowledges his source material that includes Shakespeare, some of his favorite poets, his wife, and text messages from his brother and a friend who sends random thoughts.

The print version of Promises of Gold includes both English and Spanish versions of the poems as does the audiobook. The audiobook also includes live performances of many of the poems, Olivarez’s introductions to each piece, and some bonus material not available in the print version. Although audio listeners might miss some of the enjambment effects, the rhythms and inflections are especially appealing when heard aloud.

Promises of Gold is full of rich possiblities for classroom use. Its dual language availability, print and audio versions, high-interest subject matter, and ambitious forms make it a solid choice for high school settings.

This review is also posted on my What's Not Wrong? blog in slightly different form.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jose Oliverez is a true poet. The way he talks about love, family, trauma, race it is VICERAL. It cuts deep. How I felt reading his words... I think I'll remember that feeling for years.

Going back on how he talks about love... I WANT WHAT HE IS HAVING😭

" I'll never forget the day an old love brushed a flower gently over my face before kissing me.. more than water!, more than air! I need to know the name of that flower."

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I keep writing the poems that begin with the wilting.
That live in the wilting.
Erasing the bloom.

This one is for the day we survived.”

A fast read filled with good poems. I recommend this one.

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

las primeras flores de cerezo del año
solo están tratando de tomar algo de sol
& aquí vienes tu, el poeta, haciendo grandes
proclamación sobre el ciclo de la vida,
diciendo un enredo salvaje & trillado como
LA NATURALEZA ESTÁ SANANDO
—la naturaleza se toma un día para la salud mental
al igual que tu, el invierno es largo
& los humanos no son las únicas criaturas
que sufren de soledad.

Inspiration by Jose Oliveros
Translation by David Ruano Gonzalez

the year’s first cherry blossoms
are just trying to catch some sun
& here you go, poet, making grand
proclamations about the cycle of life
saying some wild corny mess like
NATURE IS HEALING
nature took a mental health day
just like you. winter is long
& humans aren’t the only creatures
that suffer from loneliness.

[Ebony (EKG)]

poems on all forms of love, deconstructing toxic masculinity and redefining the ‘american dream’ for a Mexican-American family. these poems are perfect for those wanting to get into reading poetry. accessible, fun, and engaging.

i really loved how half of the book was the english translation and the other half was the spanish translation!

[Lindsay Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to the audiobook of this is a must—hearing José talk about his poems before reading them added such an amazing layer to connecting to them. There are also some poems read in front of a life audience, and hearing the reactions add even more layers. I will always remember the gasp that came out from an audience member after a particularly moving line when I think about this collection.

[Susan Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to love about this book but my favorite is it’s written both in English and translated to Spanish and all in one book. Jose Oliverarez continues to grow and experiment while remaining true to himself.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this collection after seeing José Olivarez read at a brooklyn book festival panel on love poetry and being struck by his voice and charisma. he is a LOVERBOY. This collection is all about love- brotherly, familial, romantic- with moments of sadness, heartbreaks (the non-romantic kinds). Love poem beginning with a yellow cab was my fave. I think this is a pretty digestible collection even for someone who struggles with poetry, and I also really enjoyed switching between the print and the audiobook, where he often gives some context to the poems.

[S꩜phie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this!!! Ask me to borrow it!!! Read it <3

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I generally don't read a ton of poetry (who does?). At one point, I imagined being a poet and at a separate, later point, my husband wrote some award winning poems. And then more to the point, for the past twenty or so years I have not deliberately read any poems, yet alone an entire volume.

Last week, I went to the UW Madison Diversity Forum and Olivarez was one of the key note speakers. He is the son of immigrants, growing up "illegal" and poor in Calumet City (suburb of Chicago) a little after I was growing up in a western suburb. I found his speech powerful, the poems he read out loud moving (some are very sad and all are funny). I went home with a copy of his most recent book and read it. It is worth your time.

Oliverez clearly states in his note the purpose of this volume: "My hope is that my attempts to write toward healing and love might resonate with your own attempts. That they might lead you to ask your own questions. I don't trust answers. Too many answers attempt to be definitive when we live in a changing world."

I will leave you with two surprising things from the book. The first, is that while it is written in both English and Spanish, Oliverez did not do his own translations. I thought the gimmick was cute (and also great for accessibility: you open the book from one side and it is in English; if you open it from the other, it is in Spanish. The book actually ends in the middle where the two versions meet). This is a great metaphor for the split identity that Oliverez describes (is he mexicano? is he americano? neither, and both, meeting in the middle of his soul: the exact center of his creation). And until I picked up the book and looked at the beginning, I did not realize just how "lacking" his Spanish must be: who would hire a translator unless they need one? How much more poignant does the lack of place and space and being feel when the language that makes up one half of your world (and your book) is not completely accessible to you?

And second, the back cover (starting the Spanish side) is almost identical to the first; except the price tag/bar code (not a sticker, can't be removed) is in the top center, just below his name. It is the same image as the cover (shown here on the goodreads thumbprint), but the yellow banner "promesas de oro" (promises of gold in spanish) is not drapeed along the feathers of the mask; instead there sits the upside down bar code. This observation felt like another one of Olivarez's poems: it marks this side as "other" and somehow less; it introduces capitalism and consumerism where they don't belong; it "ruins" the image; and it is funny as hell. It made me cringe and then it made me want to laugh.

Buy his book, read the poems. Slowly. And consider the struggles of all humanity as we each work to feel ourselves both as individuals and as part of some collective simultanteously.

[Alicia Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally read poetry. I dabble into it every once in a blue moon and for now I feel comfortable giving Promises of Gold three stars.

I enjoyed this poetry collection but I didn't love it. There was definitely a disconnect for me. I listened to Promises of Gold as an audiobook. Jose Olivarez narrates the poems himself and parts of the collection were filmed/recorded with an audience. Before each poem Jose talks a bit about the inspiration or content of each poem. I personally wish I would have read the poetry collection in a physical or ebook format. I didn't enjoy the audience claps in the audiobook or the nuggets shared before each poem. I really just wanted to hear the poetry and digest it on my own.

In terms of the collection itself, the poems are accessible. If you're someone who normally doesn't read poetry and feel like you won't "get it." I dont think you'll have a problem here. I also like that the poems are available in both spanish and english. You can expects poems about love, friendship, poems set in Chicago, immigration, being Mexican or Mexican-American, and deconstruction toxic masculinity.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book that has pushed me to see the beauty in every day and to celebrate the moments that feel less so as an equally beautiful component of the human experience. This collection is bilingual, so the poems are included in both English and Spanish, which I especially appreciated. I read the poems in English first to most easily absorb them before taking the time to read through them in Spanish, which introduced me to a whole range of vocabulary I had never learned before—I really cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Y por supuesto, mil gracias a mi increíble amiga Sophie por recomendarme este obra. Te extraño muchísimo y tengo muchas ganas de verte para otra aventura muy pronto!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

This was great! So insightful and thoughtful while still feeling accessible. Some of these poems will make you smile, some pull at your heartstrings — “Let’s Get Married” truly made me clutch my heart for its sweetness. You really feel like you’re peeling back layers and getting a deep look at Olivarez and his life and legacy, his loves and heartbreaks and everything in between. I truly wish I could read/understand Spanish so I could read and appreciate both halves of this book, but nevertheless, I really admire the effort and attention that went into not only the translation but the way both pieces of the book are in a literal dialogue with one another. I’d love to hear what a native-level speaker/reader of both English and Spanish thinks of this.

I’ll definitely be seeking out Citizen Illegal and any of his future work.

[Hallie Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this in one sitting and ATE IT UP. it was so good, easy to read, accessible language, while still being moving and beautiful. i have a LONG list of poems that i starred and favorited. i definitely recommend for people trying to get into poetry. it’s also so long (340 pages) bc it includes the entire book translated into Spanish as well, so don’t let the page count scare you. beautiful wonderful book and my first 5 star read of 2024!

[Germaine J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book. I love how the author performs his poems in both English and Spanish. The author also incorporates live audience performance of these poems. This is such a unique audiobook experience. I love how the author speaks Spanish. He sounds like me. You have the ability to speak Spanish but you still have that “accent”

[Reagan Formea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you thank you thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book!
This may be my favorite poetry book I have ever read. I cry often, but never really at books. But this book brought me to tears. The beautiful love poems, the existential dread and fear of the world we live in, the pieces on mothers and fathers, etc. I loved it all.

[Kate Ringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars because it is a bilingual edition, which is an invaluable resource, but in the end I didn't like it nearly as much as I hoped to. However, my student Cris adored this book, and that's something, especially considering he usually just likes love poems.

[Karla G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for writing and publishing this book. ❤️

[fátima · Rating 5 out of 5]

So vulnerable, so unserious yet serious, and so funny.

[Salathiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exquisite.
I experienced and learned so much.
I don't reread books, but I will be rereading this.

[Kendell Timmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were great poems. Probably I missed out for not knowing enough Spanish to read and compare the translations.

[Dree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the English half only, I LOVE that this book has English and Spanish included and flipped, so both are the front half of their respective side of the book. I took a look at the Spanish half, but 1) poetry is hard and 2) my Italian is stronger and my Spanish but not strong enough that I can figure out the Spanish lol.

This book left me with more questions than anything. The author is quite adamant that he is Mexican, and I wonder how his relatives who have spent their lives living in Mexico would feel about that--do they consider him Mexican, or American, or Mexican-American? Perhaps he is a DACA recipient and is trapped between, unable to live as either a Mexican or as an American. He does not say, though I also understand why he might not want to announce that to the world in the Trump era (because we are no post-Trump, he is still out there causing trouble and hating).

I spent an embarrassing amount of this book thinking Cal City was the desert city California City. Finally I googled when I realized he was in Chicago. And that Calumet City is right next to Dolton, where my grandfather was born and raised. On page 71, "Wherever I'm at That Land is Chicago" says "all the steel mills shuttering up like conquered forts. one day, there will be an urban tour through South Chicago". It sounds like not much has changed in the last 100 years. Those mills were shuttering/shuttered in the 1930s too, my grandfather worked at one, and my grandparents fled to California in 1936 because there was no more work in Chicago. And thus I exist.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨ Review ✨ Promises of Gold by José Olivarez

"My people I am poly with the tortillas”

This is one of my favorite poetry collections I've ever read. Bringing together love, family, friendship, and food together with topics of capitalism, migration, colonization, and so much more, Olivarez creates a masterful collection -- one that I was dying to share with friends as I read.

It speaks to some many experiences of the moment, and I loved his poems about tortillas (see the quote above), as well as what we've loved and lost through quarantine and systemic racism in the U.S. This beautiful collection is one that I'll surely be drawing from in class and gifting to friends.

I'm HERE for anything he writes now and forever!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: poetry
Pub Date: 07 Feb 2023
**Volume is in English and translated into Spanish.**

Thanks to Henry Holt and Co. and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!