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Pleasure Dome
Yusef Komunyakaa has become one of America's most compelling poets. Pleasure Dome gathers over twenty-five years of work, including early uncollected poems and a rich selection of new poems.
Best known for Neon Vernacular, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1994, and for Dien Cai Dau, a collection of poems chronicling his experiences as a journalist in Vietnam, Yusef Komunyakaa has become one of America's most compelling poets. Pleasure Dome gathers the poems in these two distinguished books and five others―over two and a half decades of Komunyakaa's work. In addition, Pleasure Dome includes 25 early, uncollected poems and a rich selection of 18 new poems.
Best known for Neon Vernacular, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1994, and for Dien Cai Dau, a collection of poems chronicling his experiences as a journalist in Vietnam, Yusef Komunyakaa has become one of America's most compelling poets. Pleasure Dome gathers the poems in these two distinguished books and five others―over two and a half decades of Komunyakaa's work. In addition, Pleasure Dome includes 25 early, uncollected poems and a rich selection of 18 new poems.
- GenresPoetry
468 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
15 people are currently reading
443 people want to read
About the author
Yusef Komunyakaa
95 books205 followersYusef Komunyakaa (born April 29, 1947) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Komunyakaa received the 2007 Louisiana Writer Award for his enduring contribution to the poetry world.
His subject matter ranges from the black general experience through rural Southern life before the Civil Rights time period and his experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War.
(from Wikipedia)
His subject matter ranges from the black general experience through rural Southern life before the Civil Rights time period and his experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 21, 2020
Definitely will be careful to go for larger collections in the future, this was a lot to get through. Komunyakaa has brought the freshest of dialogues on a worn out subject like the Vietnam War. It wasn’t all beer, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Forest Gump. Seeing the craft of manipulating experience into something that actually blessed him is a privilege to be apart of. Probably the most concrete and vivid poet I have read to date, which is nice but learning I enjoy more theoretical/ ethereal language.
The poems were very long and, in my little experience, pushed the boundaries of what distinguishes a prose poem rather than a typical one. I got lost in most poems given they were riddled with pop culture references that I was not familiar with (which the thought was cool). Clearly didn’t take my time with it, but a worthy endeavor.
The poems were very long and, in my little experience, pushed the boundaries of what distinguishes a prose poem rather than a typical one. I got lost in most poems given they were riddled with pop culture references that I was not familiar with (which the thought was cool). Clearly didn’t take my time with it, but a worthy endeavor.
April 15, 2021
I first encountered Komunyakaa's poetry randomly on a poetry website (poetry.org?) and was immediately transfixed. Many poets incorporate elements of surrealism into their work, but Komunyakaa has a rare gift for beginning a line in our everyday world, taking a sharp turn into a parallel dimension, and then finishing in a way that seems completely unexpected, yet at the same time, inevitable. And we're with him the whole time with our hair standing up. Reading his work has caused me to see things differently in the same way that listening to Thelonious Monk caused me to hear differently. Both artists "opened me up" to possibilities I wasn't even aware of before.
This collection includes many of his best-known poems, including some written about his tour in Vietnam and others from his Pulitzer-Prize winning collection, Neon Vernacular.
This is definitely a book I'll return to over and over again for the remainder of my life and I can't think of higher praise than that.
This collection includes many of his best-known poems, including some written about his tour in Vietnam and others from his Pulitzer-Prize winning collection, Neon Vernacular.
This is definitely a book I'll return to over and over again for the remainder of my life and I can't think of higher praise than that.
December 21, 2015
SIX WORD REVIEW: Jazz and Vietnam from a trumpet.
November 15, 2022
Originally available in hardcover, which I also once owned, This book entails Komunyakaa's entire poetic career up to the year of publication.
This entire volume is an altogether splendid example of what today's American poetry should, could, and ought be, and yet is so often lacking in more pretentious academic or literary milieu today.
This entire volume is an altogether splendid example of what today's American poetry should, could, and ought be, and yet is so often lacking in more pretentious academic or literary milieu today.
May 20, 2020
It is a very nice selection of poetry. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars because there was some poems I did not like, but all the good ones overweighted the ones I didn't like as much.
December 31, 2018
About a dozen of Komunyakaa's books in one chronological volume.
Many of the early poems are like image lists (one of the exercises we did while studying poetry) -- images without substance or connection. Komunyakaa's images are stunning but often seem without meaning. That changes with his Vietnam poetry, especially in the book, "Dien Cai Dau". There we have story, powerful and relatable. Impressive. With each book in this collection the poetry changes, improves. (With the exception, perhaps, of the last book, "Thieves of Paradise", which I found more uneven than the previous books.) Those powerful images begin to connect and then to go beyond themselves.
Surprisingly, I was most moved by his childhood poems in "Magic City". There is magic in these descriptions although that fairy dust disappears once the poems move beyond adolescence. However, I left more Post-It notes marking poems or passages in "I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head" than in any other section by far. Go figure.
I am astonished that this poet has, until now, been unknown to me. Read Komunyakaa for poems on war, on jazz, on life.
Many of the early poems are like image lists (one of the exercises we did while studying poetry) -- images without substance or connection. Komunyakaa's images are stunning but often seem without meaning. That changes with his Vietnam poetry, especially in the book, "Dien Cai Dau". There we have story, powerful and relatable. Impressive. With each book in this collection the poetry changes, improves. (With the exception, perhaps, of the last book, "Thieves of Paradise", which I found more uneven than the previous books.) Those powerful images begin to connect and then to go beyond themselves.
Surprisingly, I was most moved by his childhood poems in "Magic City". There is magic in these descriptions although that fairy dust disappears once the poems move beyond adolescence. However, I left more Post-It notes marking poems or passages in "I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head" than in any other section by far. Go figure.
I am astonished that this poet has, until now, been unknown to me. Read Komunyakaa for poems on war, on jazz, on life.
February 26, 2021
Read for my Transforming Visions: Image and Text module in first year in relation to ekphrastic texts on the topic of slavery.
August 9, 2016
How can we live without knowledge of this man's poetry? Reading him is like a revelation. Each phrase is so natural it feels ancient, as though it was always intended so. This vast collection feels almost like a forest where one might wander, lost. Komunyakaa is not normally talented. His talent rises like a sun in a universe of planets.
To think you might miss the opportunity to read this man takes the breath away. His work is so quintessentially American it should be an the shelf with Twain, Whitman, Wharton, Poe, and all topshelf American greats. I am reminded of Brian Turner's poem Cole's Guitar in which he says
To think you might miss the opportunity to read this man takes the breath away. His work is so quintessentially American it should be an the shelf with Twain, Whitman, Wharton, Poe, and all topshelf American greats. I am reminded of Brian Turner's poem Cole's Guitar in which he says
I'm hearing American now.
I'm hearing jake brakes off the Grapevine,
country highways with wheat shocks
and Indian summergrass whispering,
foghorns under the Golden Gate bridge,
Ella Fitzgerald from a 4th floor window
in Birmingham, the handles of a suitcase
swinging on the downbeat of a man's footsteps
walking our from a Greyhound in Santa Fe.
June 5, 2013
The library is getting rich off the overdue fines, but this is proving to be a fine anthology. Komunyakaa gets better with age; the early poems are a bit too focused on the sexual and the surreal. Well crafted, but more internal. It's not until he revisits his Vietnam experience (Dien Cai Dau) that the poetry really begins to grip. He brings sharp observations that have a real tautness to the line, in Robert Bly's words, "heat."
The closing section, Thieves of Paradise has some interesting connections, subtly asking who's stealing from what? Several poems stood out: "Palimpset"a consideration of the impact of his father, and "The Wall" a second poem about returning to the Vietnam Memorial -- some very vivid, moving lines. These are poems worth re-reading.
The closing section, Thieves of Paradise has some interesting connections, subtly asking who's stealing from what? Several poems stood out: "Palimpset"a consideration of the impact of his father, and "The Wall" a second poem about returning to the Vietnam Memorial -- some very vivid, moving lines. These are poems worth re-reading.
October 31, 2011
Coming back to this collection for the second time, I did not find the connection with the work I was hoping for. My favorite bits this time: the poems from the collection "February in Sydney", because of the sideways glances he cleverly gives at scenes from my second home, Australia, along with references to my favorite jazz music:"Dexter Gordon's tenor sax/ plays 'April in Paris'/ inside my head all the way back/ on the bus from Double Bay./
'Round Midnight', the '50s,/ cool cobblestone streets/ resound footsteps of Bebop/"
'Round Midnight', the '50s,/ cool cobblestone streets/ resound footsteps of Bebop/"
April 3, 2008
Komunyakaa’s poetry is stunning; Pleasure Dome is an amazing compilation of poetry that leaves a savory flavor to be digested with pleasure. His poems are so carefully articulated that they cut into the human spirit like a perfectly sharpened knife into aged cheddar—it crumbles only from the pressure of a deep, honest, truth.
March 7, 2008
wasn't sure how much i'd like this collection after browsing thru. "Talking Dirty to the Gods," but it is simply terrific. the war poetry is gripping and the way Yusef weaves memory in and out of reality ...and when to ask the perfect question in a poem is awesome.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2014
There is a Raymond Carver poem called (if I remember rightly) "You don't know what love is" - which is ostensibly Bukowski ranting at a group of people.
Yusef Komunyakaa makes Bukowski look like he doesn't know what love it,
This work is full of Jazz and broken hearts.
powerful stuff
Yusef Komunyakaa makes Bukowski look like he doesn't know what love it,
This work is full of Jazz and broken hearts.
powerful stuff
July 14, 2017
I liked it. I think it might have been a bit much to tackle without an entry point but I took my time (clearly).
Neon Vernacular was cool. Some of the others were more uneven.
The jazz bits I liked, the sex bits felt off - like trying too much to sound sexy that it was made less personal.
Neon Vernacular was cool. Some of the others were more uneven.
The jazz bits I liked, the sex bits felt off - like trying too much to sound sexy that it was made less personal.
July 29, 2008
A fantastic collection of one of the greatest poets of our time. Nuff said!
September 16, 2008
The place to start with this poet. Collects all his work through THIEVES OF PARADISE. Essential reading.
June 24, 2010
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. so good.
November 27, 2012
read too long ago to remember specific critiques. I do remember that it wasn't easy going. Come strapped w/a quiet room and know you'll need to apply yourself.
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January 7, 2013811.54 K819p 2001
April 21, 2016
These are the collected poems of one of the, if not the, greatest living poets up until his book Thieves of Paradise. Needless to say, this collection is indispensable.
March 17, 2008
one of the most incredible poets of our time.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews