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Money Shot
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2011)The poems in Money Shot are forensic. Just as the money shot in porn is proof of the male orgasm, these poems explore questions of revelation and concealment. What is seen, what is hidden, and how do we know? Money Shot's investigation of these questions takes on a particular urgency because it occurs in the context of the suddenly revealed market manipulation and subsequent "great recession" of 2008–;2009. In these poems, Rae Armantrout searches for new ways to organize information. What can be made manifest? What constitutes proof? Do we "know it when we see it"? Looking at sex, botany, cosmology, and death through the dark lens of "disaster capitalism," Armantrout finds evidence of betrayal, grounds for rebellion, moments of possibility, and even pleasure, in a time of sudden scarcity and relentless greed. This stunning follow-up to Versed―winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award―is a wonderfully stringent exploration of how deeply our experience of everyday life is embedded in capitalism.
92 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2011
8 people are currently reading
340 people want to read
About the author
Rae Armantrout
75 books108 followersRae Armantrout is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. Armantrout was born in Vallejo, California but grew up in San Diego. She has published ten books of poetry and has also been featured in a number of major anthologies. Armantrout currently teaches at the University of California, San Diego, where she is Professor of Poetry and Poetics.
On March 11, 2010, Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award for her book of poetry Versed published by the Wesleyan University Press, which had also been nominated for the National Book Award. The book later earned the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Armantrout’s most recent collection, Money Shot, was published in February 2011. She is the recipient of numerous other awards for her poetry, including most recently an award in poetry from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2007 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.
On March 11, 2010, Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award for her book of poetry Versed published by the Wesleyan University Press, which had also been nominated for the National Book Award. The book later earned the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Armantrout’s most recent collection, Money Shot, was published in February 2011. She is the recipient of numerous other awards for her poetry, including most recently an award in poetry from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2007 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 24, 2015
Money Shot's main virtue is its clarity. Armantrout has something to do with the LANGUAGE poets, but at least in this book there's no sign of that movements sillier theoretical tendencies. Consider the last few stanzas of 'Prayers':
The blue triangles
on the rug
repeating.
Coming up,
a discussion
on the uses
of torture.
The fear
that all *this*
will end.
The fear
that it won't.
I experienced most of the book in the light of this poem: an elegy for liberals who can't quite believe what "their" country has become. This is the kind of emotion that makes no sense to me; I'm not American, I've never believed that America was anything other than what it manifestly is, and the feeling of loss that American liberals feel post 9/11 strikes me as, at worst, naive, and, at best, odd.
This is the first of Armantrout's books that I've read, and I'm impressed at how well she expresses this cultural moment. I do wish the poems showed a bit more distance from the moment, though.
The cover blurb (not the poet's fault, I'm sure) suggests that "Armantrout searches for new ways to organize information. What can be made manifest? What constitutes proof? Looking at sex, botany, cosmology and death through the dark lens of 'disaster capitalism,' Armantrout finds evidence of betrayal, grounds for rebellion, moments of possibility, and even pleasure, in a time of sudden scarcity and relentleess greed."
You read right: *sudden* scarcity. For whom? Anyway, the good news is that that's obviously a sales pitch to university professors. This is just good bedtime reading, sometimes pretty, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes just a teeny bit complicated. It has nothing, in other words, to do with the "dark lens" of disaster capitalism.
The blue triangles
on the rug
repeating.
Coming up,
a discussion
on the uses
of torture.
The fear
that all *this*
will end.
The fear
that it won't.
I experienced most of the book in the light of this poem: an elegy for liberals who can't quite believe what "their" country has become. This is the kind of emotion that makes no sense to me; I'm not American, I've never believed that America was anything other than what it manifestly is, and the feeling of loss that American liberals feel post 9/11 strikes me as, at worst, naive, and, at best, odd.
This is the first of Armantrout's books that I've read, and I'm impressed at how well she expresses this cultural moment. I do wish the poems showed a bit more distance from the moment, though.
The cover blurb (not the poet's fault, I'm sure) suggests that "Armantrout searches for new ways to organize information. What can be made manifest? What constitutes proof? Looking at sex, botany, cosmology and death through the dark lens of 'disaster capitalism,' Armantrout finds evidence of betrayal, grounds for rebellion, moments of possibility, and even pleasure, in a time of sudden scarcity and relentleess greed."
You read right: *sudden* scarcity. For whom? Anyway, the good news is that that's obviously a sales pitch to university professors. This is just good bedtime reading, sometimes pretty, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes just a teeny bit complicated. It has nothing, in other words, to do with the "dark lens" of disaster capitalism.
July 10, 2021
Read Versed years ago and I think this is just as good. Armantrout is associated with the LANGUAGE poets, but she reminds me of the imagist or objectivist poets a little. I think its the short line lengths and the way the poems feel like objects in and of themselves rather than descriptions of something outside of themselves. These poems are wonderful.
January 6, 2023
"Soft Money
They’re sexy
because they’re needy, which degrades them.
They’re sexy because they don’t need you.
They’re sexy because they pretend not to need you,
but they’re lying, which degrades them.
They’re beneath you and it’s hot.
They’re across the border, rhymes with dancer —
they don’t need to understand.
They’re content to be (not mean),
which degrades them
and is sweet.
They want to be the thing-in-itself
and the thing-for-you —
Miss Thing —
but can’t.
They want to be you, but can’t,
which is so hot."
"This is a five star trance.
To have this vantage from the cliff’s edge,
to get drunk on indifference, to stare
at a bright succession of crests
raised from nothing and flattened".
April 19, 2023
A full review can also be found on my blog!
April 2023: Updated to 2 stars after reading some poetry that is far worse than anything in this collection.
I don’t like to be too negative in reviews, especially of work that is personal like memoirs or poetry but I really did struggle finding anything I liked about Money Shot. It’s clear that Armantrout is a talented writer, I’m absolutely not claiming that she can’t write, but her work is definitely not for me. In my opinion, when I read poetry it should make me feel something on some level. I did manage to find two poems that I liked: With and Service Record. These two are the only ones that made me feel something when reading this collection.
One of my main problems with this book is that it was entirely forgettable. I could finish a poem and not be able to say a single thing about it. Many of the poems I read multiple times but it still didn’t improve my experience with it, instead it made it feel like a slog getting through. Many of the poems reminded me of that meme that goes around sometimes where you tap the middle option on predictive text until it forms a sentence. As I say, I think this collection just flew straight over my head.
My one star rating is due to my enjoyment of the book and shouldn’t reflect on Armantrout’s ability as a writer or poet. Almost all the other reviews I’ve seen for Money Shot have spoken highly of it and the poet. I just didn’t like it myself, especially comparing it to some of the other books on this list.
April 2023: Updated to 2 stars after reading some poetry that is far worse than anything in this collection.
I don’t like to be too negative in reviews, especially of work that is personal like memoirs or poetry but I really did struggle finding anything I liked about Money Shot. It’s clear that Armantrout is a talented writer, I’m absolutely not claiming that she can’t write, but her work is definitely not for me. In my opinion, when I read poetry it should make me feel something on some level. I did manage to find two poems that I liked: With and Service Record. These two are the only ones that made me feel something when reading this collection.
One of my main problems with this book is that it was entirely forgettable. I could finish a poem and not be able to say a single thing about it. Many of the poems I read multiple times but it still didn’t improve my experience with it, instead it made it feel like a slog getting through. Many of the poems reminded me of that meme that goes around sometimes where you tap the middle option on predictive text until it forms a sentence. As I say, I think this collection just flew straight over my head.
My one star rating is due to my enjoyment of the book and shouldn’t reflect on Armantrout’s ability as a writer or poet. Almost all the other reviews I’ve seen for Money Shot have spoken highly of it and the poet. I just didn’t like it myself, especially comparing it to some of the other books on this list.
July 27, 2011
Armantrout's latest collection reminds me of the Winchester Mystery House in California -- there are many hidden passageways and trap doors that go nowhere and many tricks of perspective that disorient and discombobulate as the reader pursues lead after lead down corridors that collapse around him as he progresses. More allusive than her previous collections, to both pop culture (economics, TV, war news) and poetry (Hopkins, Milton), and sometimes more elliptical, Armantrout constructs more layered texts, without losing the sometimes crystalline brilliance and insight that are so nakedly evident in poems like "Sway", my favorite in the collection. I have been waiting for this collection since I read Versed and am not disappointed. Armantrout is one of the most strange-making, playful and inimitable poets working today.
January 2, 2018
Warble
1
Wordsworth’s secret
freshet.
First orgasm.
Hopkins’ holy
ghost.
Wordsworth’s sudden
multitude
remain standing.
What burbles?
What warbles?
Sea to shining, shining
2
The angels are the old gods
with a new service
orientation.
They’ve put aside
their hijinks
for the greater good,
for unimpeded
transmission.
“Fear not,”
the wires sing.
*
The Hang
It’s important to articulate
the original,
hurtful,
blurred composite.
Frames should be viewed
sequentially,
in time —
gaps
in the clouds.
Blue shapes
on their way
somewhere?
The slow parade.
It’s possible
to get the hang.
*
1
Wordsworth’s secret
freshet.
First orgasm.
Hopkins’ holy
ghost.
Wordsworth’s sudden
multitude
remain standing.
What burbles?
What warbles?
Sea to shining, shining
2
The angels are the old gods
with a new service
orientation.
They’ve put aside
their hijinks
for the greater good,
for unimpeded
transmission.
“Fear not,”
the wires sing.
*
The Hang
It’s important to articulate
the original,
hurtful,
blurred composite.
Frames should be viewed
sequentially,
in time —
gaps
in the clouds.
Blue shapes
on their way
somewhere?
The slow parade.
It’s possible
to get the hang.
*
Want to read
March 18, 2016i cannot lie, i picked this up for its title
January 27, 2018
Always like to read poetry, but these pieces just didn't speak to me from the page. This could be just not having read Armantrout before and not being used to her voice/style. I was often confused by the titles and found that if i just read the pieces without that opener they had more meaning for me. I may try to find audio of these (and other Armantrout poems) as that can often infuse the poet's meaning better.
But even with those challenges, I am glad I picked it up.
But even with those challenges, I am glad I picked it up.
August 9, 2021
"We think things moving in tandem
are parts
of some larger being.
We think
things coming in order
move in tandem.
Daybreak and nightfall
are parts
of some larger being —
someone perfect
and impervious
to grief."
are parts
of some larger being.
We think
things coming in order
move in tandem.
Daybreak and nightfall
are parts
of some larger being —
someone perfect
and impervious
to grief."
October 12, 2024
3.5 - 4 stars
I especially liked “Prayers” and “Duration”, but I will admit there are several I didn’t understand — whether it’s because I didn’t get it or take enough time to. Still, there was a clear, strong poetic voice.
I especially liked “Prayers” and “Duration”, but I will admit there are several I didn’t understand — whether it’s because I didn’t get it or take enough time to. Still, there was a clear, strong poetic voice.
January 19, 2013
Unquestionably, Armantrout makes extraordinary demands on her reader. Words have an atomic weight, being freighted with symbolism, allegory and metaphor, and her usage deliberately questions the value of traditional connotations upon which many poetry readers rely. Likewise, Armantrout forces the reader to apprehend form and content in its various guises. Because she experiments with her poetry, the resulting resonance, irony, and revelation come as an after-effect, upon re-reading and thinking through her material. So a reader must trust the poet that the added effort will be worth the often grueling work getting there. She is not easily approached when you are accustomed to the music of Eliot, Stevens, Creeley and other lyrical poets. Often Armantrout’s prosody is as dry as the desert heat at the bottom of Death Valley. The lyrical features become evident only when you have spent a long time pruning the thorns among the cactus flowers. Yet, a poem like “Errands,” with its fairytale lightness covering the macabre and sexual underbelly, delivers that unique sense of gratification that few poems can rival.
See my review here: http://rockcru.wordpress.com/2013/01/...
See my review here: http://rockcru.wordpress.com/2013/01/...
October 31, 2014
They’re sexy
because they’re needy,
which degrades them.
They’re sexy because
they don’t need you.
They’re sexy because they pretend
not to need you,
but they’re lying,
which degrades them.
They’re beneath you
and it’s hot.
They’re across the border,
rhymes with dancer —
they don’t need
to understand.
They’re content to be
(not mean),
which degrades them
and is sweet.
They want to be
the thing-in-itself
and the thing-for you —
Miss Thing —
but can’t.
They want to be you,
but can’t,
which is so hot.
because they’re needy,
which degrades them.
They’re sexy because
they don’t need you.
They’re sexy because they pretend
not to need you,
but they’re lying,
which degrades them.
They’re beneath you
and it’s hot.
They’re across the border,
rhymes with dancer —
they don’t need
to understand.
They’re content to be
(not mean),
which degrades them
and is sweet.
They want to be
the thing-in-itself
and the thing-for you —
Miss Thing —
but can’t.
They want to be you,
but can’t,
which is so hot.
January 27, 2012
The book's somewhat less about -- though not not about -- the great recession than the jacket quotes make it out to be. Poems are often structured as short sections, each an observation of sorts -- the sections then obliquely connected via the title. Not all such oblique connections work, IMHO. Favorite poem is "With":
"I write things down
to show others
later
or to show myself
that I am not alone with
my experience."
"I write things down
to show others
later
or to show myself
that I am not alone with
my experience."
March 18, 2013
Sparse, delightful, a vicious feeding left to images of the greater mind. I enjoyed the simplicity of Armantrout's style, a refreshing panoply of minimalism in an age of sheer verbosity. The poems are short and effective, the images within never over-wrought. There is great depth here. Read the poem "Sway" and you'll be hooked to Armantrout's juxtaposition of frigid, distant images with the turgid sublimity of emotional intimacy. Post-confessional poetry, you could call it.
January 24, 2014
A marvelous book of poems that will reward slow close reading (as is always the case with Armantrout). Think about money. Look at your retirement savings (if any). Are you too big to fail? Then read these poems. Seriously.
July 18, 2011
Fascinating, but intentionally cold, removed. Even so, not the most enjoyable poetry, but certainly mind-bending.
December 26, 2011
I will reread this, it just didn't speak to me on the first reading.
February 13, 2012
"Soft Money" is amazing. The rest has some bright spots, but is occasionally opaque.
December 21, 2016
I liked Money Shot but I couldn't really understand it? Maybe I'll reread it sometime; the topics seemed to elude me and I think that a second reading might add some clarity for me.
April 10, 2011
Not as good as Versed, but that's a ridiculous thing to ask of it. Still some tasty poems.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews