Poetry Readers Challenge discussion

This is a book of 78 numbered poems all of which sound like a cowboy addressing God as "Boss." Make that an Appalachian cowboy. I wasn't surprised to find that the poet hails from Kentucky. The idiom fit but it wasn't as fun as those I'd run across when living in Kentucky myself. These musings, one-sided mini-conversations, often struck me as rather simplistic. Some did stretch and Manning definitely displays lyric power in some, but overall I was under-awed. The lyricism was almost constantly being interrupted by referring to the "Boss" the speaker was addressing, as people will do when trying to remember someone's name or when they've been told it will build rapport and so they use it formulaically, garnering the opposite effect they were going for. At least that was my own response to these poems and that voice. If you look at other goodreads reviews of this book, I'm apparently in the minority. I'll give you examples so you can judge which side of the fence you fall. A note that these poems are loosely (some more tightly) in iambic trimeter or tetrameter.

XXVII

that bare branch that branch made black
by the rain the silver raindrop
hanging from the black branch
Boss I like that black branch
I like that shiny raindrop Boss
tell me if I'm wrong but it makes
me think you're looking right
at me now isn't that a lark for me
to think you look that way
upside down like a tree frog
Boss I'm not surprised at all
I wouldn't doubt it for
a minute you're always up
to something I'll say one thing
you're all right all right you are
even when you're hanging Boss

The most lyrical one is XVII, but it's also comes across as merely descriptive (richly so but I question whether it rises above that). I think it is able to achieve this by largely eliminating the interruption of frequent "Boss"es.

I like the weaving bees I like
the purple clover blossoms the way
the pasture runs away I like
in winter sinking lambs in straw
how I like bearing buckets full
of water waking up the sun
I like making up a little song
O looking at the sky I close
one eye I hold my hand in the air
I let the red hawk tip my fingers
every day I pretend I am
a tree in your pasture Boss a tree
that holds one season of hello
to everything that's still or stirs
because it is the only one

Perhaps if I were a religious person I would like these more. What surprises me is that I liked them so little even though I'm a nature-lover and have lived a rural lifestyle at periods in my life. In the end, I became more tolerant of the voice but I can't say I ever liked it. It strikes me that a pack of poetry nerds could probably get quite a bit of conversation out of discussing the book. But I'm not sure that recommends it. If you like what I quoted above, seek out the book. If not, pass it by.

I would read another book by this poet but this project really didn't do it for me.

Based on the two samples you've posted, I really like how he does line breaks -- the lines are short and taut-feeling, yet with enough momentum to push the reader from the end of one line on to the beginning of the next. I also enjoyed all the repetitions and inversions (e.g., "you're all right all right you are"). That said, 78 poems in the same mode is a lot of poems in the same mode, especially if the line length is more or less the same throughout. Berryman used the same form and the same voice(s) over and over in the Dream Songs, but he altered his perspective and his rhyme scheme and his line lengths just enough from poem to poem to keep things interesting. What tricks does Manning use to avoid getting repetitive/monotonous, I wonder?

They are more or less the same--to me anyway. They do have momentum and read very quickly. You might consider getting a hold if through a library. He definitely has talent and is capable of complexity. Just rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed too artificial and the speaker too childlike at times, even cliched. As you suggest, being more selective probably would have been beneficial.