Karen Davis > Recent Status Updates

These poems are fun to read beginning with the speaker at age 4 through the age of 13. A little girl who is entertained by language and its meanings. A little girl who simultaneously. learns to adapt and define her world on her terms as she faces constant relocations of a military family; social political and racial changes of the 50's. Very accessible for preteens as well as adults.

Misery. a book about. miserable people all tied by a gritty miserable section of London. People who feel only through sorrow and contempt, drugs and sex.

I am going to finish this book...tales of disconnected. people is told so well that as a reader I am disconnected. I will eventually finish but it is tedious reading.

This line, found on page 24, is riding me "...the sense that no amount of visibility will alter the ways in which one is perceived." My mind is rolling from the discussion of body cameras for police to the novel Invisible Man to The Bluest Eye.

did I mention the words are blunt?

Athens words are blunt. the sentences. are blunt. the paragraphs blunt. the dialogue blunt the chapters blunt maybe she wrote under the influence. of blunts.

it is not about the characters, not about intricacies. of relationships, not even about interesting dialogue. more about the mundane...and I suspect Smith is playing with time or timing.

the narration is distant. as if Smith wants us to observe them under a microscope.

the lines are blunt. the writing style is such that i feel distant from the characters. their thoughts and dialogue drifts. reminds me of sitting at a table with people and everyone is on their cellphones while attempting conversation with people st the table. there, but not fully present.

I wanted to read this book simply because it highlighted. 3 women artists. it is a rarity for African American artists. Also, as an artist I am always examining how, when, and if my personal politics shows up in my art...an ongoing. dialogue. the information strongly explains how lives and ideas overlap and intersect as we'll as showing the continuum among time, people, and our struggles.

FABULOUS!!!! that is all I.can say!

What happens when girls and women are poor and rendered invisible or are only visible and judged by perceived flaws?

I see grief everyday here on Queen Street....a great first line.

I enjoyed this one better than Show Your Work. He writes like he is your best friend who gives straight common sense advice but it is so easy to get distracted and off course as an artist that the common sense straight talk is refreshing.

I would re ommend th is to any young teen or pre teen reader.it is a futuristic magical coming of age story. the last third of the book picked up pace which relieved some of the self consciousness of the telling.

A very gripping start...

Sojourner Truth dictated the narrative parts to an abolitionist. parts of the book are the thoughts and perspective of the actual writer Olive Gilbert. The eye opener was learning that she spoke in "low Dutch". What I became curious about is the sound of her voice and her presence.

if you want to know what prayer and Godly faith looks like as acts of revolution for healing and health for yourself, family, community, and the world at large then read this book. It is thin enough to carry with you, friendly enough to read out loud when hanging with friends. Several young women in my life will be receiving as a gift.