Great America: Poems - Softcover

McManus, James

3.17

6 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060969946 ISBN 13: 9780060969943

Publisher: Perennial, 1993

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A collection of poems examining the contradictions and moral ambiguities within contemporary American culture

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From Publishers Weekly:

Although the titles of some of the selections in this collection ("Gespensterwellen" or "Counting Her Syllables Before They're Hatched") suggest nonsense, it is enigma that results instead. McManus's poems and one short prose piece juxtapose life from the tabloids against a poetic vision in which sense is apt to jitter into fragments as the attention focuses. "Splashwater Falls the Shock / Wave the Shooting Gallery / rhythmic percussion is African melody / more European this dismal cock / galvanizing ritual just because Peewee was framed." Intimate confession lies alongside crass or ridiculous fantasies in a matrix of many barriers and abandoned hints. The middle-aged narrator of "Smash and Scatteration," having displayed his sexy and forthright "fiancee Linda Krajacik" (" 'Yo, tell me about it, Mr. Premature / Ejaculation,' she snaps, whapping a palm with a fist"), goes on in "Wisconsin," another piece, to ogle the body of nubile teenager Katie Krajacik, who plays "center field on my daughter Mairead's fast-pitch softball team." Should we sort it out, leave it alone or call the police? McManus's dada verve gains more than a little from its Chicago context. "Slash Art," which he terms a "manifesto," offers: "In the meantime / people who read books, employ good old fugal procedure, and understand rules / can change quickly will make much more / interesting art, and much much more money."
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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