Title | : | The Bride of E |
Author | : | |
Rating | : | |
ISBN | : | 1555975399 |
ISBN-10 | : | 9781555975395 |
Language | : | English |
Format Type | : | Hardcover |
Number of Pages | : | 112 |
Publication | : | First published September 29, 2009 |
The goblet mouth on the table speaks
To your thirst, saying, Longing, your longing, is infinite.
-from "H Is Here Is a Song, Now Sing"
In her sixth collection, The Bride of E, Mary Jo Bang uses a distinctive mix of humor and directness to sound the deepest sort of anguish: the existential condition. Timeless yet tirelessly inventive, Bang fashions her examination of the lived life into an abecedarius that is as rapturous in its language and music as it is affecting in its awareness of--and yearning for--what isn't there. The title of the first poem, "ABC Plus E: Cosmic Aloneness Is the Bride of Existence," posits the collection's central problem, and a symposium of figures from every register of our culture (from Plato to Pee-wee Herman, Mickey Mouse to Sartre) is assembled to help confront it. Riddled with insight, pathos, and wit, The Bride of E is a brilliant new work by one the most compelling poets of our time.
The Bride of E Reviews
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Check out my review on Coldfront:
http://coldfrontmag.com/reviews/the-b... -
Couldn't stay in. Tried. Wanted to.
It's a music I'm not used to, that's certain.
The short lines and sudden turns kept bumping me off the page.
Sense of failure.
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I was initially inclined to dislike these post-Ashbery poems but in actuality Bang has a talent for the riveting image which while disconnected in the "language" poetry motif still energizes some of her poems so they are in the whole effective. She is of course idolized by the academic coterie that flogs the idea of "accessibility"--Billy Collins is their bete noire but nonetheless she is heads above most of that crowd.
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the prose poem "G Is Going" beat me until i could only resign on my stool, in the sweat drenched corner of the ring, 12 humiliating rounds already on the scorecards and decidedly not in my favor, spitting "no mas" the only counterpunch i hadn't yet attempted
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The body as document burning in an ashtray
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Mary Jo Bang’s amazing new collection of poetry, The Bride Of E, is vivid with haunting images. The poems in the first part of the book follow their lead from the alphabet, beginning with “ABC Plus E: Cosmic Aloneness Is The Bride Of Existence.” This disturbingly truthful poem is anything but simple. It mirrors the loneliness one can feel even in large crowds. This is just one example of the rich, thought-provoking poetry within this slim volume.
The poem “For Freud” begins with an exquisite sentence: “I didn’t mean to imply a girl is nothing more than a jewel box.” Volumes could be written on this statement alone. For a woman who grew up in a generation that expected women to be jewel boxes, “For Freud” is validation of a war fought to shed clinging expectations of society that all girls should marry a "good man" and become a mother. A new breed of independent women emerged from this battleground.
The Bride Of E is Mary Jo Bang’s examination into lived life. Some stanzas shine light into the dark shadowy corners of forgotten longings:
The bells are ringing, indicating
An original longing has been transformed
Into a pitch too high to hear.
This language encourages the reader to observe their surroundings with an artist’s eye.
Bang reveals our diverse world by splicing together images of college kids partying at a club, highbrow literary references, and even descriptions of a time to come. While there are hints of traditional romance, the poet has no problem throwing in a fragment of information technology or an impression of violence. The underlying message found in these poems is philosophy on a large plasma screen.
The second part of The Bride Of E consists of five prose poems that lend a hopeful note to the brutal honesty of part one. This is a collection I will take off my shelf to re-read and experience the life lessons waiting inside the cover.
Review by Ann Hite -
I picked up this book because Mary Jo Bang came to visit my university a couple years ago and I was interested by her poem "B is for Beckett." I've found through reading this book that her metaphors and imagery are complex and sometimes difficult to follow, but so rich that you don't mind holding on and going for a ride. I thought that it was a clever idea to write an abecedarian type book, and it's an idea that I might want to use for my Poem-A-Day Project. Overall really neat and worth the read. Nearly devoured in two Amtrak trips.