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grapefrench's review
4.5
I've yet to come across a book of Sharon Olds poetry that didn't have at least a handful of poems that completely rocked my world. This book is no exception. Great place to start if you haven't read olds before. Her confessional memoir-like poetry is is like crystallized wisdom left by an beloved ancestor.
casparb's review against another edition
I think reading as much sharon olds as possible is Probably the best advice if yr interested in writing any poesie. again she's somewhere miraculous, Blood, Tin, Straw may not be her most consistent collection but it's up there. she's more soliloquys here than usual. it took until around the halfway mark for poem after poem to slam, especially fond of '19', 'Outdoor Shower', 'The Bed' ... more soon
emilylandry's review
5.0
Sharon Olds, where have you been all my life?! Oh, right: On my bookshelf.
I loved these poems just as much as I loved Satan Says when I first started reading her 10 years ago (oh jezischrist I feel old).
I loved these poems just as much as I loved Satan Says when I first started reading her 10 years ago (oh jezischrist I feel old).
unabridgedchick's review
4.0
Honestly, I'm not super discerning when it comes to poetry, so I was pretty enthralled by this volume, which is very blunt, visceral, confessional, and intimate. However, when I read Anis Shivani's piece in the Huffington Post on overrated writers, I definitely laughed at: "Childbirth, her father's penis, her son's cock, and her daughter's vagina are repeated obsessions she can always count on in a pinch. Has given confessionalism such a bad name it can't possibly recover." Kind of true, only I feel a lot less hostile about it.
kfan's review
2.0
Poems about the human body and the fluids it's comprised of and the horrible things that happen to it. Feels like it was cathartic for the author to write; it sounds like she's had some tough times and it's important to bear witness to those moments, but I prefer poetry that looks up, not down.
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