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bookjerm's review
4.0
Finally, someone whose poetry is current. I especially liked the poem Sensualism: "a mosquito presses into my skin / with such cruelty I mistake it for love." Best collection I've read in a while and I can't wait to see what this poet comes up with next.
whoz_ophelia's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Alex Dimitrov's Begging For It is an intimate and sensuous exploration of youth, identity, and sex. He seamlessly weaves three or four central ideas in most poems as exemplified in "To the Thirsty I Will Give Water", "Yesterday morning while I read Montaigne/ a man drove his car into the Gowanus canal.// I have never seen a greater monster or miracle..." His writing style, while simple, allows for depth and resonance. He is truly a master of his craft. My favorite poems were, "To The Thirsty I Will Give Water" and "This is Not a Personal Poem."
sam8834's review
4.0
There's a refreshing vulnerability to this book that isn't seen much in contemporary poetry. Yes, the subject matter is harsh and a bit tragically honest, but Dimitrov's lines pack a clever punch (a memorable one, from To The Thirsty I Will Give Water: "We were given more than we can drown.") and don't over-explain themselves, resulting in quite an impressive debut collection.
chaseledin's review
4.0
A friend, a professor of poetry, recommended Alex Dimitrov's Begging for It (2013) for its exquisite attention to pleasure: particularly Dimitrov's sensualist techniques.
Begging for It is a larger collection of Dimitrov's poems published widely in well-known journals, including the American Poetry Review, the Boston Review, the Gay & Lesbian Review, and The Yale Review, among numerous others. Dimitrov's work is widely influenced by classical poetics and literature, which is reflected in many of his titles (e.g. "Self-Portrait as Brett in The Sun Also Rises"), and sympathizes with Wilde, Ginsburg, and Borges.
The collection is split into five sections, delineations of which aren't necessarily clear, but provide a comforting movement from youth to an infinite loss-of-self in sex and desire. Though many of the poems felt tangentially related, the start and ending, especially, progressed the collection from youth into a sort of "loss of innocence," though the author would never admit to this. By far, my favorite, "Night Flights," reveals Dimitrov's skilled preoccupation with image and movement. Others, including "Sensualism," "White Fire," "Red Desert," and "Darling," stood out as exceptionally independent, thoughtful, and suggestive improvements upon the modern preponderance of viseral attraction.
Begging for It receives four stars for its sheer originality, its commitment to creative thought, and its intoxicating imagery. Alas, the author tried even a bit too hard to incorporate a number of poems (in section three, specifically) that detracted from the collection's intentions. Nonetheless, Dimitrov deserves the praise he's received, as, for instance, Mark Doty writes: "Dimitrov's passionate, headlong poems seem to want to carve beneath the surface of gestures, beneath the skin, to the warm and dangerous blood beneath"; indeed, "[This] is a fierce and memorable debut."
Begging for It is a larger collection of Dimitrov's poems published widely in well-known journals, including the American Poetry Review, the Boston Review, the Gay & Lesbian Review, and The Yale Review, among numerous others. Dimitrov's work is widely influenced by classical poetics and literature, which is reflected in many of his titles (e.g. "Self-Portrait as Brett in The Sun Also Rises"), and sympathizes with Wilde, Ginsburg, and Borges.
The collection is split into five sections, delineations of which aren't necessarily clear, but provide a comforting movement from youth to an infinite loss-of-self in sex and desire. Though many of the poems felt tangentially related, the start and ending, especially, progressed the collection from youth into a sort of "loss of innocence," though the author would never admit to this. By far, my favorite, "Night Flights," reveals Dimitrov's skilled preoccupation with image and movement. Others, including "Sensualism," "White Fire," "Red Desert," and "Darling," stood out as exceptionally independent, thoughtful, and suggestive improvements upon the modern preponderance of viseral attraction.
Begging for It receives four stars for its sheer originality, its commitment to creative thought, and its intoxicating imagery. Alas, the author tried even a bit too hard to incorporate a number of poems (in section three, specifically) that detracted from the collection's intentions. Nonetheless, Dimitrov deserves the praise he's received, as, for instance, Mark Doty writes: "Dimitrov's passionate, headlong poems seem to want to carve beneath the surface of gestures, beneath the skin, to the warm and dangerous blood beneath"; indeed, "[This] is a fierce and memorable debut."
selenajournal's review
4.0
I could not stop reading. When it is good, it makes you cry. Sometimes though, it is just okay.
mandyla's review against another edition
5.0
On my recent poetry renaissance, I googled "new contemporary poets" and came up with a few names to look into. Alex Dimitrov was one. I read a few of his poems online and then IMMEDIATELY bought Begging for It. NO REGRETS. (Or, as the kids say, #noregrets).
I really enjoyed Dimitrov's earnest voice, and the range of his subject matter and allusions. He doesn't sound as young as he is (no youth isn't inherently a bad thing, but I am always wary of the cliché of the angsty teenaged poet), and more than one of these had me crying.
I would recommend (and I have) reading this book if you are interested in some contemporary poetry. Also if you want to get hit in the feels a few times.
I really enjoyed Dimitrov's earnest voice, and the range of his subject matter and allusions. He doesn't sound as young as he is (no youth isn't inherently a bad thing, but I am always wary of the cliché of the angsty teenaged poet), and more than one of these had me crying.
I would recommend (and I have) reading this book if you are interested in some contemporary poetry. Also if you want to get hit in the feels a few times.
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