Reviews

Anybody: Poems by Ari Banias

asburris325's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective

4.25

To learn to see beyond my seeing
I need to admit everything (24)

natbaldino's review against another edition

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5.0

First I will say that "recognition is the misrecognition you can bear" has always been my mantra for all creative and theoretical work, so I loved that A.B. feels that too.

Some favorites include "Narrative," "On Pockets," the end of "An Arrow." Also "Enough" and "A Version"

"Prairie Restoration Project" hit home on the loneliness of the Midwest, and "To The God of Sobriety" has the perfect sense of panic ("those twisty-ties their future lives!").

"Double Mastectomy," "The Hole" and the ending lines to "The Men" absolutely gutted me (and might be very much an IYKYK, I wonder how cis people feel reading it):

"what isn't there. Isn't there
a sweetness to it."

That being the end line to a poem about transness, gah.

darthban's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Very powerful prose. A handful of poems in this collection will stay with me for years to come.

dstrand12's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.25

connorcashcolbert's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Incredible collection of vivid, brilliantly-constructed poems. I read this in one night – I started with the first poem and kept turning pages until I finished. It's hold-your-piss good.

caterpillarnotebooks's review against another edition

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5.0

unexpectedly -- loved this too

toad_maiden's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a strong collection of poems; Banias's voice is mercurial and raw. I particularly loved the pieces that toyed with grammar, subject, and plurality. Much of poetry here--while excellent--was not to my personal taste, however. (I find block-style stanzas with lack of punctuation irritating to read, and the language was a bit slangy for my taste.) No shade on Banias for these poetic choices; the work is high-quality, but it will not be a book I personally return to again and again.

neurotypically's review against another edition

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3.0

the poems abt gender and sexuality HIT and i feel like stylistically, they were the best and most refined, too. really enjoyed them. the other poems, i felt like, lacked rhythm at points, which imo is essential to free verse poetry, which disturbed my reading flow and made it hard to concentrate on them

kell_xavi's review against another edition

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4.0

Finally got around to finishing this, but I read the second half while on lots of pain medication. Planning to reread a few poems that I'd like to spend a little more time with, and review after I do so. After the first six or so poems, I took this back to the library and bought it, though; it's worth the read and worth having around, in my eyes.
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