Reviews

Olives by A. E. Stallings

goodverbsonly's review

4.0

like a good 4 or 5 poems just had me choking on tears for like...indescribable reasons

dotorsojak's review

4.0

Very good book. My favorite poems are: “Burned,” “Two Violins,” “Handbook of the Foley Artist” (my favorite), and “The Boatman to Psyche, on the River Styx.”

nick_jenkins's review

3.0

Formalist poetry can tend toward preciosity to begin with; Stallings embraces that here, with mixed effects. “Burned” and “Jigsaw Puzzle” are probably my favorites.

foggy_rosamund's review

5.0

I wasn't familiar with Stallings until March of this year, but this has quickly become one of my favourite collections. She uses form with such good judgement and clarity, and it makes her imagery feel both fresh and inevitable. The last section in this collection, which deals with children and childhood, is my favourite: I love how she writes about children, her mixture of tenderness, frustration and awe is beautiful.

rarus's review

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

2.0

Not very impressed.  Seemed like a lot of poetry workshop tricks.  A few gems, like the two-parter on the baby weaning and cutting his teeth.

charmainelim's review

2.0

Gosh I hated reading this for class

Full review here: https://charmainelimen.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/review-olives-by-a-e-stallings/