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kjboldon's review against another edition
5.0
Poems, essays, photos, artifacts, this a gorgeous and moving collection on an artist, her family, and the things that moved her.
itisjonwilson's review against another edition
5.0
I really took my time with this one. I wanted to be immersed in this collection as long as possible. Milky Finney has done it again. This collection of poetry, prose, and family artefacts had me sitting in moments of joy, laughter, and sadness.
“Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life” had me crying and feeling an immense sense of sorrow and frustration.
Hotbed 58 is beautiful and so motivating.
Finney’s word have forced me to source out more of her work. I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for the words.
“Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life” had me crying and feeling an immense sense of sorrow and frustration.
Hotbed 58 is beautiful and so motivating.
Finney’s word have forced me to source out more of her work. I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for the words.
sam8834's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
A masterful work in docu-poetics, and gorgeously bound to boot.
A masterful work in docu-poetics, and gorgeously bound to boot.
stephenvhenn's review against another edition
3.0
I attended a talk with Nikky Finney a few years ago and was deeply impressed with her - she spoke of the human condition in ways few I've encountered were able to. I picked up this book and finally got around to reading it. Poetry is a different animal, one that requires slow, methodical reading. Finney's use of words is powerful, soulful, and elegant. While this wasn't my favorite book, the way Finney interrogates the human condition on the page is beautiful and one you should check out.
litficwithellie's review
3.0
AD, gifted
Thanks to the publishers, and NetGalley, for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Warning: this book contains discussions of racism, and the unfair trial and subsequent death sentence of a young boy.
Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to give this book a proper review. First, I would say this: pay heed to the word 'occasional' in the title. The majority of this book is prose vignettes, or prose poetry. This book, for me, is primarily a memoir, or perhaps a homage to the author's father. The writing itself is certainly competent, and often touching. The piece that stood out to me the most was one right towards the end, titled "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life". This piece was by far the most emotionally of the book, mostly due to its subject matter, but also due to the portrayal it offers of the author's relationship to her father.
This was what I enjoyed about the book. However, I struggled to get involved in many of the prose vignettes, and I was often left wondering if what I was interpreting as prose poetry due to the line breaks was actually a formatting issue. There were many formatting issues with this book, to the point where I was often unsure if something was placed in error or intentionally. I hope this issues are resolved before the book is released, as I would be disapppinted had I paid for this, especially as I felt distracted from the writing itself by the errors with which it was riddled. With better formatting, and error corrections, I do feel as though this book could potentially gain an extra star, but the errors were too distracting for me to enjoy the writing as I perhaps could otherwise.
Rating: 3 stars, could easily be 3.5-4 if formatting errors are removed in the published edition.
Thanks to the publishers, and NetGalley, for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Warning: this book contains discussions of racism, and the unfair trial and subsequent death sentence of a young boy.
Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to give this book a proper review. First, I would say this: pay heed to the word 'occasional' in the title. The majority of this book is prose vignettes, or prose poetry. This book, for me, is primarily a memoir, or perhaps a homage to the author's father. The writing itself is certainly competent, and often touching. The piece that stood out to me the most was one right towards the end, titled "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life". This piece was by far the most emotionally of the book, mostly due to its subject matter, but also due to the portrayal it offers of the author's relationship to her father.
This was what I enjoyed about the book. However, I struggled to get involved in many of the prose vignettes, and I was often left wondering if what I was interpreting as prose poetry due to the line breaks was actually a formatting issue. There were many formatting issues with this book, to the point where I was often unsure if something was placed in error or intentionally. I hope this issues are resolved before the book is released, as I would be disapppinted had I paid for this, especially as I felt distracted from the writing itself by the errors with which it was riddled. With better formatting, and error corrections, I do feel as though this book could potentially gain an extra star, but the errors were too distracting for me to enjoy the writing as I perhaps could otherwise.
Rating: 3 stars, could easily be 3.5-4 if formatting errors are removed in the published edition.
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