Reviews - American Melancholy: Poems

American Melancholy: Poems by Joyce Carol Oates

91 reviews for:

Don't get me wrong, I love Joyce Carol Oates. She can do marvellous things with language and story, but this poetry collection just didn't hit for me. Can't put it down to much more than personal taste.

However, some standouts:
This is Not a Poem
The Blessing
Palliative

shibaunited's review

3.75

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

elizzyshuu's review against another edition

2.75

dark reflective tense slow-paced

whimsybookowl's review

3.0

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

tuniereads's review

3.75

emotional reflective

njdarkish's review

4.0

A well-written collection of poetry that pays tribute to some of my favorite poets, such as Billy Collins and William Carlos Williams. Oates is a master of language, so it should be no surprise that her poetry is tight and compelling. I particularly thought the poem about Marlon Brando (now in hell) was powerful.

amygatzemeyer's review

4.0

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

analyticalchaos's review

2.0

This poetry collection is very accessible. Oates uses poetry as storytelling, recalling prominent behaviorist psychologists Watson and Harlow, actor Marlon Brando, her own travels to Germany, a story about a worn down mistress, etc. Oates’s imagery is the highlight of this collection.

Yet when I assess my overall reading experience, I found myself really detached. I felt as if the poems were long and redundant at points; the shorter ones had very overdone themes. It was grating to get through them knowing there wasn’t an interesting conclusion in the end.

I wonder if these would do better in a spoken word medium. That way, the imagery could shine through and the audience would feel more engaged with the content Oates discussed.