A review by sfranklinwriting
To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Evocative wordsmithing meets transcendental imagery through the coupling of old family photos and poetry to illuminate a sense of understanding in terms of how things were for the author’s family (from the early 1900s through the rest of the century). The history behind the photos is enveloped quite well with the wordage that Robin Coste Lewis has crafted here; however, with me being whiter than sushi rice in a glass o’ 2% milk, I did have to triple back a few times to make sure I fully grasped exactly what point(s) she was making. This book is great because it gave me a peek into a past that I would have never been able to understand otherwise. Just based on the cultural significance alone, I can see why this won the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry!