A review by casparb
Balladz by Sharon Olds

real! long even among shaz's group. i'M trying to juggle the subsections in my head, whether they come together, how they stand alone. actually I wonder if this would be a different experience as a series of bound pamphlets, like anne carson's float. As we've come to expect from Olds, many clumped-up jagged poems that we can keep for a good long time & study & so we should. I have my doubts about stamina thru the whole thing... but I really can't complain, it's hard not to read balladz and wonder whether sharon wonders if this is her last book. It doesn't read terminally, as something like CK Williams' Falling Ill does, there's an energy throwing towards the future that gives me hope Olds will be with us for a minute yet. Thematically, there's a feeling of coming to terms though, loose ends and so. The ending here reciprocates that of One Secret Thing, and now I'm curious as to whether this is a longstanding motif! closing so ! at the deathbed

I'm keen to reread it, take it slower. I kind of like the throw-it-all at the wall approach, oddly most reminded of Satan Says, tonally, in much of this. still think