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A review by laurarosenberg
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
5.0
Admittedly, I was drawn to the cover of this book when I saw Brown cited in a New York Times article. And then I read pieces of “Duplex”, and then I bought the book, and it is beautiful and heartbreaking, honest and deeply intimate. I found myself rereading most of the poems to make sure I understood them, which I often won’t do, because I don’t like working hard to understand an art form— I blame my college professors for only teaching us Tennyson and Wordsworth and Poe. I like the poems I read to be easily accessible, and my favorite poets over the last 10 years have exclusively been women.
All of that is to say— I appreciated Brown’s cultural touchstones (Mike Brown, John Crawford) and cringed when be wrote about having HIV and being a rape survivor. I appreciated that the way he writes his lines made me want to reread them to gain perspective. I so appreciated doing the work because it’s been years since I’ve wanted to do the work. Five glowing stars.
All of that is to say— I appreciated Brown’s cultural touchstones (Mike Brown, John Crawford) and cringed when be wrote about having HIV and being a rape survivor. I appreciated that the way he writes his lines made me want to reread them to gain perspective. I so appreciated doing the work because it’s been years since I’ve wanted to do the work. Five glowing stars.