The summer of black widows pdf

The summer is full of spiders and thus rich in stories, and even after the spiders disappear, their evidence is found in every corner of a place that remains rich in poetic possibility. The Summer of Black Widows includes some of the most powerful poems in our literature about the experience of living on an Indian reservation surrounded by the world its tribe has lost. Consider three examples: a poem about Spokane Falls, "That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump," in which the loss of the salmon to urban and industrial concrete relates to women mourning for children who cannot return home; "The Exaggeration of Despair," a catalogue of horrific cases of social and cultural disintegration; and "The Powwow at the End of the World," a denunciation of crimes against the environment and against Alexie's tribe which succeeds as a poem even though those who attempt to do this kind of thing usually fail.

Alexie shows a variety of other strengths as well. He is, for one thing, a richly comic poet. But as always in the greatest comic art, the humor that makes us laugh is always underlaid with a sad wisdom. In this, as always in the best American Indian writing, its relation to American culture as a whole is a primary subject; but Alexie also suggests that the influences are mutual, and in "Tourists" he suggests just why America needs Indian traditional tribal culture. Understanding Sherman Alexie.

Offers a chronological examination of the work of the Native American novelist, poet, filmmaker, and short story writer. Authors: Gary D. Schmidt, Susan M. Older style. Sometimes disjointed. But beautiful either way. Aug 06, Katherine rated it it was amazing. Mar 12, Erin Thomas rated it it was ok Shelves: reviewed. There were poems I liked and which really caused a few moments of reflection, such as "Grand Entry" on pg 66, part 3 of "Tourists" pg 92 and "The Place where Ghosts of Salmon Jump" on pg Sharp detractors involved poems such as the "Totem Sonets," which were basically 14 lines of names of things and people.

To call these lists "poems" is something of a stretch. There was another poem titled as a sonnet which consisted of 14 interconnected prose paragraphs. Another stretch. As what some would c There were poems I liked and which really caused a few moments of reflection, such as "Grand Entry" on pg 66, part 3 of "Tourists" pg 92 and "The Place where Ghosts of Salmon Jump" on pg As what some would call a "neoformalist," you can imagine my reaction.

Other poems, such as "The Sasquatch Poems" and "Father and Farther" had points of real interest--a gem of thought, image or metaphor--but these were interspersed amidst a scattering of dirt and straw.

Perhaps the point was to be abstract, but for me these read more like fairly literate journal entries than they did like live, engaging poems. This isn't to say that a book of poems should be cohesive, consistent and contiguous--A book of poems is expected to be a collection of random thoughts, stories and ideas. But I think, in general, I would have liked more cohesiveness within the boundaries of a given poem. Some poems held this sense of cohesiveness for me, but most of them didn't.

Putting aside the question of poetry itself, and whether or not one might call it "good" poetry, I found that some lines, often buried deep in a page of line-spaghetti, resonated with me, especially those thoughts and feelings that connected with the archetypal "father," for I myself am the son of an abusive, disconnected father.

Overall, this was an okay read for me the tooltip text that pops up under two stars reads "it was ok" , which is probably better than I would rate most books of contemporary poetry. I would rate it between two and three stars, a little better than "ok," but not quite "liked it," but I am only permitted one or the other.

Dec 28, Jason rated it it was amazing Shelves: poetry. These poems are a pleasure to read. Plus, there's a lot of them. Alexie has pages here. He continues to use "Indian" images of salmon, rivers, fancy dancing, as well as images from his past like basketball. The loss of his sister and brother-in-law surfaces again And why shouldn't it?

I would never get over that either! Although most of the poems here are free verse, there's an occasional form like the villanel These poems are a pleasure to read. Although most of the poems here are free verse, there's an occasional form like the villanelle. Alexie also works in some killer rhymes regular and near throughout some of his poems. He sometimes relies on repetition, but that doesn't bother me too much.

The repetition is sort of like the pounding of a trival drum. I bet Alexie would hate that I made that comparison. Jan 22, Judy rated it it was amazing. Sherman Alexie tells us about so much, and does it so well, with poetic structures and references that are both familiar and refreshing. Magic is never far away, but no nearer than the day-to-day pain of poverty, diabetes, alcoholism and PTSD. We see the light, smell the fire, feel the blood the characters encounter in these poems, are invited to share myth and mystery, and to see Walt Whitman shoot baskets with a bunch of muscular young men on the res.

Jul 29, Jen rated it really liked it. I've been hearing a lot about Sherman Alexie lately, so I had to try him out.

I haven't read such engaging poetry for a long time, and I enjoyed the balance of simple and complicated. He had both pleasing imagery and thought-provoking stories to tell. Because I heard he writes children and young adult books, some of the topics surprised me. I can't wait to read more by Alexie, and plan to read and then watch The Business of Fancydancing in the next few weeks.

View 1 comment. Apr 07, Pamela rated it it was amazing. What a marvel of a book! I wish our poetry group would address these two poems. I look forward to reading more of his poetry. I don't know if I'd go so far as the prior reviewer to say that I'd have his children, but I'd definitely baby-sit, free of charge. Sep 06, Sarah rated it it was amazing.

I'm not a huge poetry fan. I really don't enjoy sitting and reading it at all, but this was just incredible. It is almost worth reading the terrible books by Momaday and Vizenor in Native American Literature to stumble on this one. I'm considering which poems I might be able to use in my classroom. Alexie is the kind of poet who makes every other poet want to just give up. View 2 comments. Mar 18, Emily rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: more people who find geniuses hot.

Shelves: booksofthepast , poetry. It's a fact that I would have Sherman Alexie's babies if he were interested.