Customer Reviews

All-American Poem (APR Honickman 1st Book Award)

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All-American Poem is a wonderful collection of poetry all adding up to a complete portrait of America. The book is separated into three parts. The first part focuses primarily on themes of love and memories that are representative of the personal aspects of life. In the second part, Dickman's focus shifts to the broken pieces of the country. The poems in this section deal with suffering and troubled times that everyone can relate to at some level or another. The final section of his collection relates more to universal ideas such as beliefs or moments of self-discovery. The underlying theme throughout the collection is, of course, America. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is just beginning to explore the world of poetry. Matthew Dickman's poems are very straightforward and easy to understand. They also paint very vivid pictures and would be enjoyed by any fan of poetry.

I absolutely LOVE this collection of poems by Matthew Dickman. I have read it cover to cover at least three times, and I keep going back to my favorite poems over and over again. There is something very real and relatable about his writing, and it is a joy to read.

This attempt to pull together some divergent aesthetic postures in contemporary poetry consistently falls short for me. There is too much silliness trying to be either witty or profound. I'm not impressed by poems like "Grief"--"When grief comes to you as a purple gorilla/you must count yourself lucky."--even if THE NEW YORKER was. If you prefer preening to honesty you might enjoy this collection. Otherwise, you might check out his brother, Michael Dickman, and his first book, THE END OF THE WEST.

I bought this book after multiple encounters with Dickman's poem, "Love." I thought it would be the best in his collection and really stand out. I was wrong. The whole book is full of great little, long and every length in-between poems. They're all vivid, concise and wonderful. However, my favorite poem will always be "Love."

I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to read some excellent "new" poetry (stuff published within the 2000's), considering he has won multiple awards.

Matthew Dickman is a genius. You will find yourself coming back for more and wanting to share this work with everyone you know. Timeless, honest, interesting, beautiful, ugly writing. Matthew Dickman is the best poet alive.