Customer Reviews

Anchored Angel, The

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This book is a delight. The sampling of Villa's experimental and visionary work is good. The memoirs and essays at the end of the book are superb. One writer wonders why Villa does not appear in contemporary anthologies of modernist and postmodernist anthologies and posits the "otherness" of Villa as Philippine-American as the cause. I agree, but also suggest that Villa's "wrestling with God" in the sense that Hopkins and the 17th c. Metaphysicals did, did not endear him to the decidedly secular critics of the latter half of the 20th c. This book also includes short stories and Villa's own criticism as well. Deign of the book is good, and the title poem is worth the price of admission alone.

From a review by Jean Gier for The International Examinder's PACIFIC READER:

(Villa's) poetry surprised me; the language was stunning, singular; not like any other poetry I had ever read, although it reminded me of Lorca, Dickinson, and even Gertrude Stein. It is an often disturbing poetry that seems torn between a 16th century lyrical mysticism, and an almost violent modernism...

The Anchored Angel is a moving tribute to an artist whose work deserves much more attention. Perhaps even more important, this edition begins to fill in the gaps of knowledge about this author, the impact of his work and critical thought...and its literary significance to modernist writing in the United States, as well as the Philippines.

I was in José's poetry class at the New School in New York City around 1970.

After class he and a few of us students would go over to Smith's Bar and talk about everything until all hours. The book characterizes him as being at times irascible. If so, I never saw it. Opinionated, yes, often heatedly. But always responsive to a debating opponent and willing to praise a good argument.

José taught me to understand poetry. He was intolerant of "versed-up" prose. He was disdainful of the vogue of self-expression through automatic writing. For him poetry was an art and a craft, requiring talent, study, and discipline.

For better or worse, the discrimination I got from him made me dismiss a number of poets I had hitherto admired, but gave me an appreciation of a much greater number I had not previously considered.

Unfortunately, I was not endowed with much talent for writing poetry, and was not invited into José's select private classes.

After the New School class ended, so did my relationship with José. I was sad to hear of his death, and later delighted to find this book, a long overdue, beautifully written tribute to a great poet and teacher.

The Anchored Angel has just been awarded PEN-Oakland's Josephine Miles National Literary Award. This is from PEN-Oakland's Press Release:

National in scope, the PEN-Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Awards represent a new perception of multicultural literature that does not seek its validation from the literary establishment, but creates its own standards and models of literature. PEN Oakland, a Bay Area chapter of the International Organization of Poets, Essayists and Novelists was founded in 1989 to address multicultural issues and educate the public as to the nature of multicultural work. [Its] award winning authors address the diversity and uniqueness of American culture, and represent the new voices of American literature.