The Bandsaw Riots [Paperback]

Arlitia Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2001

Poetry. "This woman can flat-out write. Her work is so fresh and full of energy, the smoke's still rising from the page. She takes the grit of our daily lives and shapes it into wonder and surprise" - Jim Daniels. "I'm drawn to the voice of this butcher's daughter wrapping pork chops and steaks alongside the men, meditating on Yeats and Mother Jones; where the Alaskan winter stumbles onto the cutting floor in his white coat, hating his job. These are tough poems of toil and kin and Arlitia Jones is a poet. It's in her bones and blood. She takes the language of that place and uses it, like a tool, to chisel deep and lasting marks" - Dorianne Laux.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I see they're selling health insurance/ for pets now, says the bookkeeper/ behind the counter, who, at age forty-eight/ and uninsured, could finally pay/ cash for her first mammogram." A butcher's daughter in "[w]hite coat, white apron, hair done up," as "the bride/ of the USDA," Jones offers hard-bitten looks at frost-bitten Anchorage, where her family's wholesale shop remains, and she continues to work full-time as a meatwrapper and bookkeeper, while teaching writing part-time. As "Shit Job" puts it, "The machine sucks/ and blows in and out/ like a yes-man courting money." And God? "[N]earsighted as a human infant." (Oct..
-earsighted as a human infant." (Oct.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A notable debut." -- Publisher's Weekly (Forecasts, 9/24/01, a starred review)

"Jones' unpretentious language and blue-collar subject matter will appeal to a wide audience." -- Mark Dudick, Anchorage Daily News, October 7,2001

"This is a muscular and passionate first collection" that "unflinchingly embrace[s] hardship and beauty, love and pain." -- Dennis Loy Johnson, MobyLives, October 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 63 pages
• Publisher: Bear Star Press (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965717771
• ISBN-13: 978-0965717779
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,974,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars visceral, witty, and genuine, February 3, 2007

By 

Jessica E. Keil "Jess.my.pet" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bandsaw Riots (Paperback)

I admit I am biased: I know Arlitia, I've taken a class from her. But that is not the reason I love these poems. Arlitia captures little glimpses of Alaska, her childhood, the people she loves, the places she's visited, the family business in meat processing and packaging ... it all jumbles together into a complex, thought-provoking collection of poems. She's simultaneously obscene and reverent; she touches on things that are real--and sometimes unsettling. If you can imagine finding beauty in sinews and bones, and in cursing, imperfect families, then you will love this book.