Blood Sugar [Paperback]

Nicole Blackman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

"Alt-rock diva, wise-cracking Blackman is not so much the poetic conscience of Gen X as its caustic avenger."—Village Voice

"Blackman has a gift for turning nightmares into revelations."—New York Times

Blood Sugar is a disturbing and evocative collection of new work and selected poems previously featured in Blackman’s enormously popular chapbooks Pretty, Sweet, and Nice. Her work has appeared in five major anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Verses That Hurt, and Poetry Nation. Blackman has performed on over twenty recordings, including collaborations with Golden Palominos, Recoil, KMFDM, and Scanner. She has also performed internationally and on NPR, MTV Radio, Spin Radio, and been featured on Salon.com. It is futile to resist her brutal accounts of obsession and beauty. So give in.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . such a rascally joy to read. Sassy. Direct. Contemporary. Often merciless -- impressive throughout. Bravo!" -- Gwendolyn Brooks, poet

"Alt-rock diva, wise-cracking Blackman is not so much the poetic conscience of Gen X as its caustic avenger." -- The Village Voice

"Blackman has a gift for turning nightmares into revelations." -- The New York Times

"She's the spoken word goddess." -- SonicNet --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Blackman's work has appeared in five major anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Verses that Hurt, and Poetry Nation. She has performed on over fifteen albums, including recordings by Golden Palominos, KMFDM, Recoil, Bill Laswell, and Scanner. She has also performed on NPR, MTV Radio, and Spin Radio. She live in New York. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Incommunicado Pr; 1St Edition edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888277173
• ISBN-13: 978-1888277173
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm all for not taking oneself too seriously, but..., August 7, 2000

By 

Eric Chalres (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Sugar (Paperback)

have you seen the reviews for this book? I don't want to let the Amazon crowd down, but I like Blackman's work, so I think I'll skip the opportunity for an ironic review (i.e., the "Her poetry is so cute and fluffy!" write-up) or the huckster shot about diabetes, and just tell you I liked the book.

Nicole Blackman entered my world as a voice on a mix tape... I rewound "Dogma" over and over again. She is the only reason I own a KMFDM album; the band must have gotten tired of using their own name as lyrics, and hired a poet. The song is a hard kick in the teeth.

It took some searching to find out who the voice on that song belonged to, a little more to find out who Nicole Blackman was, and an order to buy the Golden Palominos CD that showcases her. There's that voice again, and it can purr and ice and seduce as well as seethe.

When I read this book, I hear that voice. I don't know if I'd have been so drawn to her if I had been handed a book instead of a tape, but I can easily settle into Blood Sugar and the range it offers.

Yes: "Range." Blood on the cover doesn't necessarily mean that the book is filled melancholy cliches-- it isn't readily apparent from reading the book weather or not she's a big Cure fan. Though she never traipses around in Hallmark fluff, some of the poems are very soft. The more violent graphic pieces detail something deeper (and scarier) than the sophomoric "anger and pain as an attention getter" poetry that I know she won't sink to.

And that's really the trick, isn't it? To pull off that piece of magic... she strikes up an empathy, somehow. Nicole Blackman can burn into a dark topic and stay human. She's not trite, not shallow, and not delivering us the image-obsessed chant with every poem: "I am the darkest poet alive". She is simply... good.

Very, very good.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense and Emotive, January 8, 2001

By 

Lauren (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Sugar (Paperback)

In the vein of Nicole Blackman's work, I want to keep this review concise and direct. With "Blood Sugar", Ms. Blackman touches the rarest of nerves with the adroit eye of a poet and clean candor of a seasoned observer of life. I'm certain that many of the poems contained in this book were not emotionally easy to write, and I feel very lucky that Ms. Blackman chose to share her wholly powerful work with us. I truly believe that "Blood Sugar" augments her as one of the most original and forthright poets of our time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly emotional, May 18, 2001

By 

Daniel Castell (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Sugar (Paperback)

This book single handedly pulled me back into poetry. Before reading this I had become what I would call "disillusioned" with poetry on the whole. Reading this brilliant work of modern poetry however rekindled what I had first felt as a youth reading Byron and Keats... and I've recaptured all that love again. I could pick apart a few technical aspects of this book... but I won't, I love it too much for that. All I can tell you is, if you enjoy raw emotion and pure attempts at artestry in words, then get this volume today! To use a cliche, you truly do owe it to yourself to own this work of art. I was first introduced to Blackman through her work with the "Golden Palominos" on the their album "Dead Inside" which is basically putting music to her words (which she sings and speaks on the album. You really should check it out if you can afford both). The brilliance of subtle details in "Victim" lead me to track down more of her work and I was led to this book... I hope you will be led to it as well.