Book of Appassionata: The Collected Poems [Hardcover]

David Citino (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Would there were more nuns like Sister Mary Appassionata, the poetic persona through whom Citino has been speaking for more than 15 years and whose learned and earthy lectures are here gathered in one hefty volume. A voracious student of anthropology, biology, physics, and history ("The Pharaoh's personal physician was called/ Shepherd of the Royal Anus"), the good Sister knows a little too much about everything, from the "Cholesterol Levels of the Gods" to the "Perfection of Sex." In fact, it's sex?"the sweet meaty beastliness of us"?that brings out some of her keenest observations ("If you move together, as you were made to do,/ you must wait for one another"). Existing somewhere at the intersection of meditation, exhortation, and exultation, her lectures never patronize or sidestep the issue, and in the end her intent?through all the wry humor and associative leaps?is to help us "know what marvels we are." True, the mask sometimes seems an unnecessary contrivance, and half as many poems would have sufficed, but Citino's eccentric muse nevertheless comes as a blessing in thin disguise?Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

1. A Lesson In Anatomy
2. Figures Of Love, Spending Our Lives
3. The Four Fluids
4. Doctrines Of The Breath
5. Bacteria And Weather, Treasure And Nones
6. The Nature Of Love
7. The Nature Of Vision
8. Last Things
In A Clearing Hacked Out Of The Rain Forest, Sister Mary Appassionata
Letter To Sister Mary Appassionate, America's Adviser To The Lovelorn
Sister Mary Appassionata Addresses 8th Grade .. Museum Natural History
Sister Mary Appassionata Addresses Psychic Research Guild Of Marion
Sister Mary Appassionata Addresses The Marion County Writers
Sister Mary Appassionata Addresses The Ohio Supreme Court
Sister Mary Appassionata Addresses The V.f.w.
Sister Mary Appassionata Announces The Winning Project ... Insects
Sister Mary Appassionata Argues On Behalf Of The Trees
Sister Mary Appassionata Chases The Wind
Sister Mary Appassionata Delivers An Impromptu Speech Local Ponderosa
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: Every Day Another Snake
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: Flesh Willing, Spirit ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: History Of Witchcraft
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: Natures Of Symmetry
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: On Nature Of The Candle
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: The Family Jewels
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: The Nature Of Eloquence
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: The Second Day
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures 8th Grade: Things Of This World
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Architecture Class: Doctrines Wall
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Bible As Lit Class: Life Of Noah
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Bible Study Class: Homage To Onan
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Bible Study Class: Noah
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Biology Class: Historia Naturalis
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Biology Class: Natural Selection
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Cinematography Class: Late Movie
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Clinical Psychology Class:eustochium
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Creative Writing Class: Evangelist
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Creative Writing Course: Naming ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Creative Writing Course: Poet ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Creative Writing Workshop: Dance
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Folklore Class: Doctrines Strawberry
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Health Class: Keep Blood From Cold
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures History Class: Doctrines Of Memory
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures History Class: Life Of The Saint
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Home Ec Class: The Feast
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Human Behavior Class: One Mouth ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Journalism And Metaphysics Class ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Mortuary Science Class: Feeding Dead
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Natural History Class: Love & Curse
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Photography Club: Nothing Can't See
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Pre-med Class: Doctrines Of Sweat
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Quantitative Analysis Class: Soul
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Religion & Mythology Class: Frogs ..
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Sex Education Class: Doctrines Kiss
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Sex Education: Historia Sexualis
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Social Behavior Class: Friends ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Studio Art Class: Doctrine Nakedness
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures The Neurology Class
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures The Parents Of The Eighth Grade ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures The Science Class: Fossils, Physics
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Theology Class On ... Demons
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Theology Class: St. Teresa
Sister Mary Appassionata Lectures Urban Study Class: Gunfire ...
Sister Mary Appassionata Minds The Body
Sister Mary Appassionata On Birds And Bees & 8th Grade Boys And Girls
Sister Mary Appassionata On Field Trip To Columbus Zoo With ... Choir
Sister Mary Appassionata On The Cholesterol Levels Of The Gods
Sister Mary Appassionata On The Excommunication Of The Locusts
Sister Mary Appassionata On The Foreskin Of The Savior
Sister Mary Appassionata On The History Of Heat
Sister Mary Appassionata On The History Of Virginity
Sister Mary Appassionata On The Nature Of Sound
Sister Mary Appassionata On The Nature Of The Hero
Sister Mary Appassionata Praises The Sense Of Smell
Sister Mary Appassionata Praises Those Who Love To Watch
Sister Mary Appassionata Quizzes The Physics Class
Sister Mary Appassionata Recounts A Folktale
Sister Mary Appassionata Responds To Questions From The Floor
Sister Mary Appassionata Speaks During The Retreat Of 8th Grade
Sister Mary Appassionata To 4th Grade Latin Class
Sister Mary Appassionata To 8th Grade .. Religious History Nakedness
Sister Mary Appassionata To 8th Grade: Smell Considered ... Love
Sister Mary Appassionata To Continuing Eductaion Class: Single Messiah
Sister Mary Appassionata To Human Awareness Class: One Fate Worse
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Chamber Of Commerce: Ruins Of Atlantis
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Editor Of Columbus Dispatch
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Home Ec Class
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Human Awareness Class: Notes ... Sex
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Music Theory Class
Sister Mary Appassionata To The Paleonthology Class: Before ... Bone
Sister Mary Appassionata To Women's Studies Class: ... St. Teresa
Sister Mary Appassionata's Concise History Of Bird Droppings
Sister Mary Appassionata's Homage To St. Einstein
Sister Mary Appassionata's Laws Of Metamorphosis
Sister Mary Appassionata, Bird-watching With 8th Grade Boys And Girls
Sister Mary Appassionata, Loving The Self
Sister Mary Appassionata, Marriage Counselor
Sister Mary Appassionata, On Hearing That Kant Disregarded ... Smell
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures 8th Grade: To Punish The Cities
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures Anatomy Class: Doctrines Of The Nose
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures Biorhythm Class: Doctrines Of Time
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures Journalism Class: Doctrines Belief
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures Science Class: Doctrines Of Elements
Sister Mary Appassionate Lectures Zoology Class: Doctrines Of Beast
Sister Mary Appassionate To .. Anatomry Class: Heartbeat And Mass ...
Sister Mary Appassionate To 8th Grade: Doctrines Of Divination
Sister Mary Appassionate To The Optometry Class: Doctrines Of The Eye
Walking By The Lion's Den Adult Theater And Bookstore ... Stigmata
Sister Mary Appassionata Proves To Entomology Class ... From Cricket
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Hardcover: 178 pages
• Publisher: Ohio State University Press; 1 edition (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814207731
• ISBN-13: 978-0814207734
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,866,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good thought-provoking laugh, April 16, 1999

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: BOOK OF APPASSIONATA: THE COLLECTED POEMS (Paperback)

Sister Appassionata is, as poet David Citino suggests, perhaps a bit obsessed with sex; this limits the number of people I would give the book to - but not the number who should read it. The poems are delightful reading - so well written you don't even notice the craftsmanship. That is from me, extremely high praise. What truly sets these poems apart, however, is the quiet wisdom that permeates them - to paraphrase an example "the hell of thinking only what one already knows". The poems emphasize our interelateness and make us laugh at our foibles. All this in humourous poems. What else could you ask for?