The Chinaman: Poems [Hardcover]

David Mamet (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Press; 1 edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879518979
• ISBN-13: 978-0879518974
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,295,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great playwrite yes; great poet no, August 16, 2007

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chinaman: Poems (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed several of Mamet's prose works and plays finding him very talented both in content and use of language. As I began The Chinaman, I was dissapointed in him as a poet. Several poems left me feeling like an outsider who had missed the point of some important reference or allusion. However, when I reached "The Black Raven" my evaluation of Mamet as a poet changed dramatically. In this poem his interweaving of repeating sounds and images echo a sestina or Edith Sitwell or William Ruddy. The effect is mesmerizing and the form unique. "Billy the Weazel" is a successful poem with techniques reminding the reader of William Carlos Williams or Robert Creeley. "The Triumph of Gravity" invokes the beat aesthetic.

While Mamet has not developed a consistent "Mamet style," he has chosen the style well for what he wishes to say. A few of his poems are excellent, several well done, and a few use references that exclude many readers. Still its worth picking up a remaindered or used copy.