Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Kong

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Trowbridge's Kong poems are great examples of the relevancy and potential of contemporary poetry. Although Kong's power as a cultural icon is basically antique, Trowbridge creates a fresh and complex personality who tells the story of his Hollywood lifestyle in the form of poetry vignettes. The book almost reads like a comedic novel.

There are many hilarious moments in the collection, including Kongs power lunch with Godzilla and his try-out for the Chicago Bears. But the book is more than a few good laughs. Each poem reveals more of the persona Trowbridge has created within his simple, effective verse. It's like a clebrity bio without all the whining and impossibility of authenticity. Kong represents the American idea machine at its biggest, and Trowbridge knows just how to manipulate the figure to teach and entertain.

Also available in a hardcover edition, The Complete Book Of Kong by William Trowbridge is a unique and highly recommended collection of poetry celebrating that famous giant ape of the silver screen, King Kong. Trowbridge presents a varied and lyrical depiction of this fearsome beast and the forces he symbolizes, in a reader engaging and refreshingly adventurous series of imaginative verse. Kong's Crush On Madonna: It was that steel/brassiere, leveled/at my heart. Cupid's/twin warheads,/heat seeking,/armor piercing.//Her eyes locked on./She counted down./I had ignition,/lift off.

The life and fate of the Eighth Wonder of the World is the playful and poignant subject of Trowbridge's latest collection. Each of the poems is written from the point of view of Kong (the gritty 1933 version, not the fluffy, disco Kong of 1976). Kong takes mambo lessons, tries video dating, meets Godzilla in the commisary (''I felt this could be/ a big step for me, though at first/ he just sat there drumming his talons,/ nursing a vat of Courvoisier''), all attempts to get his life in order after Fay. (Sadly, no mention is made of MechaniKong.) The jokes are there (many riffing on Kong's size and strength), but Trowbridge takes the conceit to surprisingly serious and sad places. When Kong competes on Let's Makes a Deal, Trowbridge writes, ''the great door opened/ to reveal a big TV with a La-Z-Boy recliner/ and a woman dressed, I think, for mating./ Cheers swarmed like biplanes. 'Am I human now?'/ I asked, feeling bare, and somewhat smaller.'' Altogether, Trowbridge puts the big oaf of an ape in perspective and paints a picture of a melancholy titan just as vulnerable as the rest of us.