From Publishers Weekly
Lux (Half Promised Land) promises epiphanies here, but his leaden in sights never budge beyond the pedes trian. Attracted to a number of grim or macabre subjects--the Confederate Army's Andersonville prison, an ex hibit of torture instruments, the pro curement of corpses for medical schools--the poet makes pronounce ments that are stale ("It seems most times men did this or that, / so terrible to him or her, / it was because God willed it so. / Or, at least, they thought He did") or silly ("Haitian cadavers / are best for what cadavers do best: lie still"). Elsewhere he focuses on domes ticity, describing the days surround ing the birth of his daughter, a man shoveling his driveway during a snow storm, driving to work. Throughout, however, his propensity for repetition and reiteration deflates the impact of his observations.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Give Lux credit for avoiding, in his fifth collection, the bland reminiscences and limp meditations that enervate too much current poetry. He chooses instead to exploit the ironic, the harsh, the grotesque. His titles ("Haitian Cadavers," "Traveling Exhibit of Torture Instruments") let you know right off that the poems that follow will not fill you with cuddly thoughts. A winter river is a "cold cold piece of meat," and a buffet might include "Hummingbird/ tongues, each pierced by a silver toothpick." Though Lux's points may sometimes be less disturbing than they are obvious, his vision of the world is bleak and ornate at the same time, and his use of formal prosody actually enhances the weirdness. How comforting to see a poet take a chance on discomfiture.
- Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
