In Danger (The California Poetry Series) (California Poetry Series, V. 2) [Paperback]

Suzanne Lummis (Author)

Book Description

Series: California Poetry Series, V. 2 | Publication Date: August 15, 1999

The second title in the California Poetry Series. Humor and pathos, grit and glitter meet in these chronicles of Los Angeles noir life and dog days - earthquakes, riots, bars, all-night donut shops. This is not the cherished and envied Hollywood of tabloids but East Hollywood, the low-income, unfashionable side where no movie star deigns to venture. With surprising juxtapositions and the illusion of ease these witty and sometimes scary poems chart Suzanne Lummis' misadventures and liasons dangereuses a the low end of the big city.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lummis, who has written a previous collection of poetry (the chapbook Falling Short of Heaven) and edited two anthologies, writes gritty, urban poems with a hard edge. Appropriately enough for the second volume in the "California Poetry" series, these poems are set mostly in L.A. They cover such topics as the newspaper man, ambulance sirens, muggings, a bar scene, even the aborted life of Nicole Simpson. The title is no joke; Lummis's Los Angeles is too often a place of danger, especially for a woman alone, as in the opening of "Death Threats": "2 a.m. and this caller's hooked/ on pure reaction, but death/ is old news, not worth phoning in." A longer poem, "The Barbie Coffin," presents a riff on a new Barbie doll, along with references to Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion, and Camus, an interesting juxtaposition. Lummis paints scenes vividly, as shown by the poems "El Ni?o, After Visit from Jehovah's Witness" and "To the Man in the Parking Lot of Sunset and Normandie." But sometimes she strains too hard for metaphor, as in "Writer's Block": "You wake up with chills/ and a hernia in your imagination." Although Lummis manages to capture the angst, fear, and dissatisfaction of modern urban life, many of the poems in this collection are uneven. Buy where interest or location warrant.ADoris Lynch, Monroe Cty. P.L., Bloomington, IN
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Suzanne Lummis's breathtaking new collection of poems, In Danger, unveils all of the levels of loneliness we assuage with the consolations of poetry. With candor, power and poignancy, Suzanne Lummis illuminates the glorious absurdities of our lives, especially the pride and paranoia that arise from living in an urban landscape. Nobody can ride a metaphor better than this poet, and nobody delivers her work to the page with as much sass and wry humor. If Los Angeles were to have its own poet laureate, my choice would be Suzanne Lummis." -- David St. John

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Product Details

• Paperback: 73 pages
• Publisher: Roundhouse Pr; 1st edition (August 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966669118
• ISBN-13: 978-0966669114
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart as a tinfoil diamond tiara, Lummis captures LA's soul., August 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Danger (The California Poetry Series) (California Poetry Series, V. 2) (Paperback)

Pick up the book and admire the cover, a window into the offbeat, edgy poetry that awaits on the pages. Suzanne Lummis goes straight for the heart and jugular, pulling images straight off the streets and tenement hotels, the star magazines and bus stop advertisements, the neon signs and paved driveways of LA. The language stands up and laughs back at you. It crackles and purrs.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will take you places dark and bright; amuze and delight, February 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: In Danger (The California Poetry Series) (California Poetry Series, V. 2) (Paperback)

Can't add much to David St. Johns' rave intro, but simply put, these poems live up to this bold title in ways intriguing, charming and stark. Though they're indelibly fringe Hollywood, they penetrate mysteries that have no address. In other words, these poems are excellent. You'll love discovering every one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only more poets wrote like this., February 17, 2000

By 

Wayne Liebman (L.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Danger (The California Poetry Series) (California Poetry Series, V. 2) (Paperback)

Usually in Raymond Chandler (the writer whose noir Los Angeles world leaps to mind when you're reading In Danger), the women are darkly lit and shot slightly out of focus-they're alluring, risky, always our of reach. Suzanne Lummis has turned the tables. She gets inside these shadowy creatures; she's the femme whose got her weapon trained on Marlowe, a guy who's not such a prince after all. It's a brilliant conceit, and it sustains itself throughout this fascinating collection. Like her heroines, Lummis' poetry skirts an edge; it's breathless, chancy, full of juice. If only more poets wrote this way.