Deal Me In [Paperback]

Alyce Guynn (Author), Jesse Taylor (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2005

LOVE AND Romance: Deal Me In is the perfect gift book for Valentine's Day and other special occasions. Popular, Austin, Texas poet Alyce Guynn and legendary lead guitarist, turned illustrator, Jesse Taylor are partners in this collection of poetic love stories. The full deck of fifty-two poems are powerful, joyous, evocative, funny, mystical, sensuous (and occasionally bawdy). These poems are robust celebrations of LOVE in all its forms. "Deal Me In is full of risky, funny, heartbreaking laments that are never sentimental, always honest, and devoid of self-pity. Alyce Guynn writes, 'I am unwilling to walk out before the final act.' Like a card player with a hard-earned reputation, she plays each hand for what it's worth. These are not poems about winning or losing. They are about 'conveying us closer to the self we are seeking.'" Hayan Charara, author of The Alchemist's Diary and The Sadness of Others. "With words that are as steeped in wisdom as they are wonderfully strung together, Alyce Guynn makes her mark in Texas' literati. Call them naïve or folk art, Jesse Taylor's illustrations give Guynn's Deal Me In a memorable, hard black edge." Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle. "Earthy, electrically visceral and unfailingly honest, Alyce Guynn's sharp observations hit you like a song you didn't know you needed to hear until the moment it starts playing on the radio." Patrick Beach, Austin American Statesman, author of A Good Forest for Dying "This books rocks like a 45rpm on a sixties jukebox and whispers love songs in the same breath. Alyce Guynn, a Texas girl who became a writer and never forgot how awesome 'Party Doll' by Buddy Knox was. I love her and you will too. Jesse Taylor virtually re-invents the meaning of music and harmony every time he places his fingers on the strings. The past few years have seen him turn his attention to drawing, drawing which is as colourful, dynamic and shape shifting as his music. These illustrations are the perfect complement to Alyce's poetry." Terry Clarke, writer/musician, recordings include Call Up A Hurricane, Lucky, Sound of the Moon, Green Voodoo, and Rhythm Oil.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Publishing Company (December 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976808307
• ISBN-13: 978-0976808305
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,238,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Right to the Heart, September 9, 2007

By 

Beverly B. Moore "Beverly Baker Moore" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deal Me In (Paperback)

I find Alyce Guynn's poetry so much more accessible than most. It's not surprising that her book of poems is illustrated by a huge musical talent, Jessie Guitar Taylor. It would take Alyce's obvious love of loving, love of men, love of music--all so very evident in her writings to draw a talent like Jessie to her work. She is eloquent but not stuffy. Alyce and I obviously share a love of men i.e. any woman who writes that she loves (a man's) "dangle" has my attention. I am re-reading her poems again--this time reading one each morning as part of my preparations for living the day.

Beverly Moore, Austin, Texas

5.0 out of 5 stars Deal Me In, September 5, 2007

By 

Catherine Cogburn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deal Me In (Paperback)

Deal Me In is a wonderful earthy book of poetry and art by Alyce Guynn and Jesse Taylor. Alyce's poetry and Jesse's art combine to tell a beautiful mysterious story of love, pleasure, spiritual bliss, and exquisite grief down through the years, a remarkable journey of two people unafraid of what life brought them, a glorious willingness to expose the private parts that allow us to join with them.

This is a book of love, from the beginnings of a young girl's heart to the wise woman's willingness to let go and hold dear. There are mysteries we can't know fully, leaving us delightfully curious, although I'd love to hear the stories (what are your vigilante ghosts?). The art work tells us that Jesse knew the stories, and understood them. There is the most delicate exposure of her grief, accepted. Her poems make the ordinary holy; she can bring down the Goddess, leading us to our own.

This book inspires the reader to take hold of the sacred available to us in every moment, and commands us to stop wasting time. The last line is "I am healed." Ah, yes.


By Catherine Cogburn

5.0 out of 5 stars A Winning Hand, January 16, 2006

By 

Pamela R. Patterson (Stephenville, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deal Me In (Paperback)

What I love about the book 'Deal Me In' is that it chronicles the loves of the poet's lifetime. Guynn pours out her passion not just for romantic love, but for life and music as well. Two of my favorite poems are "I Found My Jazz" and "Mary Pearl", a tribute to Janis Joplin. Guynn opens her soul to the reader with such phrases as "I stepped inside the fire of you, ignoring I am wood". While this phrase shows the vulnerability of love, Guynn's overall theme invites us to keep taking the risk anyway: "...embrace the end of what is, to welcome what will be reborn." Add to this the heartfelt illustrations of Jesse Taylor, and you have a winning hand in this book.