Does House Have Lions [Hardcover]

Sonia Sanchez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1997

An African American odyssey that explores the life of the author's brother from the South to the North, where he gradually becomes immersed in the gay subculture of New York City. Told in the voices of the author, her brother, and their parents and ancestors, this brave epic poem shatters silences surrounding gay sexuality in African American families and imagines the possibility of reconciliation and love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The poetic blend of compassion and outrage that have marked Sonia Sanchez's political writing since the 1960s shines through this very personal account of a family's tragedy. The poems trace the story of Sanchez's brother: his alienation from his family, his struggle with HIV, and the family's eventual healing. Sanchez spins these lines in the voices of all the family members, as well as ancestors. The narrative takes on the elevated tone of Greek tragedy, or maybe the more solemn works of Wole Soyinka, and gives some sense of how overwhelming, painful, and powerful family bonds can be. June Jordan writes that this book joins Sanchez's "best poetry to her deepest feelings."

From Library Journal

One of our more overlooked older poets, Sanchez writes concise, wounded poems that work on the page as well as aloud. A tragedy of sorts written in terse terza rima, this short narrative poem mourns the poet's half-brother's death from AIDS. Borrowing techniques from Greek tragedy and African ritual storytelling and song, it has a section for each speaker: sister, brother, father, and chorus of ancestors. Permeated with the pain of abandonment?the abandoner's, as well as the victim's?the poem is a road map for the disintegrating family: "this father always a guest/ never a permanent resident of my veins/ always a traveler to other terrains." It fades into disembodied voices at the end, the brother's death being one terminus of the ancestral line. But it is the ancestors who offer strength and permanence because they have turned suffering into a stoical wisdom. Interesting and moving, if occasionally straining to make a rhyme, this book is recommended.?Ellen Kaufman, Dewey Ballantine Law Lib., New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 69 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; First edition. edition (April 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807068306
• ISBN-13: 978-0807068304
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,432,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sonia Sanchez--poet, activist, scholar--was the Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women's Studies at Temple University. She is the recipient of both the Robert Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award. One of the most important writers of the Black Arts Movement, Sanchez is the author of sixteen books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking and compulsively readable, May 15, 2005

By 

E. Kutinsky "ekutinsky" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Does Your House Have Lions ? (Paperback)

I come from a skewed perspective because I had the privilege of watching the great Sonia Sanchez perform this work in person. Not read, perform. Sanchez's work on the page is a script and a catalyst for the performance of verse and characterization, as if, when reading, she's filled with the writing rather than presenting it. That means that with Does Your House Have Lions, the gorgeous tale of rebellion, loss, and reconciliation is presented exactly as it should - as a maelstrom of free-floating unresolved emotions, pain and disappointments that only grew in the face of death. It's a work of magnificent gusto to convey, with unwavering and elegant lyricism, a consummate identity of everyone involved, a family, before and after death, and the continued dialogue of what seems like a whole community of life being unwound by the most powerful unfinished buisness.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mama Sanchez!!!, July 11, 2011

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D. Marshall "GOD'S child" (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Does Your House Have Lions ? (Paperback)

Such a gifted poet, with an ability to tap into the human spirit like no other. I am thrilled that I decided to start a Sonia Sanchez collection. Long overdue, I know. But, it's never too late to open your arms to brilliance.

4.0 out of 5 stars A heartbreaking poem dedicated to her brother, January 29, 2009

By 

Darryl R. Morris "Kidzdoc" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Does Your House Have Lions ? (Paperback)

Ms Sanchez is an African-American poet and playwright, who was a distinguished professor of English at Temple University in Philadelphia. Does Your House Have Lions?, which was nominated for both the National Book Critics' Circle Award and the NAACP Image Award in 1997, is a poem in memory of Ms Sanchez's brother, who died of AIDS in the 1980s. It consists of short, electric bursts of anger, bitterness, fear, and ultimately love and reconciliation, from the voices of Ms Sanchez, her brother, their father, and his stepmother, along with the voices of African ancestors. My only regret is not hearing Ms Sanchez read this poem; if anyone is familiar with this book and knows of a performance or audio book of it, please let me know!