Everything Irish, Poems [Paperback]

Judy Wells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0967022401 | ISBN-13: 978-0967022406

Poetry. Judy Wells' sixth poetry collection, EVERYTHING IRISH, is a "family memoir in verse...at once a poignant poetic documentary of Irish-Catholic girlhood and a rollicking riot of laughs"--Bridget Connelly. "EVERYTHING IRISH says it all for me. She captures the times all of 'Our Girls' were haunted by a wayward Holy Ghost, a perfect Holy Mary, a thundering Holy Father. She inspires me to remember the times Saint Anthony found everything for me (and still does), and PleaseGod got me out of a fix (and still does). I know exactly what she means when she says, 'and your lips get purser and purser/ and kapowie and kapowie inside...' because she means exactly, precisely, excruciatingly, that a Catholic Girlhood will never leave you even if you try to say goodbye"--Mary Norbert Korte.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Are there "pagan babies"? Certainly there are Irish ones, and in this hilarious collection, Judy Wells, graduate of St. Catherine's, gives us the lowdown on the secret loves and adventures of an Irish-American feminist. delightful peek at "the New Age Irish" as the author spins tales of family, sex, and spirit. --Jack Foley, Poet, KPFA Literary Host -- Publisher Comments

About the Author

Judy Wells was born in San Francisco and raised in Martinez, California. She received her B.A. from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to CALL HOME (Scarlet Tanager, 2005) and EVERYTHING IRISH (Scarlet Tanager, 1999), she has five books of poetry to her credit: I Have Berkeley; Albuquerque Winter; Jane, Jane; The Part-Time Teacher; and The Calling: Twentieth Century Women Artists. Judy is also co-editor, with Marsha Hudson, Bridget Connelly, Doris Earnshaw, and Olivia Eielson, of The Berkeley Literary Women's Revolution: Essays from Marsha's Salon (McFarland, 2005).

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Scarlet Tanager Books (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967022401
• ISBN-13: 978-0967022406
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,906,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poetic historical survey of a green dream., August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Irish, Poems (Paperback)

Judy Wells said: "To be an artist is to embark on a lifelong spiritual quest." In "Everything Irish" Judy joined poet Dale Jensen on a trip to dig up her Irish roots. She makes the reader feel the harshnes of the brutal land. She puts your face up against the moist stones. She saved and dreamed about her trip. And then one summer her dream turned to green. The book is divided into three parts. Part One is "Everything Irish In a Nutshell." It recounts her Catholic girl upbringing. I related strongly to this litaney because of my parochial school days at St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School. I remember we were required to attend confession once a week. I din't commit enough sins to earn my regular penance of five Our Fathers and five Hale Marys so I invented sins. I claimed to have poisoned the city drinking water. I declared that I planted bombs on random perambulators. Judy recreates the days when the nun loomed tall in her habit. I remember nuns walking down the hall with rosaries the size of bicycle chains. "Waking the Dead", part two is the molten core of the book and carries green waves of Irish history. "Warp Spasm" evokes the hero Cu Chulainn who knew the secret language of poets taught to him by his foster father & poet Amairgin. Judy mentions the Goddess Briget who in the literature of early Ireland was the goddess of poetry and wisdom. "The Cliffman" takes us back to the "father" of the documentary, Robert J. Flaherty who shot his movie "Man of Aran" on a barren island off Ireland's west coast. Part Three is "Hunger". It deals with her return to Berkeley and her job as Academic Counselor. After three summers in Ireland Judy took a vacation in Hawaii. She writes in "Antidote" that she wanted the sun to "penetrate my bones". She wanted to "scoop sweet, succulent orange flesh from the papaya instead of opting for a baked potato one more time so I could drink the antidote of my own green culture." The last poem describes an Irish wedding in America. The couple plan to call their first child Shasta. "The trees and grass are green and fertility is in the air". This poem concludes her Irish experience, the rerooting of Irish culture in America to the point that the parents name their chlld after a mountain in California. "Everything Irish" traces the influences on Judy Wells that combined to shape her into the great Berkeley poet she has become. It is a personal and universal journey into the heart of self discovery. Her life and work are a continuous spiritual pilgrimage.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, complex, moving, humorous, joyous, poignant., May 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Irish, Poems (Paperback)

As I read "Everything Irish" once more, I literally and figuratively shiver with joy, sadness, laughter--with everything that is deep and poignant and true about it. It moved me tremendously in many ways as I read the various poems and moods of the book. This work is a wonderful, significant, powerful cultural and coming of age achievement. The author evokes the spirit of a proud and complicated people, and seamlessly unites the past, the present, and the future. The harmonies of this book are the written counterpart of Irish bagpipe tunes and haunting Celtic melodies as well as Irish jigs! Nancy Zak

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely delightful: poems both funny and deep., April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything Irish, Poems (Paperback)

Wells' poems are wonderful vignettes and moment-in-time, telling about the Irish experience in America, with glimpses of Ireland itself. Although they are easy to read, and will often make you laugh, they also have depth and poignancy. A "good read" that you want to keep going back to read again.