Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You (Wesleyan Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Juliana Spahr (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wesleyan Poetry Series | Publication Date: November 27, 2001

Juliana Spahr uses details to explore Hawai'i's politics of location and her own place in it as an outsider: a hard-core show where the singer shouts out "fuck you-aloha-I love you" over and over; the pidgin word 'da kine;' native Hawaiian rights to gathering; Palolo stream; the similarities and differences between hotel rooms and conference rooms; and acrobats at a Las Vegas-style floor show in Waikiki. Spahr is attentive to specifics and she draws from documentary poetics in these five interconnected poems that move between lyricism, rhythmic repetition, and explanatory prose. Conceptually provocative and yet moving at the same time, Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You demands reading and re-reading.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An understated, careful examination of the individual in the troubled nexus of the law, community, culture and, centrally, language, Spahr's follow-up to 1995's Response continues that book's search for the verbal means to realize others without resort to an identity-based voice. She succeeds brilliantly with "a younger man, an older man, and a woman," one of four long sequences here (along with two shorter), fixing the reader in the center of a minimal, yet cinematic narrative. The poem is a plain description of the movements of the three title stand-ins as they perform a gymnastic routine that somehow conveys a playful schematic for an ethics of relationships among individuals: "In culture an older man and a younger man stand facing each other with their feet spread for balance./ They place their hands on each other's shoulders and together they flex their knees and keep their backs straight./ A woman steps onto their thighs, one foot on a younger man's thigh, one foot on an older man's thigh./ A younger man and an older man are support. A woman is a tower." The sequence "gathering / palolo stream" concerns the conflict of native Hawai'ian property traditions (Spahr has taught at the University of Hawai'i Manoa) and the imposition of rights to private property; at the center of the poem is the resonant void of a parking lot to which no road leads, and yet which stands in the way of a contested gathering place by a stream. This symbolic void, like the scream of the punk-rocker in the book's eponymous sequence, lends a strong air of nihilism to what is otherwise Spahr's project of hope. For Spahr, who recently published a critical study of social identity and literature titled Everybody's Autonomy, this tension between the black heart of anger and faith in community makes this a distinct, ambitious book of poems.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An understated, careful examination of the individual in the troubled nexus of the law, community, culture, and, centrally, language . . . continues [Spahr's] search for the verbal means to realize others without resort to an identity-based voice. She succeeds brilliantly with 'a younger man, an older man, and a woman,' one of four long sequences here . . . [the] tension between the black heart of anger and faith in community makes this a distinct, ambitious book of poems." --Publishers Weekly

"The more I read through Spahr's work, the more interested I am in reading further, and deeper..."--Rob McLennan, Rob McLennan's blog

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan; 1st edition (November 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819565253
• ISBN-13: 978-0819565259
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #618,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tries, but doesn't quite get there., November 23, 2005

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You (Wesleyan Poetry Series) (Hardcover)

A small, somewhat short book of poetry, with five short to medium-length pieces, each divided into smaller bits.

I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It's not that I didn't like it, but it felt as if it was missing some core element that made things seem like less than they should have been; the language is repetitive without ever quite getting to chant, and while the work stays perfectly grounded in image, the images never seem to coalesce into scenes:

In a room we sit around a table.
The table is dark wood.
It has thick legs.
It is a space for gathering with a boundary of wood.

*
In another room, in a hotel room, we hurriedly undress.

*
We use the table as a barrier and we rest our things on it.
We value the table as decorum.
A table that is wood, that is hard.
("Switching")

...if that makes any sense.

It's enjoyable, but not something it's necessary to run out and grab this instant. If you find it used, it's worth your time. ** ½

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but intriguing, September 18, 2002

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You (Wesleyan Poetry Series) (Paperback)

OK, I'll admit it: I read "Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You", primarily because of its taboo-breaking title. What I discovered was a volume of poetry that is not wholly satisfying, but still interesting.

The back cover data notes that Spahr is assistant professor of English at the University of Hawai'i in Honolulu. This book consists of 6 poems ranging in length from 2 pages to more than 20 pages. "things" explores the term "da kine," which the back cover notes is a pidgin term. "gathering: palolo stream" ends with a note about the controversy over indigenous Hawaiian rights to the land. "a younger man, an older man, and a woman" ends with a note saying that the poem draws from an acrobatic performance the author saw at Waikiki.

I found this volume often repetitive and obscure. Occasionally the language sounds a bit pretentious and stiff. Here's a sample (from "a younger man [...]"): "Culture is a group enterprise and / requires the cooperation and / teamwork of we who are in the / formations." I also did not like the fact that she uses a number of apparently Hawaiian terms (aholehole, mai'a, kukui, etc.) but doesn't include a glossary for those who might not be familiar with these words.

I felt that the use of the notorious "f-word" in the title was gratuitous and really didn't add much to the book (besides being an attention-getter). I have mixed feelings about this volume as a whole. But, the "f-word" issue aside, I found Spahr's poetry to be oddly compelling.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very very goo, December 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Fuck You-Aloha-I Love You (Wesleyan Poetry Series) (Hardcover)

This book moved me deeply - I was shattered by some of the symbolism and eclliptic narrative. As an eldery grandmother, I was particularly touched by the 'Older woman' piece; it quite took me back to my younger days! I highly recommend this thoughtful and pervocative work.