Furious Cooking (Iowa Poetry Prize) [Paperback]

Maureen Seaton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Female sexuality, Catholic iconography and the New Jersey Turnpike take mischievous transformative spins in Seaton's wry, fervent and mercurial third book of poetry (winner of the 1995 Iowa Poetry Prize). A streetwise, postmodern alchemist, Seaton blends odd groupings of imagery to deliver the reader into new, always intimate, poetic landscapes. In this accomplishment, she calls on a subtle but firm command of craft (most poems are in free-verse couplets or triplets) and an agile sense of play. In "Theories of Illusion," pandas, orchids, humpback whales and quantum physics offer hilarious metaphors for the shifty nature of the speaker's ex-boyfriend, "in his many disguises/ in and around America." Contrasting with this and similarly intellectually rompish poems, e.g., "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death," are the four resonant, feminist "Malleus Maleficarum" poems, inspired by the Inquisition-era handbook of the same name that outlined actual procedures for trying, torturing and killing so-called witches. Characteristically, Seaton handles this disturbing material with inventiveness (setting one in Coney Island) and radiantly precise language.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

After Sinead O'connor Appears On Saturday Night Live, T'pope
Blonde Ambition
A Brief History Of Faith
Called Crass By A Suitor During A Radically Conservative
Cannibal Women In The Avocadojungle Of Death
A Chorus Of Horizontals
Cleaning St. Anne
A Constant Dissolution Of Molecules
During The Eclipse I Remember You Sent Me Playboy
Eggshell Seas
The Exquisite Corpse
Femme-butch Dialogue
Flash
Furious Cooking
Grace
L.a. Dream #2
La Dream #1
Malleus Maleficarum
Malleus Maleficarum 3
Malleus Maleficarum 4
Mallleus Maleficarum 2
The Man Who Killed Himself To Avoid August
Praxis
The Queen Of Jersey
The Red Hills
The Sculpture Garden
Secrets Of Water
Self-portrait With Disasters
A Single Subatomic Event
Slow Dance
A Story Of Stonewall
Swan Lake
Tagging
Theories Of Illusion
Toy Car
An Unofficial Interpretation Of Pieter Aertsen's Butcher St.
The West Room
What She Thought
Will
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877455414
• ISBN-13: 978-0877455417
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,327,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vivacious, winking, smart, January 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Furious Cooking (Iowa Poetry Prize) (Paperback)

I was feeling depressed about the state of American poetry, then started reading this book. Seaton's blend of humor, intensity, music, word-play and compelling narrative is a wake-up call to the hushed and mournful monotone-makers on the one hand, and to affectedly disengaged language-poetry offspring on the other.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK FOR THE AGES, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Furious Cooking (Iowa Poetry Prize) (Paperback)

I am astonished by the fearless talent this book has between its pages. The poems jump off the pages and grab my heart. I would recommend Ms. Seaton's books to anybody looking for the best poetry of this century.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book contained very wild poetry., December 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Furious Cooking (Iowa Poetry Prize) (Paperback)

After hearing the author of Furious Cooking speak,my feelings on this book are very strong. The poems are very wild, follow no form or idea, and use obscene text and language for shock value. Some poems were good, but most were just dissapointing.