Customer Reviews

Going On: Poems 2000 (Via Folios, 23)

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Daniela Gioseffi's poems in Going On, are lyrical and imaginative. Her passion for life and love of nature are truly breathtaking. I honestly believe that she cares deeply about every word and image conveyed in these poems -- From reflective poems like "The Sweet Gossip of Slow Snow" to the intensity of "Visiting The Torture Museeum" Gioseffi helps us see the beauty of the world, by juxtaposing it with the ugly aspects of humankind.

Daniela Gioseffi is one of the finest and most original poets of our time. It's a pity she isn't even better known than she is. She deserves to be listed among the best, not only for her subtle use of language, original imagery and melodic cadence, but for her humane stance on important issues. Here is a poet who knows something about the real world and how it works in such poems as "Divorce or Corrasable Bond" where she writes: "The last ghosts of Indians are asking for food in the amber waves of dying grain," or in "The Plan"where she writes "all seed through 'corporate engineering' was lost to greed." she catches the real pulse of our time and there are many such poems which address the issues of being alive on this planet, here and now, with graceful awareness of reality.

A surrealist imagination with a concern for real issues. There Is courage in these poems, real caring about the human condition. Much poetry is vapid and self-involved. Gioseffi is informed by genuine urgency for wordly concerns and lyric eloquence-- a rare combination of heart, head and craft.

What critics have said about the author of GOING ON: POEMS "One of the finest poets around.... Eggs in the Lake overflows with poetic vision, but nothing is ever pretentious or done for effect." Nona Balakian, Former staff reviewer: The New York Times, author Critical Encounters

"visionary and powerful. With tremendous vitality.... Gioseffi is a gifted , graceful and moving writer." Galway Kinnell, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize Poet, New York University

" In Word Wounds she wounds and seduces to litanize and heal.... The work's been described as 'mythopoeic, visionary, healing original and irrisistible.'"William Allen, Chelsea

Gioseffi celebrates and laments her life and heritage with a voice, breath, and scope that might be likened to Allen Ginsberg. American Book Review

"Gioseffi is one of the school of strong epic poets. Few women take on the page like a Ginsberg, a Baraka or a Whitman... In Word Wounds and Water Flowers, sometimes her voice is full volume, full tilt, strapping, vigorous, then it reels with tenderness...." Grace Cavalieri, Poet Lore, Host Producer of N.P.R.'s The Poet & The Poem

"A vital international author, dedicated to planetary survival." Cecilia Ceriani, El Pais

"Anyone who thinks that a poet cannot write about important, serious contemporary subjects without the burden of rhetoric should take a lesson from Daniela Gioseffi." Philip Appleman, Confrontation.

The reviewer from Johnson City can't beat the opinons of Galway Kinnell, Pulitzer prize winning poet of National Book Award fame and Director of the Writing Program at New York University, or Nona Balakian for whom the critic's prize at The National Book Critics Circle is named whose reviews appear below. Too many fine writers, critics and poets have praised Gioseffi's work through the years. She is a poet of lyric eloquence and Library Journal could not have been all that wrong, nor could all the other reviewers from The Washington Post to the Chicago Sun Times to the New York Times who have praised her work. The reviewer from Johnson City should be taken off line as it sounds like some envious, jealous angry person who knows nothing about the book, but has a bone to pick--some personal reason for being so nasty. These poems are full of imaginative expression and thrilling imagery, lyrical eloquence and sheer beauty of expression. This poet is one of the best one can read and her other books are just as good. Check out what other real poets and critics had to say below.

I can't imagine finding such dreadful, overdone poetry in one book, but here it is. The topics range from women's issues to the environment,but while the topics are worthy, the poetry is full of trite expressions. It feels like the poet is standing on a soapbox shouting at us and using two thousand more words per poem than she actually needs.

What critics have said about GOING ON: POEMS 2000 "One of the finest poets around.... Eggs in the Lake overflows with poetic vision, but nothing is ever pretentious or done for effect." Nona Balakian, Former staff reviewer: The New York Times, author Critical Encounters

"visionary and powerful. With tremendous vitality.... Gioseffi is a gifted , graceful and moving writer." Galway Kinnell, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize Poet, New York University

" In Word Wounds she wounds and seduces to litanize and heal.... The work's been described as 'mythopoeic, visionary, healing original and irrisistible.'"William Allen, Chelsea

Gioseffi celebrates and laments her life and heritage with a voice, breath, and scope that might be likened to Allen Ginsberg. American Book Review

"Gioseffi is one of the school of strong epic poets. Few women take on the page like a Ginsberg, a Baraka or a Whitman... In Word Wounds and Water Flowers, sometimes her voice is full volume, full tilt, strapping, vigorous, then it reels with tenderness...." Grace Cavalieri, Poet Lore, Host Producer of N.P.R.'s The Poet & The Poem

"A vital international author, dedicated to planetary survival." Cecilia Ceriani, El Pais

"Anyone who thinks that a poet cannot write about important, serious contemporary subjects without the burden of rhetoric should take a lesson from Daniela Gioseffi." Philip Appleman, Confrontation.