In the cutting-edge manner and method of Verses that Hurt and Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poet's Café, this anthology gathers recent work by many of New York City's most daring young poets. Contributors to this eclectic, exhilarating collection include Jordan Davis, Maggie Estep, Mimi Goese, Kenneth Goldsmith, Sharon Mesmer, Lee Ranaldo, Prageeta Sharma, Mac Wellman, and others.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Kirkus Reviews
The contemporary poetry scene is livelier than ever, and nowhere more so than in New York City, as a cursory glance at the Poetry Calendar proves. But you'd never know it from Colby's anthology. In theory Colby should know the hip young poets of New York well; he used to run the Wednesday night readings at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. Unfortunately, he has collected what appears to be the dregs of the self-anointed Next Big Things, the sort of mixture of gimmicky performance pieces, faux surrealism, and dogged doggerel that has become the depressing staple of the downtown scene. The writers herein range from the dimestore dada of Brenda Coultas and the editor himself to Anselm Berrigan's fractured aphorisms tied together by ampersands to the tedious list-making rants of Kenneth Goldsmith and the inverted clichés of Mitchell Highfill. One gets every conceivable form of secondhand Beat writing, from the cut-up method to apparently drug-induced fantasias. Colby made an effort to seek out writers for whom poetry is really a side project, an interesting notion except when the results are the tedious drivel emanating from rock'n'rollers Lee Ranaldo (heavily derivative use of typography in the interests of outraging the bourgeoisie) and Mimi Goese (prose poetry that reads like a cross between Jim Morrison and Rod McKuen), and contributions from playwright Mac Wellman that can only be described as gnomic, surrealist fortune-cookie fillers. The only writers to emerge from this mess with their dignity intact are Maggie Estep, who contributes an amusing short story in dialogue about unrequited sexual longing, and Amy Fusselman, who offers some inventive embarrassing moments (like seeing her 72-year-old realtor perform at a strip joint).If this is the future of poetry in New York, then poetry has no future. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"This anthology is very good news. The poems of these definitive NYC poets really feel like the ultimate edges, and the view from their heights is marvelous indeed. I love the intense diversity of the various poets."—Robert Creeley
"This anthology showcases current, inventive modes of New York City poetry"—Leslie Scalapino
"This anthology showcases current, inventive modes of New York City poetry"—Leslie Scalapino
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
University of Iowa Grad Student Disagreeing with Kirkus,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heights of the Marvelous: A New York Anthology (Paperback)
... I thought this book had a lot of literary merit, and though I agree that Lee Renaldo's work, with it's over the top bold 24 pt. typography, is pretty amateurish--"flash me flash me c'mon now you're not flashing me" (I think he is one of only two obvious mistakes in this anthology, the other being Beau Sia, whose short quirky poems may be fun on open mike night but don't work on the page--"I want to be known as the guy who shot beau sia in the face"--end of poem), I DON"T agree that Maggie Estep's short story has any integrity at all--"Do I look angry? He screamed. She held the phone away from her ear..." It's pretty dull with uninventive language and not as cute as it's trying to be. Highlights of this book, and there are many, are Prageeta Sharman, "Some formula for sacred council as not to weep into the meadow grass...", Carl Hanccok Rux, "The conflation of rapture and regret (born out in those sequestered regions of the body, unterrained/outlawed by our fathers and subjected to extreme lore of hope and monotheism) transmogrifies when you touch me/an apocolypse of destroying temples and murdering eunuchs who keep the Sabbath..." and Micheal Portnoy "Here, in the lather of sebum, of the decomposed, the misconstrued, the imprecise and everything else abandoned out of weakness, I prepare the milk bath. ..."
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A marvelous gathering of poets,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heights of the Marvelous: A New York Anthology (Paperback)
As a big fan of literary anthologies I eagerely purchased this book based on its title and some of the folks between the covers...I was moved (to tears and laughter) by what I found there. New York City is definitely (still) the literary capital of the U.S...The variety in this anthology is astounding; somebody took a big chance putting so many diverse authors together and guess what? It works! Personal favorites: Edwin Torres, Todd Colby Kenneth Goldsmith, Marianne Vitale (a young poet who reminds me of Bernadette Mayer at her best), Michael Portnoy,and Lee Ranaldo. Thanks.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
nah, it was a fine collection with super talented folks.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heights of the Marvelous: A New York Anthology (Paperback)
Oh, these tawdry agendas. Heights..is a greatcollection of poems. Jordan Davis, et al. are producting some of the most interesting poems in the world. These are young writers that have managed the difficult feat of absording the french avant garde, while still paying attention to the clarity, lack of pretention and abstract realism of the Beats. They know what they are doing. They would know painting and film etc. as well as the literature. That isn't a fault. They could sit down and write like Verlaine or Proust; but they choose to write from their own experience, and cultural terms. The work is diverse and accomplished while still remaining accesible. It is A rare feat, that for some inoncievable reason, is still met with boos even the expamples of Frank O'Hara and Auden. Oh when, Oh when will we let poetry find some cool breeze and fresh air again?... Or at least admit when it has. They are a bit overly clever and gimmicky (maybe)at times. But one thinks you might not exactly "get it."
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