The House of Blue Light (Southern Messenger Poets) [Paperback]

David Kirby (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The quadumvirate of menAStephen Dunn, Tony Hoagland, Billy Collins and Albert GoldbarthAwho provide blurbs for Kirby's fifth collection reads like a who's who of the book's poetic influences. Talky, jokey and carefully lineated, Kirby's vignettes unabashedly celebrate middle-class writing life, middle-aged male life and middle-to-high-brow cultural life, while simultaneously deflating all three. With titles like "Catholic Teenager from Hell Goes to Italy," "Roman Polanski's Cookies," "Excellent Women" and "Moderation Kills (Excusez-Moi, Je Suis Sick as a Dog)," Kirby's consistent speaker takes delight in a quotidian that flashes back to his southern childhood, college and grad lives, and forward to TV-watching and movie-going experiences, his university post and a sojourn in Paris with a poet-wife named Barbara. (Kirby teaches at Florida State University, reviews frequently for the TLS and NYTBR, and is married to the poet Barbara Hamby.) He is preoccupied with the sex people have, and the things they break ("Teacher of the Year") and noises they make ("Heat Lightning") in flagrante, while wishing "I could relax and just let myself go more/ and not be so, uh, obsessive about everything." Relentlessly accessible, the poems always tell a good story, whether about how friend Jock DuBois had a plan for Catholic domination of the U.S., how "Sugar" can annoyingly become "Shoog" or how to reach the dead: "Hey Dad! Over here! In France!/ No, France! Great country! Great cheese." They can be mildly entertaining, and are disarming in their lack of pretense and posturing. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

You feel at home in this book. Travel, family, school, renowned philosophers, as well as more contemporary philosophies of life all make an appearance in poems that speak to an educated American populace and to those aware of a contemporary cultural scene. Kirby lifts the heavy veil of seriousness that poetry often wears, even as he talks about death and other departures. The title poem is a prime example of this as a father's anxiety about his own mortality becomes apparent when his son go off to college. Just as we are at an archetypal death's door, icons of pop culture switch the channel on the author's meditation. As in most of these poems, we end on a happy note, mostly because Kirby digs hierarchies of ancient and modern cultures and seems to cut away a niche for the individuals who live and dream upon them. Highly recommended for high school, college, and public libraries. [Kirby is a longtime LJ reviewer.DEd.]DAnn K. van Buren, Riverdale Country Sch., New Yor.
-DAnn K. van Buren, Riverdale Country Sch., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807126179
• ISBN-13: 978-0807126172
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,353,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Moment of Thought Following a Good Poem, February 19, 2001

By 

"blokatr" (Williamsport, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House of Blue Light (Southern Messenger Poets) (Paperback)

I realized how much I liked this book when I found myself reading aloud poem after poem to my roomate, a psychology major, and her boyfriend, a physics major. I promised after each poem that it would surely be my last one. Then I'd come across a poem that contained an "Ah Oui Girl" or Roman Polanski and I'd be reading again despite that I had a sore throught and coughed every five lines. I brutally killed each poem, but when I finally put the book down, my roomate remarked that I should "leave the book lying around" so she can "read it sometime." I think what draws the reader into Kirby's poems is an interesting voice and humor, but what keeps the reader lingering is an unexpected twist, an unseen destination that brings the poem together, that makes the reader scratch his head and expel an 'aaaaah hmm.'

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beatific resolve in Kirby's poetry, November 26, 2000

By 

Amy M. Liming (Cantonment, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House of Blue Light (Southern Messenger Poets) (Paperback)

Refreshing to the era, David Kirby presents a narrative-reminiscent book of poetry that appeals to even those that are verse-shy. He is wonderful, with vivid descriptions and pertinent symolism that is many layers deep. My poetry teacher says that a good poem usually has at least three things going on in it...Kirby exceeds this and stil gives us an understandable and intellectual piece of work. He is an amazing poet, and this book is a must-have for anyone interested in poetry, life, fun, sex, food, travel, people or themselves. Get your hands on this one, and share it with your friends.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sprawling, meandering, amazing poetry., November 25, 2004

By 

Zebulon C. Huset "zeb_huset" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The House of Blue Light (Southern Messenger Poets) (Paperback)

I came to Kirby from the 2001 issue of BAP which included one of the poems from this book. Long lines, similar to whitman, ginsberg, or Campbell McGrath, very anecdotal in nature, funny, and insightful. My favorite poems in this were James Dickey's Dream, Tige Watley's Whoah, and My dead dad, but every poem is amazing. It's a quick read, very accessible, and after each poem you sit back and just think, wow. Kirby's one of my three favorite poets now, with McGrath, and at the opposite end of the spectrum, Kay Ryan.