A Hunger [Paperback]

Lucie Brock-Broido (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ranging from the mundane to the ethereal, the themes of Brock-Broido's first collection are always interesting and sometimes startling. The poems can be roughly classified into three groups: those concerned with time, especially the conjunction of the past and the future; those influenced by things or places specifically American, poems that appear vaguely autobiographical; and those based on actual historical or contemporary events, usually involving, and often narrated by, a child. Some of the work's best moments occur in this latter category, where the poet writes with simplicity and clarity. In "Birdie Africa," a poem based on the fire-bombing of the MOVE cult's Philadelphia tenement in 1985, a young boy describes his love for his father: "But when I wind my arms around/ him, put my face into the dimmed scoop/ of his neck, he smells like good warm fire." Brock -Broido demonstrates an unusual ability to see things from the viewpoint of children, sensitively portraying their pain and confusion, but usually refraining from imposing upon them the mannered knowledge of the more sophisticated adult. In other poems, however, she takes the opposite tack, developing more mature themes with sometimes oblique references. By including sketchy explanations to several of her verses, Brock-Broido demystifies them a bit, but never reveals too much, leaving her poetry in a somewhat distanced realm. Overall, this is an absorbing volume, written with fine attention to word choice and rhythm, and at times able to achieve striking effects.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Brock-Broido's first collection of poems reveals a poet with a hunger for "Writing it all down so you would know/ Exactly what it is to trick oblivion." Her concerns include both public events and private experiences and perceptions of the world she lives in. Occasionally the more public poems seem merely topical. Thus, the insights in a poem like "Birdie Africa" are too easy; they go little beyond the revelations in a profile in People magazine (the source of an epigraph for another, more successful poem). But at her best, Brock-Broido's poems are quirky and graceful, resonant with "the autoerotic sounds of her American voice/ Getting it all down."Grace Bauer, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; Pre-Publication 1st edition edition (August 12, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394758528
• ISBN-13: 978-0394758527
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,281 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 Alas, June 11, 2001

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Hunger (Paperback)

When a book of poems this magnificent goes out of print, the world is in dire trouble. Let us hope that the loss is only temporary, and that meanwhile you can borrow a copy from your community library. If not, satisfy your cravings with The Master Letters, another superb (and necessary) addition to the art from this Master Craftswoman--without a doubt, one of the finest poets working today. Alyssa A. Lappen

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ecstatic language meets wilds imagination, November 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Hunger (Paperback)

I will be quick. She has, here, made language hers. It is too little to say that this book is "good." To see where her mind travels and the lyrical language she uses to express that place have left me breathless as I read and reread her work. Truly, unless you have already imagined the day the whale landed on the streets of Manhattan, you have not imagined enough.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars more, December 16, 1999

By 

Evan Haverford - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hunger (Paperback)

Lucie Brock-Broido, as is the lot for wonderous poets, will not be given her due attention when she deserves it. I know this because she hasn't recieved enough yet and she's long past due.