Customer Reviews

Jelly Roll: A Blues

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Put this book next to his previous "To Repel Ghost" & readers have a solid sense of the aesthetic range Kevin Young aspires to. These poems sing, they signify, cry & dance with a Morrisonian spectrum of emotion, tuning into the full complexity of Blues. The book, its form, are as informed as they are playful & experimental--the voice confident yet not afraid to examine itself, and chuckle.

The poetry of Kevin Young in "Jelly Roll: A Blues" is inextricably, and purposefully, linked with the Blues music tradition. Significantly, on the title page, under "Jelly Roll [A Blues]" is written "composed and arranged by Kevin Young," as if this were a book of musical compositions. From the old-school gramophone on the cover to the dozens of music themed poem titles, Young, as blatantly as he can, stamps his collection with the label of "Blues Poetry", encouraging readers to appreciate the musicality of his verse and placing his work in the tradition of black Blues Poets.

While many of Young's poems exhibit a flare for fresh language and a playful musicality, as a whole, "Jelly Roll [A Blues]" feels monotonous. Most of Jelly Roll's poems are about sex or love, and almost every one of them follows the same repetitive two-line stanza form. After the first twenty pages or so of this enormous, one hundred ninety page book, I found myself wondering, with each new poem, if I had already read one exactly like it a few pages ago.

There are moments throughout the book--words, images, sounds--that are brief bursts of beautiful or interesting. If the collection was cut to about one third or one fourth of its current size, then perhaps those moments would not be drowned out by the sense of monotony and repetition that the two-line form creates.

By calling so much attention to the genre of his poems, he boldly invites comparison between himself and early Blues Poets such as Langston Hughes and Sterling Brown. However, his work, at this point, does not live up to his hype.

... I liked JELLY ROLL, at least it's brief. Liked it way better than that Basquiat mess. Too long, too pretentious, though there were some gorgeous moments, too. But give me the art any day. After reading a few of the poems, you got the sense that the author was repeating himself just to hear himself. In JELLY ROLL, he seems to take his time, be more respectful with his art. And since when does a Harvard degree make you stepchild to the blues? Let a brother flex or something!

Sorry one of the previous "reviewers" apparently hasn't ever read good poetry before, but Jelly Roll is the real deal: smart, savvy, really original yet totally accesible. Young here solidifies his reputation as one of America's hottest poets to check for. And it's a gorgeous, gorgeous book to boot!

I liked quite a few of the poems in this book. Unfortunately, it's way too long. The weak poems water down the strong ones. If the book's length had been shortened by 1/3 or 1/2, the whole would be stronger than the sum of its parts.

What's with the fixation on an author's bio? Let it go.

Painfully obvious blues imagery and tiresome similes wear the reader down quickly. The stereotypical "Jook Joint" language is practically offensive, coming from a Harvard educated writer. About as "bluesy" as an Eric Clapton imitator in a college sports bar. I had hoped for better.

Please stop. To pass these couplets off as poems, as blues even! Read my lips: UGH! Jelly Roll, you ain't so good and if that's all the brothers have got, we in serious trouble. Out.

another fine book by one of most talented poets