Legends from Camp [Paperback]

Lawson Fusao Inada (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1992

poetry & prose

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The preface to this volume presents an apologia of sorts: " . . . don't let the word poetry get in your way . . . this book is full of songs, paintings, photographs, prayers, and stories--that just happen to look like poetry." Inada, who co-edited The Big Aiiieeeee! , is correct in pointing this out; the work is what one might call populist writing, which has become fashionable along with the multicultural movement with which he associates himself as an "Ethnic Minority Third World Asian American Poet." His long opening section is a meditation on the Japanese internment camps during World War II. Unfortunately, the writing is not precise enough to convey a concrete sense of that experience. Generally these pieces are unsophisticated in tone, technique and conceptual structure, although at times the author's sunny disposition comes through. "Poem for Television" offers some characteristic writing: "Welcome to my poem. / Welcome to my home. / This is my song, my story,/ this is my tell-a-vision / to you . . . " Derivative of Whitman, but neither inventive nor sonorous, the writing is often intended for "community performance" in which music and dancing might bolster it.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The preface to Inada's first book of poems since 1971 ( Before the War, LJ 1/1/71) begins by reassuring the reader: "Not to worry, please--this book is for you, whoever you may be, and this book is not intended to be 'for poetry people only.' " Indeed, the poems in the five sections that follow are playful, full of life, and easy to understand, even when the subject is somber--as in the first section, "Camp," which recounts the author's experience as a boy in the Japanese internment camps. The other four sections cover a wide array of subjects, from jazz, to life in Fresno, California, to love and family. Each section begins with a prose introduction that very effectively gives the reader a background for the poems that follow. Recommended for general collections.
- Jessica Grim, Oberlin Coll. Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; First edition (July 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566890047
• ISBN-13: 978-1566890045
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Legends from Camp, January 28, 2001

By 

J. P. Tate (Pendleton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legends from Camp (Paperback)

I had the great pleasure to hear Lawson Fusao Inada read some of his poems from this book. It is truly inspirational to catch a glimpse, through his words, of his view of the world. "Legends from Camp" contains poems inspired by his childhood in an internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII, his home in the state of Oregon, and his love of Jazz. On the back cover of the book, Leslie Marmon Silko writes: "Inada's ear for the musicality of English is unsurpassed: Legends from Camp is a veritable symphony you must not miss." This is so true.