An exponent of contemporary Latino literature and the founder of the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe+a7, a poetry salon in New York City, presents a cycle of poems redolent of the sights, sounds, and culture of the city. Simultaneous. 10,000 first printing."
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As the owner of the famed Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Miguel Algarín is very near the heart of New York's performance poetry scene. He is also a fine writer, one whose work Ishmael Reed has called "powerful, moving, and exciting." In this collection, Algarín takes the reader through a vivid and often nightmarish dreamscape of New York, featuring Angels (including the old-fashioned scary kind), dancing, music, and, sadly, HIV. Algarín's own struggle with the disease drives many of his most poignant lines, as in these from "HIV": "The epiphany: I am unsafe, / you who want me / know that I who want you / harbor the bitter balm of defeat." Later in the same poem Algarín asks two horrified, lonely questions: "Can it be that I am the bearer of plagues? / Do I have to deny yearning for firm full flesh / so that I'll not kill what I love?" That the answer is obvious makes the questions that much more haunting.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Algarin, founder of the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe and three-time winner of the American Book Award, makes for a formidable presence in contemporary poetry. This volume, which comes with an interpretive introduction by Roy Skodnick and an affectionate afterword by Ishmael Reed, gives us a multifaceted portrait of Algarin and the world he has created, just as HIV casts a long shadow over his future. Algarin's style is rapid, simple, and free, as one might expect from a champion of cafe poetry, but he is not without the refinements of craft, and the candor of his recollections of life on the lower East Side of New York is often profoundly moving. The first section, "Nuyorican Angels," is perhaps the most striking, lifting up disparate people and ideas as types of "metaphysical thunderstorm." His "Nuyorican Angel of Wordsmithing" asserts that the poet is a "Cultural Worker: A Humble Servant," a description that suits Algarin's own skill and appealing modesty. This volume should be popular in city libraries and among the poetry-slam crowd.?Graham Christian, Andover-Harvard Theological Lib., Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Poetry!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Love Is Hard Work: Memorias de Loisaida/Poems (Paperback)
This book of wonderful poems is a real and interesting look directly into the life of the Puertoricanos of New York's Lower East Side. At once moving and disturbing, Algarin's poems use strong images to pull the reader directly into the action of his beautiful poems.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The title speaks for itself,
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This review is from: Love Is Hard Work: Memorias de Loisaida/Poems (Paperback)
After, reading several of the poems in the book it made me begin to realize what love can do in a persons life. Miguel Algarin is a latino poet and has alot to say that will truly enlighten you. Intelligent, informed, articulate, well-spoken, extraordinary talent... the man is bad. I'm someone who is real big on love and I think that I might have found a match in this book of poetry. The title speks for itself... love is hard work and if you really want to get technical it's like a full time job and then some.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The immensely huggable Miguel Algarín has a big heart. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lower East Side, New York, Angel of Hypericin, Puerto Rican, Tompkins Square Park, God of the Second Chance, Puerto Rico, Tia Delia New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The immensely huggable Miguel Algarín has a big heart. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lower East Side, New York, Angel of Hypericin, Puerto Rican, Tompkins Square Park, God of the Second Chance, Puerto Rico, Tia Delia New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 3
books:
2
books
cite this book:
- On Call by Miguel Algarin in Front Matter, page 146, and page 147
- Song of Protest by Pablo Neruda in Front Matter
- Works and Days (Oxford University Press academic monograph reprints) by Hesiod on page 145
- The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry by Alan Kaufman in Back Matter
- From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas 1900-2002 by Ishmael Reed in Back Matter
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