Amazon.com: Mere Mortals: Poems (Contemporary Poetry Series) (9780820317106): Terese Svoboda: Books

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Stop dragging in Chaucer," commands an unspecific speaker in a poem capturing a young man's first impressions of a girlfriend's family. Instead of heeding her own words, Svoboda (Cannibal; All Aberration) immediately adds references to Caesar, Cleopatra and Persephone. The classics also inspire her "Faust," a woman in modern dress who "keeps her shades on/ through breakfast," and an acerbic 40-part "Ptolemy's Rules for High School Reunions." There are too many literary figures, too few real people captured in believable action. Poems such as "Dog/God" (about dyslexia) prove her eye to be more than bookish. Many of the finest poems ("Philomela" and "Death for Franchise" among them) lead readers so subtly into an often-painful surrealism that we turn back to double-check what came over us. One of Svoboda's most valuable assets is a rambling, vivid imagination which, when not held in check by myth and legend, is fully original.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Svoboda's third book of poetry veers past divorce, corruption, and "buzzing mystery" into antsy, colloquial monologs about "ghostlike, love-struck loiterers." Stirring ashes of idealism for what remains, Svoboda sees old-fashioned high tragedy (Faust becomes a show biz/circus extravaganza in an improbable 30-page play/ poem) as inexplicable daydream. High school reunions, Othello's ardor, Greek myth, nature, religion, "vagaries of family life"?nothing withstands the scrutiny of what was once believed to be "in modern diaspora." What happened to Arcadia in an era of " get-rich-quick sewers" sets Svoboda's teeth on edge but occasions agitatedly brilliant imagery. In all, Svoboda's outlandish wit?she wrote an award-winning novel, Cannibal (LJ 11/15/94)?stuns the face of culture's illusions like lightning. Negotiating a "wacked-out" path to rueful wisdom, she casts a cold eye at love beyond innocence at the end of the 20th century. "I stare into that cold screen/I do stare," she says. For readers who prefer the chill of a dry martini.?Frank Allen, West Virginia State Coll., Institute
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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More About the Author

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Writing in the voice of God as I did in Tin God didn't seem like much of a stretch after being the eldest of nine children. We lived in a small town in southwest Nebraska with the smell of sage tumbleweeds and cattle feedlots. Although I've lived most of my adult life in NYC, I'm still haunted by home, a place that's now mostly in my head. But in NYC, I can travel without going anywhere. Eight languages are spoken on my block, including Chinese. For me, that's perfect--I can be surrounded by people I know but I can't understand a word they're saying. Although I've never been a pirate in 18th America, this year's Pirate Talk or Mermalade should reveal my interest in research. Even Henry Hudson believed in mermaids! Next year's Bohemian Girl will return to Nebraska, albeit 19th century Nebraska, with a spunky girl who escapes from the Indians.