My American Kundiman [Paperback]

Patrick Rosal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2006

From one of our most charismatic poets, a personal song to America.

This pulsating collection picks up the beat and imagery of Patrick Rosal's thrilling debut, Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive. Here, though, the poet's electric narratives and portraits extend beyond the working class streets of urban New Jersey. Modeling poems on the kundiman, a song of unrequited love sung by Filipinos for their country in times of oppression, he professes his conflicted feelings for America, while celebrating and lamenting his various heritages—whether by chatting up St. Patrick, riffing on race relations, or channeling Lapu Lapu in a rejoinder to Magellan. Passionate, provocative, and irrepressible throughout, My American Kundiman further establishes Rosal as a poet to be reckoned with.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rosal's fiery sophomore effort begins, "When shall I/ open my mouth/ and let half/ the world/ fall in?" Fast-paced and self-assured, it reflects a mélange of precedents— Allen Ginsberg, Gwendolyn Brooks, a bevy of hip-hop artists, Filipino and Filipino-American traditions from which Rosal (Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive, 2003) takes his unusual title. A kundiman is either a song of unrequited love or a coded song of political protest, dating from the American occupation. Rosal's vividly syncretic, even sexy works find the present haunted by the recent past, the personal within the political: "If like me you don't know well the cruel music of tango, then you don't know how its truths can haunt you." Another poem invokes, for amorous praise, "Your hype/ Your hips Your spit/ Your sickest wit." Rosal's poetry of Filipino heritage often centers around New Jersey, where he lives and in whose immigrant-rich cities and towns ethnic tension and cross-fertilization are everyday facts. These oddly confident poems, with their extravagant, attention-seeking titles ("About the White Boys Who Drove By a Second Time to Throw a Bucket of Water on Me") should attract attention beyond any ethnic, regional or performance-oriented audience. (Nov.)
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About the Author

Patrick Rosal lives in Rahway, New Jersey, and teaches writing and literature at Bloomfield College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Persea (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892553308
• ISBN-13: 978-0892553303
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,160,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great surprise!, November 26, 2010

By 

T. Davis (Duluth, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My American Kundiman (Paperback)

Late one night I happened to be watching PBS. While I was waiting for another show to come on, I saw an Asian talk show with two authors who were reading their work. It interested me so I watched. As I listened to Patrick Rosal read one of his pieces, I was simply drawn into his work so I decided to Google him and his book title so that I could read more and order the book.

Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. It's culture rich tones and intelligent street language made it a page turner. If you love the discovery of poets you haven't read before, read this book. You will not be disappointed.