In the Mynah Bird's Own Words [Perfect Paperback]

Barbara Tran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

In The Mynah Bird's Own Words is a remarkable volume. An assemblage of lined poems and prose poems, it is a compact and concentrated, lyrically delicious collection that comes very close to having the sweep of a novel. The long, central sequence, 'Rosary,' is astonishing. It builds a powerful narrative arc, and yet its each part, each impeccable verse paragraph is discrete and beautiful. Things in these poems take on symbolic values that loom ever larger as we see how each connects and returns us to the larger story. And yet, even the poems outside the centerpiece sequence are part of that same whole, so that by the time we reach the concluding poem, Art,in which a woman practices the craft of what one might call seductive invisibility, we are made to see that poem, and that woman's craft, as very like this poet's art. This collection is part sleight of hand, but all highly crafted. It is, in a word, magic.""Robert Wrigley, Judge, First Annual Tupelo Press Chapbook Competition

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A remarkable volume.. compact and concentrated, lyrically delicious collection... It is, in a word, magic." -- Robert Wrigley, Judge, Tupleo Press Chapbook Competition

"Barbara Tran's first collection of poems is skillful and sensual, full of pain and grace...Read the poems." --Martin Espada, poet

About the Author

Barbara Tran's poetry collection, In the Mynah Bird's Own Words, selected by Robert Wrigley for Tupelo Press, was a PEN Open Book Award finalist. Tran is the co-editor of Watermark: Vietnamese American Poetry & Prose; guest editor of the special Michigan Quarterly Review issue ""Viet Nam: Beyond the Frame""; and the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, Bread Loaf scholarship, and Lannan Foundation writing residency, and has been published in the New Yorker.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tupelo Press (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971031053
• ISBN-13: 978-0971031050
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 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: #2,405,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite, January 6, 2003

By 

Dora Calott Wang (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In the Mynah Bird's Own Words (Perfect Paperback)

A beautiful and completely satisfying collection of poetry. Long after I put the book down, my mind was full of unforgettable images: a loving father who captures a seagull for his daughter, a woman holding her husband in sleep like a cricket swaying on a blade of grass, an orange moon over New York. This is a rare collection of poetry that also introduces us to compelling characters and a heartbreaking central story. The Mynah Bird is one who repeats the words of others. I found Ms. Tran's voice original, gentle and exquisitely measured.