Postmortem: Poems (Contemporary Poetry (Univ of Georgia Paperback)) [Paperback]

Maurice Kilwein Guevara (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his first collection, Colombian-born Guevara presents a captivating view of immigration as seen through the eyes of a five-year-old boy whose "first surprise in this new America is unspoken: Snow." It falls all around him "like a million stars. He looks up at his mother, who is changed" symbolically from brown to white. Guevara's vivid use of color binds him to all those estranged from their homeland, whether other emigres, retarded adults or a history teacher recalling the Vietnam war. In another empathetic poem he describes Scottish immigrant John Kane, who during lunch break paints landscapes on the sides of the railroad cars he's about to cover with fresh coats of black paint. Two recurring figures dominate many poems: angels (sometimes taking the human form of Angela) and "the Young Beast" (the persona for a playful self, sometimes even becoming physically bestial). This young beast serves as a fitting display for Guevara's gentle, and often self-mocking, sarcasm. As with any poet who strives for humor, there are poems that are simply too slight or self-conscious, but this volume contains enough strong work to make it a worthy debut.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

13 Ways Of Looking Backward
Absence
Abuelo, Abuelo
Abuelo, Answers And Questions
Angela Manrique
Angela Wandering
The Birth Of The Young Beast
The Bridge
The Buddy Holly Poem
Burning Hill
Campesino, 1948
Child
Cofradia
Down
The Explanation
Eye Of The Buck
Fear
Gold Dust
Good Friday
Identity
John Kane
The Long Woman Bathing
The Magic Carpet
Mountainsong
The Old Worker
One By One
Our Marriage
Pieta With A Cameo By The Young Beast
Plum-dark Humor
Postmortem
Revelation 3,000
Tepteptep
This Mornng In Costa Rica
Tombstones
Tuesday Shaman
Violence
Violentologo
Walking Home Alone, After A Reading, Young Beast Mocks Star
The Workshop Deconstructs The Young Beast
The Young Beast At The Wreck
The Young Beast Devours Kafka
The Young Beast In Spring
The Young Beast Mourns A Right Turn
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 77 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press; 1ST edition (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820315613
• ISBN-13: 978-0820315614
• ASIN: 0820315621
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,347,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Have," and I don't say that., August 16, 2006

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D. Best (Parkview, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Postmortem: Poems (Contemporary Poetry (Univ of Georgia Paperback)) (Paperback)

I had the opportunity of interviewing Maurice Kilwein Guevara by telephone in 1998 or 99 regarding his book Postmortem. Before we talked, I must've read it a few dozen times cover to cover in the span of a few days. Granted, I like Baraka, Lucille Clifton and Hal Sirowitz--none of that Billy Collins fluff for me--but my battle-worn copy of Postmortem is amongst the treasures of my collection. Reading pieces like Our Marriage, Plum Dark Humor and others (there isn't a dull piece in the publication) tore my mind wide open and then to hear inspiration behind them tore it open in completely different but still powerful ways.

here, i notice no reference and copies of Postmortem selling for 99 cents. i paid easily 15 times that and am prepared to do so again for his other book.