Customer Reviews

The Prayers of Dallas

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Prayers of Dallas describes in verse the inner dialogues of 50 Dallas residents with whomever or whatever they believe is their higher spiritual power. Frederick Turner is a master poet, and this book is characteristically ambitious and experimental yet firmly grounded. It's clear that Turner feels imaginatively at home in the city that he loves. I can't say for sure whether the book adequately captures the soul of Dallas itself--I admire Mr. Turner's enthusiasm for the city and his apparent insight into its character, but I don't share them. Nonetheless, I believe the author is an important poet and thinker who is far ahead of his time, and this is a fine example of his ability.

I actually had the immense pleasure and honor of seeing this work produced -- by Turner himself. He and several others performed this work, with an installation done by the artist Todd Camplin. One can see the full range of Turner's poetic skills in this piece. He does not avoid controversy, yet demonstrates a poetic compassion for antagonist and protagonist alike. Still, he does not hold back -- this is not an amoral work. It is ethical without being preachy; it is funny and sad and tragic and, in the end, hopeful. If the city can have a soul -- and, if we take Nietzsche's sense of a soul, it can and does -- then Turner shows us the soul of Dallas. It's not always good, but in the end, it's certainly not bad, either. This is a beautiful work I strongly recommend.