Rise of the Trust Fall [Paperback]

Mindy Nettifee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

In Mindy Nettifee's second book, Rise of the Trust Fall, her poems possess a magic that can only come from a seasoned writer willing to share more on the page than she's comfortable with.  Whether exploring the strange alchemy of healing, the perils of self-actualization, or the contemporary experience of womanhood, the poems in this daring collection are gorgeous and vibrant, bitingly funny, and unflinchingly honest.  Rise of the Trust Fall challenges more than our understanding of ourselves.  It calls us to connect to our humanity, to celebrate its flaws, and then to demand more of it, in every well crafted line.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Rise of the Trust Fall by Mindy Nettifee is the linguistic orgasm we've all been waiting for, no clit-stims necessary. -BUST Magazine

Mindy Nettifee is destined to be the next Dorothy Parker. -Poetic Diversity

When award-winning poet Mindy Nettifee speaks...you're powerless-you have no choice but to raise your wine glass high over your osmosis head and join her pledge of allegiance to graphic truth. Her poems have the grace of cursive letters and the guts of a truck driver. -District Weekly

About the Author

Mindy Nettifee is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer and award-winning performance poet from Long Beach, California. She has competed in five National Poetry Slams, opened for indie rock acts the Cold War Kids, Meiko and Emily Wells, and curated events for the Smithsonian, the city of Los Angeles, GirlFest, the Drums Inside Your Chest and more. She is the author of two books of poetry, Sleepyhead Assassins (Moon Tide Press) and Rise of the Trust Fall (Write Bloody Press), a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award.  She is also the co-founder and director of Write Now Poets.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 110 pages
• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984251596
• ISBN-13: 978-0984251599
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Poetry Book So Good, It Will Make Your Angry, May 20, 2010

By 

C. O. Aptowicz (NYC, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rise of the Trust Fall (Paperback)

When I first read "The Rise of the Trust Fall," I got physically angry at how good it was: throwing the book on to my lap on the subway, groaning "Come ON!"; racing back to earlier poems to confirm they couldn't have been *that* good and becoming enraged that they still were; calling friends, shouting lines into the receiver, nearly rabid that all these perfect words found each other, and in the right order, and in such a earnest, forthright, crooked-grinned book.

With her first book, "Sleepyhead Assassins," Mindy Nettifee crackled with potential and winkingly beckoned at the reader. With "Rise of the Trust Fall," her second book, Nettifee has come back with a startling confidence, wheeling her considerable talent across her mind's entire landscape. Describing this book is semi-maddening: it's lush, yet sharp; it's bitingly funny, yet flinch-inducingly heartbreaking; it's smart, yet silly; tender, yet arch; drunk, yet sober; dizzy, yet beautiful. It's a book that looks the reader in the eye, while still understands the power of its hands fluttering in the shadows.

Which is all to say this book is filled with really great poems.

In "Acceptance Speech," she begins: "I would like to thank first of all my asthmatic lungs, / my inadequacy in the bedroom, / my dark Texas reckless streak and waning night vision / that make awareness of my own mortality possible. // Next, I would like to thank my constant nightmares for their vivid, arresting creativity-- / their cheerful execution of ritual disembowelment, / their lifelike rendering of flesh-eating animatronic bunnies, / and their resourcefulness in general with symbols for personal failure. // I must thank my inability to balance a checkbook / coupled with my whimsical attitude about money / and my magically disappearing work ethic, / without which my debt would be nothing[...]"

In "Rare Character Arcs That Have Started To Haunt Me," she ends: "Starving artist goes to law school, discovers money isn't everything, but it beats $2 burritos every night, takes up Paxil and kayaking. // Man confronts profound doubt about the origins of the universe/existence of God, struggles, eventually retreats in to the simple joys of young adult fiction. // Writer digs deep to express emotions, heal old wounds, still ends up in decades of therapy, dies in her sleep while dreaming about office work."

And really -- I could just keep pulling out stanzas I adore from this book. But instead, I will encourage you just buy it yourself and read it already. In this day and age, it's good to get a little angry sometimes, and "Rise of the Trust Fall" will have your blood boiling for all the right reasons.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever-Evolving Writer, May 9, 2011

By 

Victor Infante - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rise of the Trust Fall (Paperback)

I've been familiar with Mindy Nettifee's writing for nearly two decades now, ever since seeing her as a teenager at Orange County open readings. All of which makes "Rise of the Trust Fall" so remarkable. The voice is unabashedly adult, but the poems themselves are vibrant with youthful energy. In a lot of ways, it seems like a natural extension of her career to date, strands of bet, punk and slam congealing into exquisite poems that are so gorgeous they burn. This is Nettifee's second book, after the lovely "Sleepyhead Assassins," but it's clear that she's only just getting started.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Don't Have This Book...Stop. Scroll Up. Click Buy., May 12, 2011

By 

Steph Holmbo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rise of the Trust Fall (Paperback)

Being a young woman in poetry it is incredibly inspiring to watch someone perform as honest as Mindy does. What I have learned in the past year is she is not only a beautiful performer but someone who translates to the page just as brilliantly. "Rise of the Trust Fall" is not your usual sit down with a cup of coffee and comfortably read poetry kind of book. This book will have you reaching for tissue boxes, laughing out loud even while alone, and clutching your heart because it feels as if she's taken your soul out of your chest and written it in prose. It is a book you will not want to put down. Grab your highlighters and pens and be prepared to dog ear everything. There is so much to relate to, to learn from, and to just listen to in this book. Mindy has a beautiful soul and she has so articulately poured it onto these pages to share with people. I am thankful for the ways her poetry has inserted itself into my life and experiences and opened my eyes to truths I was having a hard time seeing, understanding, or believing.

If you want to learn about how to live life this is a book that you should own. Like now.