Rush Hour [Paperback]

Kevin Fitzpatrick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Rush Hour's palpable poems palpably about people - people working at jobs or otherwise finding things to do. Reading them is like peering into lives through clear new windows. -- Small Pond, Spring 1997

Rush Hour is a good read. -- Snake River Reflections, Issue 91, January 1998

In Rush Hour, Mr. FitzPatrick chooses a more traditional method of approach by incorporating the iambic line to near perfection. The rhythm and rhyme scheme have a natural flow and produce a musical effect when read aloud or in quiet meditation. -- Rattle, No. 9, Summer 1998

Kevin FitzPatrick combines fresh rhymes with piercing observation to produce a vivid and recognizable portrait of life in a Midwestern city. The sixty-four poems in Rush Hour are each enjoyable reads, but the cumulative effect of them all is like the layering effect of a classical oil painting - each adds to the overall detail until the final view emerges. Definitely worth the time spent reading it, there are a good many poets who could learn a thing or two from Mr. FitzPatrick's Rush Hour. -- Fly by Night Magazine, Fall 1997

Kevin FitzPatrick possesses a keen sense of his raw material. He knows how to capture the essence of his subject through strong imagery. -- Small Press Review, May-June 1998

Many of Kevin FitzPatrick's poems make a reader feel as though listening in at the confessional, not necessarily to sins but to thoughts and sensations that few can enunciate so well. -- Green's Magazine, Autumn 1997

More than just a good read, though it is certainly that; more also than merely the sound of another voice, even one with a Minnesota accent; Rush Hour provides one of the best reasons for literary cross-border shopping I've experienced in a long while. -- The Antigonish Review, No. 112, Winter 1998

The effect of FitzPatrick's poetry is not obtained through literary acrobatics, but through language reminiscent of the village story teller. The narrator speaks to us as an old friend, perhaps the voice of self we all recognize, but seldom listen to, subtly teaching and reminding us of age old lessons. -- The Burning Cloud Review, Vol. I, Issue 4, July 1997

These poems embrace the raw, earthy substance of life. -- Corresponder, Winter 1997

Abraham, Martin, And George
After Reading Plato All Summer
After The Burglary
Are You All Right
At A Great Lakes Lighthouse Historic Site
Bearing Arms
Bloody Noses Not Enough
The Boxer With The Withered Arm
Breakfast Dishes
Breaking Point
Breathless
Claims Examiner
Cleans Disinfects Deodorizes
Clearing Of The Site
Cubicles
Dagger's Gift
Daily Taunts
Deadline
Downtime
Factory Disclaimer
Flash Fires
From The Parking Lot
A Gathering In The Sough High Parking Lot
Guns Don't Kill People
Her Schedule Unraveling
In My Mother's Voice
Into The Fire
Jostled
Lake Superior Vacations
Lessons
Neighbors
Northbound Lane
Northbound Lane
Office Blues
Opening The Door
Out Of The Depths
Pedaling Back
A Photograph Of A Famous Person, Aged Eleven, W/classmates
Plane Crash
Reading About Cockroaches
Remembrances
Rude Life
Rush Hour
Sensitivity Training
Soaring Crane Karate
Social Dance I
Split Hockey Stick
Squeeze
Stained-glass Light
Starting Over
Staying After School For Talking
Still Here
Strawberry Malts
Supposedly When My Father Was Young
Surprise Phone Call
Thinning Shade
To Whom It May Concern
Town And Country Golf Club
Unemployment Office
Wanderer's Punch
What Fears They Had
What To Say
What Your Waiting Knows
Wistful List
Your Telephone Call
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Rush Hour is a memorable collection of poetry that vividly evokes the pace and energy of the city life and city people. Each poem is a miniature masterpiece, a "word window" of human observation. From "After the Burglary" and "Town and Country Golf Club" to "From the Parking Lot" and the title piece "Rush Hour", this is a body of work deserving to be read by every city-dwelling poetry fan -- and those in the suburbs and countryside as well! -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Kevin FitzPatrick was educated at the University of Minnesota and the College of Saint Thomas. He was the editor of the Lake Street Review, a literary magazine, for many years. About his first book of poetry, Down on the Corner, published by Midwest Villages & Voices, Meridel LeSueur wrote, "He is a wonderful chronicler of the people's journey." Besides magazines and newspapers, his poetry has appeared in anthologies such as American Voices: Webs Of Diversity (Prentice Hall), Call Down the Moon: Poems of Music (Margaret K. McElderry Books), The Next Parish Over: A Collection of Irish-American Writing (New Rivers Press), and Ringing in the Wilderness: Selections from the North Country Anvil (Holy Cow! Press). His poetry has been heard on "The Writer's Almanac" and "Weekend Edition" over Minnesota Public Radio and other public radio stations.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Midwest Villages & Voices Pubn; 1st edition (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093569708X
• ISBN-13: 978-0935697087
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 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: #6,303,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars You will feel that some of these poems and stories are about you, July 27, 2008

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Rush Hour (Paperback)

This collection of poetry contains some real gems, short stories that summarize many difficulties regarding the human condition. Some describe unusual conditions, such as the boxer with one arm, but most are about daily events in the lives of people. My favorite is on page 65

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I stand all day
and bone chickens
I've done this for years -
dump the meat on one belt,
and bones on the another,
to carry them away.
I'm only fifty-three,
But my feet are all sores
from diabetes and the floor
wet with running water.
My doc says to quit
while I'm still walking.

This short verse sums up the dilemma of so many people, forced to continue working at the cost of their health. Another of my favorites is on page 52.

STARTING OVER

My dream is simply to go,
with the door wide open, the TV blaring,
my money scattered across the dresser,

grabbing nothing
not even consulting a map,

Destination unknown.
let the landlord think
I've gone for cigarettes.

At rent time he'll remove the remains
to a locker in the cellar.

This short verse nicely summarizes the fantasy that everyone entertains at some point, simply walking away from his or her life and starting anew.
Fitzpatrick is an excellent poet and he demonstrates that over and over again, you cannot help but feel that some of the poems are about you.