Customer Reviews

Shells (Yale Series of Younger Poets)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Shells" was definietly a worthwhile read. The major reoccuring metaphor of food represents relationships and occurences in Arnold's life. The author focuses a lot on the surface of stories and their meanoings. Poem titles such as Hermit Crab can attest to this. The poems concerned with protective coverings have more beneath their surfaces. They represent the mental defense that Arnold has built up. This defense with out the shell can be seen in poems like "Locker Room Ettiquette" and "Why I Skip my high school Reunions." Craig Arnold has a genious mind made for metaphor. The images he creates offer more than one can swallow in a single reading of poetry. Though sometimes the stories may be slghtly long winded, they are extremely intriguing. Because Arnold's poetry is so startling, the feeling the book gives the reader is shocking. He blows the reader's minds with his bluntness, honesty, and unexpected comments. Arnold can gracefully weave in and out of his tale with an oily smoothness. If you like poetry and you like food, this is definitely a great book to study contempoary writings with. It's raw honesty holds a beacon to Craig Arnold's life and childhood. One of the strongpoints of the book was its connection with its audience. "Shells" can be understood by all levels of poetry lovers. Often a bit on the adult with its material, "Shells" is definitely something young adults and adults alike can relate too. "Shells" prompts its readers to ask questions about their own protective coverings and what they defend us from. Arnold's word choice throughout the entire book paints pictures of scenes in our minds. But more than that, Arnold's descriptions are so good that they can enliven our other senses to feel exactly what the he wants us to feel. "Shells" is a solid work that offers poetry lovers a great twist in the metaphorical aspects of life and cooking. The Yale series of younger poets illustrated their excellent decision making skills with "Shells" and Craig Arnold, delicious.

In his first collection of poems, Craig Arnold concentrates on that ancient trinity of literary subjects: sex, food and death. Shells has poems about food and cooking, in which Arnold lists and describes various foodstuffs: the "pebbled skin" of an avocado, "the liberal squirt of chili sauce," yellow pumpkin flower fritters, "your sister's stale croissants" or a shrimp's "small black eyes" staring out of a dish of paella. Shells also has poems about sex, "The Power Grip" in particular, which are equally and explicitly descriptive. Then there are poems that combine these two subjects. "For a cook" tells the story of a chef who believed "food should be made with love" and once stirred his own "semen as an afterthought" into the pasta dish of some complaining costumers. Saffron" is another poem that considers sex and cooking simultaneously: the yellow color of the spice is "contrary / to what a purple flower's genitals / should look like." The speaker of this poem contemplates saffron in the context of his relationship with the woman who first showed it to him. His description of the harvest, "a small brown hand . . . spreading the petals, / the womb pinched out like an unsightly hair," is therefore tinged with the innuendo of their own sexual relations. While death never becomes a central consideration in this collection, it lurks at the edge of Arnold's poems. "For a Cook" is a kind of elegy for a man who has died as is "The Power Grip." "Scrubbing Mussels," on the other hand, describes the deaths of shellfish that are cooked alive.
My point in listing all these examples is to illustrate the way that Arnold's Shells can be repetitive at times. Unlike many collections of contemporary poetry, Shells is built around a set of very concrete themes. Food and cooking show up in a large number of poems, as do seashells and sea creatures. Of course, `shells' refers to an abstract as well as a concrete subject and Arnold makes a complex and interesting investigation into the nature of human `shells' particularly in the moving narrative "Transparent," the collection's longest poem. Similarly, "Locker room etiquette" is a humorous but nevertheless sincere meditation on the vulnerability of nakedness, which "makes you / shy as a hermit // crab between shells." There can be no doubt that Arnold is a skilled poet who uses received forms like the Sapphic in the above poem to bring meaning as well as meter to his subject. If only he had written "Locker room etiquette" without mentioning the hermit crab that begins the collection, though, it might be a complicating rather than somewhat redundant poem. Unfortunately, in this collection, he seems to tie his poems together by themes that are explicitly stated rather than implied. When reading Shells I kept thinking, "Oh, here's another food poem, another sex/food poem, another appearance of the oyster, the lobster, here's the mussel again." In some ways that was satisfying because connections were made clearer. In other ways it was frustrating and a bit tedious at times. Perhaps the fault lies not with the poems themselves but in how they come together to form a collection.
Sometime it's satisfying to read poems for the subject or activity they depict rather than for some deeper meaning they're attempting to reach. Readers who like cooking, seafood or shells will delight in some of these poems, and might even enjoy the entire collection because of these themes that Arnold harps on. I certainly took pleasure in "Little Shrimp" in particular because it describes the sights, smells and flavors of just the sort of Andalusian bar I've been in before. As a description, "Little Shrimp" is a perfect 10, and it fits Arnold's sea creature theme. But for the reader who has no experience with the subject matter, the flamenco music, the female matador, the paella and Spanish tortilla, I doubt this poem would jump out as particularly stunning. Indeed, it's the concrete, immediate depiction that makes it so, not its wider implications.
In my opinion, there is a lot to be gotten out of Shells and we should look forward to Arnold's next book of poetry expectantly. In this first one, though, the poet has allowed himself to get too caught up in the concrete aspect of his subject, the cooking and the oyster shells, to give us a completely solid collection.

The stark, bland, white cover of the book is entirely misleading, for Craig Arnold's book; "Shells" is anything but bland. The poetry has its own distinctive flavor and Arnold's control over the language makes the pages almost reek of the pungent smells of seafood. The images that he invokes are so vivid that sometimes you can almost smell the fish, or taste the spices; "What? This is hot? You're sweating."
The book is definitely "hot" and it will make you sweat and even cringe - but like all things hot, it has a certain bite to it, a particular startling flavor that gets better each time you read it. Primarily focusing on food, sex and relationships, the book is about ordinary everyday things that we all experience; yet it is startlingly fresh because of its unique language and metaphors. Seafood and shellfish in particular seem to hold the key to the greater world for Arnold, as these are his primary sources of metaphor. Aptly named "Shells" the book largely uses various kinds of shellfish and snails to describe the shells people build around themselves and in their relationships and that is why Arnold asks of such people in his poem "Hermit Crab," "Isn't he weighed down? Does his house not pinch?"
Despite the generous sprinkling of metaphors throughout the book, the language is very simple. The language is straightforward and candid and reflects the setting of each poem. There are frank referrals to drugs and sex when talking about friends and years in school and college in poems such as "Scheherazade" and "Roommates." Sometimes the language becomes crude and the open and bold description of sexual acts or referrals to genital organs will make you cringe, especially when he tends to combine it with food as he does in his poem, "For a cook." At other times his references to nudity will be genuinely funny as in "Locker room etiquette" due to the matter of fact and know it all tone that he adopts. Poems where he talks of love interests like "Saffron" his tone is more tender, talking of his mother in "Transparent" you can sense the bitterness and resentment. The constant change of tone and attitude in each poem, while maintaining the same thread of candidness in all of them, makes the book different and interesting to read.
"Shells" is a collection of honest poetry where there are no long flowery poems, creating illusions of the beloved or perfect bliss but just the recreation of moments and people in Arnold's life through the eyes of a connoisseur. Sometimes this book becomes a lyrical book of recipes considering Arnold's descriptions but they are truly recipes of life based on Arnold's personal experiences. For some they might be too spicy, a little too candid and bold in flavor but no one can deny that they are novel and interesting and give one plenty of food for thought.

This is a great read from an amazing writer. The poet's writing is as energetic as the poet's in-person reading. If you have an opportunity to hear Craig Arnold read, don't pass it up!

Arnold's book "Shells" was given to me by a friend (uninterested himself in poetry, but enduring & encouraging my own interest in it). This book is one of my favorites and resides prominently displayed in my library of literature.

I emphatically disagree with several of previous reviewers who have insulted Craig Arnold?s Shells, calling the book ?dull?, ?boring?, and ?trite.? I found this collection of poetry to be well written, very interesting, and quite exciting to read. From the very first poem, ?Hermit Crab,? I was enthralled. Arnold writes in a way that is incredibly engaging to both skilled interpreters and novice poetry readers alike. He is a well learned man who obviously works from a rich lexicon, but he some how manages to write a book that is easy to read, and works intelligently on many levels. The poems, primarily centered on the culinary arts, use in-depth description to create vivid imagery unmatched in any other contemporary book of poetry that I have read.
The greatest strength of this book, however, is not the vivid imagery, but how Arnold adroitly employs two major metaphors. First Arnold effectively uses food as a metaphor for relationships. This technique is evident in one of the books best poems ?Hot?; a poem that tells the story of a friendship centered on dining together that evaporates with removal of food. Second, Craig Arnold amazingly uses the metaphorical implication of the book?s title, Shells, as an overarching theme that runs through the book. Every poem centers on shells, either in the literal sense, or in the metaphorical sense, as an outer casing that separates the narrator from the rest of the world.
Personally, I would recommend this book to virtually any poetry reader. It is written in a language lucid enough for some one with no experience in the art of reading poetry, but also complex enough for experts. It is not traditional poetry. It is not abstract or difficult. It is not an interpretive challenge. It doesn?t rely on unintelligible metaphors or allusions to obscure works. It provides great imagery and is written primarily around a topic, food, that most of us hold near and dear to our hearts. Thus, it should provide an enjoyable read for all.

The stark, bland, white cover of the book is entirely misleading, for Craig Arnold's book; "Shells" is anything but bland. The poetry has its own distinctive flavor and Arnold's control over the language makes the pages almost reek of the pungent smells of seafood. The images that he invokes are so vivid that sometimes you can almost smell the fish, or taste the spices; "What? This is hot? You're sweating."
The book is definitely "hot" and it will make you sweat and even cringe - but like all things hot, it has a certain bite to it, a particular startling flavor that gets better each time you read it. Primarily focusing on food, sex and relationships, the book is about ordinary everyday things that we all experience; yet it is startlingly fresh because of its unique language and metaphors. Seafood and shellfish in particular seem to hold the key to the greater world for Arnold, as these are his primary sources of metaphor. Aptly named "Shells" the book largely uses various kinds of shellfish and snails to describe the shells people build around themselves and in their relationships and that is why Arnold asks of such people in his poem "Hermit Crab," "Isn't he weighed down? Does his house not pinch?"
Despite the generous sprinkling of metaphors throughout the book, the language is very simple. The language is straightforward and candid and reflects the setting of each poem. There are frank referrals to drugs and sex when talking about friends and years in school and college in poems such as "Scheherazade" and "Roommates." Sometimes the language becomes crude and the open and bold description of sexual acts or referrals to genital organs will make you cringe, especially when he tends to combine it with food as he does in his poem, "For a cook." At other times his references to nudity will be genuinely funny as in "Locker room etiquette" due to the matter of fact and know it all tone that he adopts. Poems where he talks of love interests like "Saffron" his tone is more tender, talking of his mother in "Transparent" you can sense the bitterness and resentment. The constant change of tone and attitude in each poem, while maintaining the same thread of candidness in all of them, makes the book different and interesting to read.
"Shells" is a collection of honest poetry where there are no long flowery poems, creating illusions of the beloved or perfect bliss but just the recreation of moments and people in Arnold's life through the eyes of a connoisseur. Sometimes this book becomes a lyrical book of recipes considering Arnold's descriptions but they are truly recipes of life based on Arnold's personal experiences. For some they might be too spicy, a little too candid and bold in flavor but no one can deny that they are novel and interesting and give one plenty of food for thought.

For a collection that doesn't have much to say, Mr. Arnold takes plenty of time to say it. I couldn't handle the endless pages of rhyming couplets. I liked previous Yale Younger Series winners, and despite the Publishers Weekly review that called it "A disappointment," I tried to make up my own mind about this highly-anticipated book. Well, I tried. It wasn't the rhyme either--I mean, I enjoy a good sonnet, when it's more than just a sonnet.

I bought a copy after I heard Arnold at a poetry reading. Then I bought another to give to a friend. I don't really like poetry that is overly obscure, serious and self-consciously profound. This poetry rhymes, it's good humored and it's mostly about eating food. I can see why pretentious poets in black outfits wouldn't like it (even though Craig Arnold himself is a pretentious poet in a black outfit) It's much too "accessable" This is definitely "slam" poetry, not academic poetry.

This is one hell of a debut book. Any poet who can read this without jealousy and delight must be dead to the pleasures of language. And food. When was there ever a poet a poet so alive to the taste of the world, who took a bite so deep? But I gave it only 4 stars, because I think this poet will give us all the stars, eventually, sauteed and sizzling, jalapeno hot, and cold as shattered crystal. And why do his critics, here, choose to remain anonymous?

How can anyone call this book dull? May I never be in a book group with any of you! Now I could be biased, being from Salt Lake ("friendships based on food are rarely stable" was rolling off everyone's tongue out here long before the book was out), but "Shells" gets more and more enjoyable every time I pick it up. How can anyone not be captivated by the stunning "Scheherazade," the eloquent "Grace," or the bewitching "Watching for mermaids?" Some made me laugh ("Locker room etiquette"), some made me do a double take ("The Power Grip"), and others left me speechless ("Transparent"). "Shells" is an exciting and humbling (for an aspiring writer) experience, and I recommend it to anyone with a taste for the playful and unexpected. Rock on Craig!