Customer Reviews

Something Familiar

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This may not be a very big book, but it's one of those deals where peeking inside reveals a whole new dimension. Kat Ricker skillfully regales the reader with those little details of life that most people take for granted, and whether in poetry or prose, she gets straight to the heart of the matter. This is no book of flowery verse, or pages overflowing with verbiage, yet in its simple language it manages to say volumes.

There's a section on "real life magic", where the author deals with unusual things in normal settings. In Ricker's world, a hank of hair becomes an object of wonder, and a mythical creature a pain in the tail. In another piece, the dream of catching that elusive foul ball is put into stark perspective when your daughter is asleep in your lap, and the final and most powerful poem in this chapter hits it home that you can't recapture the feelings of youth.

The aptly titled section "Cameo Drawer" holds the treasures of the book, with a series of little stories of ordinary people in different situations. There's the cobbler who gave up his craft to work in a lumberyard, the tale of the walnut harvester, the stranger on a bus, and in one of the hardest hitting pieces, Ricker records the tale of Martin Lee Anderson, a young man who died while incarcerated in a juvenile detention camp. One of the best pieces in the book is "Mattie's Orchids", or maybe that honor should go to "Box Closed", or perhaps "Last Dance", but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Showing her funny side, the author channels her inner biker-babe in "The Burial of Wild Bill", which she claims is "based on actual hearsay", and then launches into the saga of "Mrs. Strandedisle" and her independence day. Finally, there's a section titled "Fancy This", which is made up of a tiny little poem and a pair of fanciful fantasy tidbits.

This one's a keeper.


Amanda Richards, October 5, 2006

Note: This review is based on an Advance Review Copy - it is my understanding that the poem about Martin Lee Anderson was not in the final publication.

Kat Ricker seems like one of those people you'd like to see every morning on a walk through the woods, or sitting quietly on a rock beside a pond, or even in the local coffee shop - somewhere where time pauses for good conversation with someone who has insight and the ability to listen and observe and share life in a way that makes the day richer.

This collection of poems and short prose, SOMETHING FAMILIAR, rings true. Ricker has that gift to notice, and in noticing remember impressions to share with friends. Fortunately for us she invites us as friends into her charmed circle with this wondrously simple gathering of observations in the form of poems and short stories. The open honesty she shares in `Walnut Harvesting in Newberg', the nonchalant listening of `Brother on the bus', little stories that become brief poignant poems like `The Pin', and the irresistible atmosphere she conjures in her descriptions of `Summer' and `Outsider' and `Box Closed' - all of these seem to flow so easily from her pen that the result is more like shared conversation than the work of a master craftsman (which Kat Ricker obviously is).

Not that everything in the book is equally good: the short stories that incorporate pencil drawings as illustrations feel a bit precious and pushed, or perhaps they are just out of place in the context of this book of familiar things. But that is a minor flaw in a first publication, an introduction to an author that makes us beg for more. Kat Ricker is as fresh as that pot of brewing jam on the stove - just before grandma scoops off the foam for our freshly homemade bread. She is delicious! Grady Harp, October 06

"I knew that when I left,
I would be the only one
to rip off my heels and nylons
and stick one foot on the seat of my pick-up..."

Kat Ricker's vivid imagery and snapshot descriptions paint insightful pictures that glow with a luminous clarity. Your soul falls into her writing as she explores mysterious connections and magical realities.

Lost in an October rain, she keeps finding her way onto the wrong bus and meets a man who tells her a secret. In "Mattie's Orchids" vivid imagery paints emotion. You feel as if you are viewing a painting in an art museum and Kat is telling you the story. "Mrs. Strandedisle" is a story of a woman who suddenly finds herself in a moment open to possibility.

Rarely do I find descriptions that so vividly paint images on the canvas of my mind. The personalities of the characters Kat Ricker describes makes you long to meet them. The profound ending of "Last Dance" left me in a state of nostalgia.

The humorous tale of a mermaid and magical memories of orbs takes the stories to supernatural dimensions. "Box Closed" explores the viewpoint of a postman over the years of delivering mail to one home. The creaking floorboards in "Estate Sale" embody a subtle comfort. You want to wander in the house, lost within yourself. Each selection is an inspired moment in time, layered with carefully chosen conversations. The changing voices add intrigue, while the deep sense of human connection in her work is inspirational.

"I like to slip out when the house is all quiet," she whispers.
The moon never looked so bright.
Don't tell Mother,
but I made a secret wish,
and tomorrow there'll be orchids on the lawn."

I read "Something Familiar" on my deck as the sun was rising on a cool summer morning. As I sipped my tea, I couldn't help thinking about how Kat's writing has the comfort of cinnamon, the surprise of ginger and the mystique of star anise. Her writing is not only a journey into her magical mind; her writing will inspire a new clarity in your existence. After reading her work, I started to see the world in a more poetic way, as if the world was more complete when intricately described.

If you are a writer, this is one of the top 10 books you should read in your lifetime. The writing style teaches you more than a book on writing ever could. "Something Familiar" awakens a new beauty in the everyday existence and contains the essence writers seek for and few ever find. Kat Ricker has captured a magical connection between souls within a world of words.

~The Rebecca Review

I recently ate dinner at a tiny Italian restaurant in San Francisco. Highly recommended by local residents, the place had a simple charm that was at the same time both inviting and slightly foreign. I ordered the roasted chicken with potatoes, and marveled at how delicious the food was. There was no fancy sauce over the chicken or even an extravagant garnish to dress the plate. Just roasted chicken with a hint of rosemary, and soft, delectable potatoes on the side. I could taste the purity of the food, and was left utterly satisfied, without the feeling of gluttony or eater's remorse.

I make the analogy of food with this website, and so I extend the analogy of this wonderful meal to my review of Kat Ricker's book of poems and short stories, Something Familiar. There is certainly something in this book for everyone - a bit of fantasy, a sample of memory, quiet humor, and even a story "based on actual hearsay." It is a small, simple, appealing, rich, wonderfully executed collection of writing.

The title is entirely appropriate, for what I see as two distinct reasons. On one hand, I believe readers will find something in the stories and poems that is familiar to themselves. In "Ray's Foul Ball," I saw myself as a parent in the juxtaposition of Ray's own individual dreams versus his selfless love for his daughter. In "Remembering Mrs. Little," I saw myself on Mrs. Little's bed, pouring out her tin of buttons (only, in my memory, they are my grandmother's buttons, passed down through generations). And even in the fantastical "The Secret of Lara Lee," I know what it's like to have "something click" and to understand Lara Lee's declaration "Isn't it good just to be!"

The other incarnation of the title is the way in which many of Ricker's characters, when faced with the circumstances of a changing life, retreat to something familiar in their own lives, or in their past. Oftentimes, you can even see it in their eyes. In "Change of Venue," the artisan, faced with harsh financial realities, must turn to different pursuits, and yet you know the "truth - eyes sparkled" of where he would rather be. Old Michael's bent form is transformed in "Walnut Harvest in Newberg," as he remembers his fine accomplishments and "his eyes dawned" through the recollection. And despite Mattie's confused behavior in "Mattie's Orchids," something of her former self slips through when "from the blankets, she turns and winks at you, twinkle of mischief in her eye."

The flowing theme throughout this book of "something familiar" is rounded out by some wonderful phrasing in the poems and stories. In fact, in some cases as I was reading, the title could have just as easily have been something *unexpected,* as Ricker puts images together in beautiful new forms. There are also moments of humor that gratefully caught me off guard. I really enjoyed this smooth book, served up with little flair, relying instead on its own, unpolished beauty to deliver an exceptional reading experience.

We live in an age with too many sad things. Well, that isn't quite right, is it. Every age is full of sad things. But it seems that many generations also have compensating things that bring happiness and joy. We have substituted not hurting and material abundance for happiness and then wonder why we are not happy. One of the things that all men and women have known as a part of happiness since there have been men and women is poetry and we seem to have given up on it. Why, I don't know.

Poetry requires three things that are almost mystically woven into the being of every human. It requires language that is concise, full of meaning (multiple meanings), and is fresh and evocative. While we often read poetry, its roots are in being spoken (and when music, sung). So, the second aspect of poetry is this being rooted in speech that is, for lack of a better word, musical. It has its strong and weak beats, but doesn't have to by strictly rhythmical, it can rhyme, but doesn't have to. It is more about using and organizing the properties of speech so that it contributes to the overall effect of the meaning and imagery. The third property of poetry is that it has to actually be something that is alive in the poet.

Just cranking out dead verse is not poetry, it is verbal sausage making. While different poets will resonate differently with different people, it is the best poets that resonate with the most lives. Too much of what purports to be poetry today is far too self-indulgent and private to resonate with anyone. And that is why so much of poetry is dead, dead, dead.

This book is quite alive. It is full of wonderful poetic vignettes. Some are delightful fantasies that seem a part of our real world, others are stories with seemingly mundane but quite special events and some have a most surprising ending. There is some verse, but not ubiquitous and most artistically used.

Kat Ricker is a writer of real talent, genuine heart, and the kind of delight in life that lifts the reader. You will feel fresher, lighter, happier, and more alive after reading what she has given us in this book. I can't imagine a better use of $10 than getting this book. You will get more delight and pleasure from these pages than you will expect, even after my enthusiastic build-up. Really.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own mermaid? Or what happened to all those shoe elves now that so much shoe making is automated. What about being finally free from a husband you don't like anymore and being free at last? Or harvesting walnuts with old Michael? Or the life advice of Sister Rita? After taking her vow of poverty all she had in the world was a pin. Even her clothes belonged to the Church. But the pin was hers. She noted, "And when all you have is a pin that pin becomes real important." What about one girls experience at a modeling audition? And I am only describing what is in the first third of the book. There is so much more.

I loved this book and it was a pleasure to read. And re-read.

Kat Ricker's book, with its perfectly sublime title, Something Familiar, reminds us of the possibility of magic on the journey of our familiar, everyday lives. These days, such a book is a welcome departure from the daily dose of death and violence from newspapers and television. It's easy to forget that the intimacy, passion, and power of one person's small actions can touch and change another person in profound ways that aren't easily put into words. These time-stopping experiences always seem to happen when we least expect it. The people in these stories are at first anonymous, and their behaviors routine--riding a bus, or tending hogs on a blistering hot day, or walking through a shop, or simply delivering the mail. The people in her stories are just going about their ordinary business when suddenly a small action, a glance, an object, or a few words from one person to another seem to freeze time and change the course of things in profound ways to the individual, but in such a subtle way that the impact might go completely unnoticed by everyone else. Ricker captures this stealth-level magic in such a way that not only does the reader know that the author has been touched; the reader will be touched as well. This book is a pure gift, sharing the power of even the smallest personal actions in the midst of otherwise familiar lives.