Strike Anywhere: Poems [Paperback]

Dean Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

'Although his work comes out of the poetries of Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, and Frank O'Hara and James Tate, Young has his own original voice. The language, the invention, the imagination, and the sheer fun of his poems is astounding. It's not all dazzle either. The poems are also moving. This man reminds us that there is nothing more serious than a joke' - Charles Simic, final judge and author of "Jackstraws", "Walking the Black Cat", and "A Wedding in Hell".

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Although his work comes out of the poetries of Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, and Frank OÂ’Hara and James Tate, Young has his own original voice. The language, the invention, the imagination, and the sheer fun of his poems is astounding. ItÂ’s not all dazzle either. The poems are also moving. This man reminds us that there is nothing more serious than a joke." -- Charles Simic, final judge and author of Jackstraws, Walking the Black Cat, and A Wedding in Hell

"In this, the most beautiful of his three collections, Dean Young enlarges the project of North American Surrealism, gifting it with an entirely new intimacy and equally new range. His voice is sharply tender and mercifully unforgetful. These urgent, elegiac improvisations speed us towards millenium." --Donald Revell, author of My Mojave, Arcady, and There Are Three

About the Author

Dean Young has published three books since Strike Anywhere: First Course in Turbulence, Skid, and Elegy on Toy Piano. He has won two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships as well as a Guggenheim. He is on permanent faculty of the Iowa WritersÂ’ Workshop and also teaches in the Warren Wilson low-residency MFA program.

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Colorado (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870814230
• ISBN-13: 978-0870814235
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,236,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Just another Dean Young gem, April 7, 2010

By 

Jesse Paul Manser "jpmhawk" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strike Anywhere: Poems (Paperback)

One of his earliest works holds up beautifully over the years! Let your mind loose and see what it comes back with.

11 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but awkward, even for surrealism, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Strike Anywhere: Poems (Paperback)

How does the nursery rhyme go? "When he was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad he was awful." I think that's it. Young can be surprisingly philosophical and poignant, which is why I've re-read this book. But this book is in desperate need of an editor, as some of the poems are debatably nonsensical, even for those familiar with surrealist poetry. Poems such as "Ready-Made Bouquet," "Immortality," and "One Story" are touching, humorous, philosophical and interesting, and make this book a worthwhile investment. Other poems, however, make very little sense at all, and Young's recurring fascination with student sex, regret, and juice make many poems frustratingly awkward. He has the tendency to discuss painting, and if the reader is not familiar with the painting or painters he is discussing, such as Ernst or Magritte, the poem will make little sense. For this reason, Young's writing is certainly esoteric. As a surrealist, he does well to use shifting imagery and abstraction, and he effectively employs traditional formal techniques in a backward way. He appears to have the humor of James Tate or Kenneth Koch, but can be as impenetrable as Pinsky. I would recommend this book only to those who enjoy the New York poets, Joel Sloman, or James Tate, but it certainly is not as memorable as their efforts.

1 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 98 degrees, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Strike Anywhere: Poems (Paperback)

Heat it up to 98 degrees, dont get in the breeze, If your getting really hot, well dont panic cause your not!

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