Oh, Terrible Youth [Paperback]

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2011

In her fourth collection of poetry, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz uses her youth as muse. Whether ruminating on the trials and tribulations of life in the single digits ("My Elementary School Confessions"), exposing her unapologetic high school geekiness ("The Secret Language of Nerds") and exalting all the melodramatic yet sincere love verses she ultimately penned in vain ("On Reading Old Unrequited Love Poems"), this plump collection commiserates and celebrates all the wonder, terror, banality and comedy that is the long journey to adulthood.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... a testament to Aptowicz's spunk and versatility as a poet -- rarely does one move so fluidly and so well between formal and free verse, comedy and drama, written and performance contexts." -- Susan B. A. Somers-Willet, "Quiver”

"She speaks the secret the language of nerds. It's a misfit's chronicle of heartache, hand-me-downs, and botched Halloween costumes. This book is just like its author-- brilliant, funny, honest, and Airwolf." -- Ernest Cline, screenwriter Fanboys

About the Author

NYC-based Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz is the founder and host of the three-time National Poetry Slam Championship venue, NYC-Urbana. Cristin has published five books of poetry and Words In Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam - a Washington Post Notable Book on Exploring Poetry. Her poetry has appeared in McSweeney's Internet Tendencies and Rattle. This touring poet-diva has performed the Sydney Opera House in Australia and The Drums Inside Your Chest in LA and is currently the 2010-2011 ArtsEdge Writer-In-Residence at the University of Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing; Second edition (March 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935904663
• ISBN-13: 978-1935904663
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.2 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz is the author of five books of poetry -- DEAR FUTURE BOYFRIEND (2000), HOT TEEN SLUT (2001), WORKING CLASS REPRESENT (2004), OH TERRIBLE YOUTH (2007) and EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING (2010) -- all currently available on Write Bloody Publishing.

She is also author of the nonfiction book, WORDS IN YOUR FACE: TWENTY YEARS OF THE NEW YORK CITY POETRY SLAM, which Billy Collins wrote "leaves no doubt that the slam poetry scene has achieved legitimacy and taken its rightful place on the map of contemporary literature."

Her recent awards include the ArtsEdge Writer-In-Residency at the University of Pennsylvania (2010-2011), a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (2011) and the Amy Clampitt Residency (2013). Her writing has appeared in PANK, Rattle, Conduit, La Petite Zine, decomP, kill author, Thrush and Muzzle, among others.

Her sixth book of poetry, THE YEAR OF NO MISTAKES, will be released by Write Bloody Publishing in Fall 2013 and her second nonfiction book, CURIOSITY: THOMAS DENT MUTTER AND THE DAWN OF MODERN MEDICINE will be released by Penguin's Gotham Books in Fall 2014. For more information, please visit her website at www.aptowicz.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Aptowicz is like the Judy Blume of the 21st Century! July 7, 2011

By Jeffrey P. Seasholtz

Format:Paperback

This book is for all the last-born children in the family. The forgotten child who was taking notes under the dinner table and thought, "One day, all the world will know what happened in this family! One day, I will have revenge!". Here Aptowicz let's all the skeletons (and rotten banana peels) out of her childhood closet. The humiliation of home-made Halloween costumes and the drudgery of camping trips you didn't want to go on in the first place. If you were "awkward" in Jr. High and High School you might mistake this tell-all tome as your own diary! But it's not all Blume and Gloom, Cristin's unstoppable spirit shines through in every poem and lets us know it only gets better, way before that was something everyone was saying!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A smart, earnest, flat-out great collection of poetry February 10, 2009

By Scott Woods

Format:Paperback

This is a smashing collection of newer work from Aptowicz. I was familiar with her previous, more performance-ready work and enjoyed it, but this collection shows an incredibly realized amount of growth and focus without losing any of what makes her poetry work. It's better work, and it doesn't need to be performed to prove it.

Aptowicz reaches back through her youth for the meat of this book, with poems about Halloween costumes, nerds and the general forelorn ways of teenagers. The best part is that she addresses these themes with the mind of an adult who knows how teenagers today operate, how they see the world, and she refuses to talk down to them as if they're dense or made of glass. She knows what they think, how they talk when no one's looking, and what they talk about. Better, she does this without getting down to their level. Speaking to someone on their level without dirtying one's self is a difficult line to walk, but for Aptowicz it may as well be a country road, she so deftly navigates it.

Of particular interest to poets are the pieces that she's incorporated that address the writing life. As a writer, I found these poems spoke to me in the contemporary sense as well as the observations about youth spoke to my nostalgic self. Her rejection letter poems are hilarious and real. I'll be incorporating them into my workshops posthaste (and maybe taping one to the wall of my office as a reminder to put the knife down every time I go to the mailbox).

A note for teachers, that brave clan always in search of the poetry buffalo that is smart, well done and safe for their students: get this collection yesterday. It is a book that students will enjoy for its wit, respect for its well-meaning, and there isn't a curse word in sight as near as I could tell...no small feat for anyone who's wasted an evening looking for a school appropriate slam poet.

Couple all of this with a warm and open introduction by the author, and you've got one of the most earnest books of poetry in a long time from a poet who, at just under 30 or having just hit it, still has a lot of poetry to give.