This book is luminous, feisty, heart breaking, and fiercely honest, often all in the space of a single poem. Her voice has the vigour and industrial strength grit of Grace Paley's, and there is genuine wisdom here, an intelligence born of direct experience. These poems are a breath of fresh air in contrast to the fetid self obsession of so much contemporary verse...a real pleasure...a must read for anyone who has ever experienced the deep joys, agonies, and mysteries of the mother, daughter bond.
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"This is an intensely compelling poetry of all the human places we are given to live in" -- Robert Creeley
About the Author
Maria Mazziotti Gillan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life in Poetry,
By A Customer
This review is from: Things My Mother Told Me (Essential Poets Series 95) (Paperback)
I love this book. It is honest, direct, moving, and explores the territory of the ordinary life of a woman in poems that lift off the page, they are so lyrical and brilliant. Maria Mazziotti Gillan leads us on a journey into her Italian-American working-class girlhood and explores the complexity of carrying that girl inside her for the rest of her life. This a book about relationships within a family, mothers, fathers, children,husband, friends, place --all are clearly delineated and evocatively expressed. Anyone interested in Italian American literature or working class literature or literature by women should read this book. It is wonderful. i keep it next to my bed to read it againa and again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life in Poetry,
By A Customer
This review is from: Things My Mother Told Me (Essential Poets Series 95) (Paperback)
I love this book. It is honest, direct, moving, and explores the territory of the ordinary life of a woman in poems that lift off the page, they are so lyrical and brilliant. Maria Mazziotti Gillan leads us on a journey into her Italian-American working-class girlhood and explores the complexity of carrying that girl inside her for the rest of her life. This a book about relationships within a family, mothers, fathers, children,husband, friends, place --all are clearly delineated and evocatively expressed. Anyone interested in Italian American literature or working class literature or literature by women should read this book. It is wonderful. i keep it next to my bed to read it againa and again.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Drab for Poetry. Unimaginative Prose.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Things My Mother Told Me (Essential Poets Series 95) (Paperback)
I expected to find some wisdom presented in a poetic way, but the poems were drab and sounded like prose. There is nothing new here and the poet seems uninspired and provencial. I was looking for good Italian American poetry, but this isn't it. I've read DiPrima, Barolini's book, Gioseffi, Stefanile, Ciardi and From the Margin, Writings by Italian Americans from Purdue U. Press and enjoyed them better for their craft and imagination. There are many good Italian American poets who reach more out of themselves into the world. Gillan's not dreadful, just not very original as these other Italian American writers. Perhaps, she should stick to editing. I recommend the other authors named above as more fully realized poets and they are all available at Amazon.com, too.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
"When you do something with your hands," my mother said, you have to put your love into it, and then, it will be sacred. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Mauro, Johnny Mathis, Long Branch, Kansas City New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
"When you do something with your hands," my mother said, you have to put your love into it, and then, it will be sacred. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Mauro, Johnny Mathis, Long Branch, Kansas City New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
4
books
cite this book:
- Grrrrr: A Collection Of Poems About Bears by Elaine Magarrell in Front Matter, and page 222
- Growing Up Ethnic in America: Contemporary Fiction About Learning to Be American by Maria Mazziotti Gillan in Front Matter
- Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam by Tony Medina in Back Matter
- Writing With An Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors by Edvige Giunta in Back Matter
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