Customer Reviews

Vandals

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My fondness for the work of Alan Michael Parker makes it difficult for me to write a reasonably objective review of _The Vandals_; as such, anyone reading this should consider this a disclaimer and themselves duly warned. _The Vandals_ is brilliant. The poems are tight, clean, and precise with subtle, surprising rhymes and--typical of Parker's poems--inscrutible line integrity. Most of all, the poems of _The Vandals_ are at once smart and funny and, sometimes, just a little bit sad. Ultimately, _The Vandals_ reveals a lot about ourselves and our fellow humans while at the same time quietly imbuing poetry itself with a texture fascinatingly akin to personality. The amazing thing about it all is that Parker makes it seem so effortless. Utterly bereft of pretension or language bordering on the elite, the Vandal poems are extremely accessible. If I had a complaint, it would be that _The Vandals_ doesn't show the versatility that Parker demonstrated so well in his previous book _Days Like Prose_. As I waited for the release of _The Vandals_, I found myself really looking forward to another sonnet or two or some longer poems of varying length and/or subject matter. I have to admit that as I read _The Vandals_, I was a bit disappointed that the book lacked the variety I so enjoyed in the first book and that I was so looking forward to in the second. Nonetheless, the quality of the book, and the accomplished unity of the subject matter, (particularly as it so deftly countermands the title and all that Vandals [Vandalism?] represent) more than made up for any misgivings I had. In a way, it just makes looking forward to the NEXT book that much sweeter, and the reading of that next book that much more satisfying. I've often likened the experience of Alan Michael Parker's poetry (whether reading it to oneself or hearing it read) to the sensation of having too much chocolate in one's mouth. It is thick and rich and satisfying and delicious. Once you buy this book, make sure to keep plenty of milk on hand. You're going to need it.

In his book of poems about the vandals, Alan Michael Parker builds his poems like rooms. They become physical spaces to enter and exit, where the vandals act out their impulses. The narratives follow the raucous bunch through several situations, sometimes violent, often indulgently fun. Parker plays games with sounds that beg to be read aloud. The Vandals is speckled with wit, and it is deceptively simple on the surface; stepping further into the poems, however, reveals the complex layers. Parker makes his words work, but I believe they enjoy their job.

Yes, his poetry sustains my life! Alan Michael Parker is the American answer to Tennyson's query about the true nature of the metaphysical order of logos. His poems ARE a thing of beauty when you read them. They reverberate from soul to soul, heart to heart, and wing to wing. Go out and buy this life affirming book!

In his book of poems about the vandals, Alan Michael Parker builds his poems like rooms. They become physical spaces to enter and exit, where the vandals act out their impulses. The narratives follow the raucous bunch through several situations, sometimes violent, often indulgently fun. Parker plays games with sounds that beg to be read aloud. _The Vandals_ is speckled with wit, and it is deceptively simple on the surface; stepping further into the poems, however, reveals the complex layers. Parker makes his words work, but I believe they enjoy their job.

Once in a great while, a book of poems bridges the gap between the contemporary world (with its violence, materialism, and confusion) and the world of letters (with it precision, generousity, and intelligence) to redefine what it is to be alive today--such a book is Mr. Parker's Vandals. I highly recommend it.

Alan Michael Parker's The Vandals is a startling, fantastic book that holds up to read after calculating read, amazing the reader both with its cheekiness and how tightly knit the poetry is as hidden, unsuspected levels of poetry are revealed with every new look. It has pulled me into unimagined levels as both an aspiring poet and a reader of poetry, making me aware of levels of consciousness both briding and standing between the poet and the reader, the poem and its subject, the characters involved in the poems themselves, and I'm sure even more relationships that I haven't considered yet.