Verses That Hurt: Pleasure and Pain from the POEMFONE Poets [Paperback]

Jordan Trachtenberg (Editor), Amy Trachtenberg (Editor), Christian Lantry (Photographer), Nicole Blackman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312151918 | ISBN-13: 978-0312151911 | Publication Date: March 15, 1997 | Edition: 1st

What are are holding right now in your hands is a book. Not a telephone reciever, which is how most of the poems in this collection were first transmitted...There are plenty of examples of this spreading of one art form or another through popular mediums. There are all those wonderful Russian Constructivist posters, Dr. Alphabet's public poetry gatherings on football fields, Dada caberet antics, and various forms of street theatr...Essentially what all of these movements were trying to do was expand the playing field called "art". By making the field bigger they gave us all more room to frolic. They pushed art right out of the dusty museums and smack dab into your lives... Poetry should be everywhere, and slowly but surely it's infiltrating our lives. We are gla dto be the instruments of this infiltration." --from the Introduction

Featuring
Penny Arcade, Tish Benson, Nicole Blackman, David Cameron, Xavier Cavazos, Todd Colby, Matthew Courtney, M. Doughty, Kathy Ebel, Annie Elliot, Janice Erlbaum, Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, John S. Hall, Bob Holman, Christian X. Hunter, Shannon Ketch, Bobby Miller, Wanda Phipps, Lee Ranaldo, Shut-Up Shelly, Hal Sirowitz, Sparrow, Spiro, Edwin Torres, Emily XYZ

With unabashed fervor the Poemfone poets are redefining poetry as we know it. Archaic literary rules that have never been bent have suddenly been broken., and Versus That Hurt chronicles this poetic phenomenon. This is a revolutionary gathering of disparate and brash talent that is not to be missed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Besides letting you know that Allen Ginsberg, John Giorno, and Hal Sirowitz are all collected here, I could tell you that this anthology crackles with irreverent energy, defiant audacity, and sybaritic sexuality. But that would be a bit much, wouldn't it? How about this heartbroken excerpt, then, from Nicole Blackman (my favorite discovery in the book): "we can finish each other's sentences. / she laughs a lot. / there's something wrong with her / but she won't say what it is. / she's the only friend who hasn't turned on me yet. / but she will. / they always do."

Review

"I love the poets." --Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312151918
• ISBN-13: 978-0312151911
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #961,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hurts sooooooo Good!, February 20, 2001

By 

Ragan Fox (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verses That Hurt: Pleasure and Pain from the POEMFONE Poets (Paperback)

I will begin this review by telling you that this is the most amazing collection of poetry I have ever read. Verses that Hurt taught me that poetry could be fun, unapologetic, and cut through your soul like a rusty double edged knife. One year after reading this book, I began writing my own poetry, slamming with my work, getting it published, and eventually representing Austin at the National Poetry Slam in Providence, RI. All in one year, and all largely due to this book. To say that a single book can profoundly change your life and the way you look at the world is a bit too Oprah Book Club for me, but I would be lying if I said that wasn't the case with Verses.

Verses that Hurt begins with the hard-hitting words of Penny Arcade's "Manifesto." The moment I read this poem, I knew I would be hooked on this collection. Her poem begins with, "This is my personal message to all you careerist, slime-bucket, fame-seeking, psychofantic, weak-worded, same-voiced..." I could go on, but you get the idea. It really just screamed to me, "Poetry is POWER!"

Tish Benson's "U BE DOIN IT" is an amazing poetic representation of jazz and sound: "deBOOPde bEE bOPdeBoPdeBop da Bang bANG" - BRILLIANT!

Matthew Courtney's "A Dream Never Dreamed of Sonny Bono & Don Knotts" captures everything that wordplay has the potential to become.

Anne Elliott is perhaps my favorite poet in this book. She slams it all in your face, but does so with a subtle creepiness that is truly out of this world! DEFINATELY check out "something turned over" and "Trojan Love Poems." In fact, I dare you to read "Trojan Love Poems" out loud without crying. I super dog dare ya'!

Shut-Up Shelly does amazing things with word placement on the page. Also the content of "mantra" really speaks to the forlorn nature of our generations: "My life is ----/I hate my life/My life sucks/It's a mantra!"

Finally, Edwin Torres, who is always the craziest poet in just about any collection, does some very powerful work in this collection. Check out "Power Round" and "The Modern Phaullus."

In short, this is no grandmother's book of poetry. The plethora of poetic device used in this collection kicks any other anthology out of the water! BUY THIS BOOK TODAY, become a poet tomorrow.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Verses That Hurt" is psche medicine for the wounded, June 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Verses That Hurt: Pleasure and Pain from the POEMFONE Poets (Paperback)

Not being a huge fan of collected works of poetry, I almost refrained from purchasing this book. Knowing that Nicole Blackman and Anne Elliot had work in here made me do it.

And am I glad I did.

Like any collection there are not so stellar works in here. That doesn't matter when there is writing like "(she's the one who fixes me when I'm falling apart / -stitches me back together with nicotine and tea) / she's the kind of girl who can make a dress / out of a garbage bag. / she always somehow looks better than I ever will / there's a lot of drag queen in her." (Nicole Blackman - "Iris")

This collection grew out of the phenomenon that is Poemfone...call a number and hear a new poem every day. What a way to inspire a flurry of creativity in a writer...give them thirty 1 day deadlines in a row. This book is the fruit of that labor...and I believe it can, should and will shape the way young writers view poetry & the creation of same. It certainly did that for me.

Raw, real, breaking the rules, creating new ones, this is poetry you can sink your teeth into. Most of the time the words beg you to do just that...tear into them and rip off a bloody chunk, swallow it whole and feel it inside you. Use this book as nutrition. It can sustain life.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbridled, Beautifully Unstructured Poetry, March 26, 2002

By 

Kristen Kettler (Allen, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verses That Hurt: Pleasure and Pain from the POEMFONE Poets (Paperback)

"Verses that Hurt" is one of the best collections of poetry I've read in a long time. Ideal for people who don't really like poetry, because it's not structured and very free-flowing, and people who DO like poetry as well, because hey, we love free-flowing expression too.

Some of the poems describe sweet happiness, and some capture the essence of hate and anger. Sexuality is a constant theme in some of them. One of my favorites is "Please Master" by Allen Ginsberg. To me, this captures the very essence of sexuality. And not just gay-male sexuality, I'm talkin' the whole picture, ALL sexuality, even though the terms use seem to allude to the first.

Definitely a good read.