Customer Reviews

What Is This Thing Called Love: Poems

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I very excitedly waited for Addonizio's latest collection of poetry to come out, and even though I didn't have the money, I bought it within a couple of weeks of its publication. And I read slowly so that I could savor this collection. Addonizio is a phenomenal poet--probably the best of her generation--a mix of Anne Sexton and Edna St. Vincent Millay. I will admit that this is the weakest of her collections (though it would be hard to top Tell Me and The Philosopher's Club). Even so, it is great work, especially "First Kiss" and "Stolen Moments" which are classic Addonizio. Also of note are "Dear Reader" and "Fever Blues" and "California Street" which is definitely one of the best in the book. She also writes a well done sonnenizio (it's explained in the book) and a very workable paradelle. I can never say enough good about the work of Kim Addonizio, and her latest collection is no exception.

It is rare to find a modern free verse poet whose work is lucid and yet does not open itself to the accusation of being "prose with linebreaks." Kim Addonizio, however, manages to produce poems which do not sacrifice any clarity and yet remain musical, moving and often surprising. Kim is a poet who somewhat refreshingly writes mostly in complete sentences, but she uses those sentences to go somewhere unusual. In a poem like "Miniatures," which is entirely in complete grammatical sentences, a train of thought is followed through to a huge, unexpected conclusion. In many of her poems, the narrative itself is a metaphor or an allegory.

The poems are grouped into themed sections: Section 1 = Sex, 2 = Death/Sickness/Old Age, 3=Birth/Human Nature, 4 = Decadence, 5 = Writing Poetry/Creation. There are also several formal poems in here, including Kim's own joke form, the sonnenizio, and a paradelle that is better than Billy Collins. But regardless of theme or style, the voice is always Addonizio, that of a wise, tough, sassy older sister or girlfriend. I would recommend these poems to anyone who is disillusioned with reading poetry that is either too superficial or too incomprehensible. I would also recommend these poems to anyone who has never read poetry and does not see its relevance. Read this book: you'll be surprised.

Kim Addonizio, What Is This Thing Called Love (Norton, 2004)

I've had a bad run of poetry recently, so it was refreshing to pick up Kim Addonizio's What Is This Thing Called Love and find the best book of poetry I've picked up in the past month. I've been a fan of Addonizio's ever since I first discovered the west coast poets twenty-odd years ago; I hadn't read her in a while, though, and was somewhat concerned the bloom might have come off the lily. How happy I was to be wrong.

"What a relief to discover
that the doctor in my dream
did not exist, that his voice on the phone

and even the phone itself
were only figments, neural parcels
shipped from my brain stem

to my thalamus...."
("And Then I Woke Up")

Lean, tough writing, alternately sexy and horrifying, but of consistently high quality. It's been a lot of years since I first encountered her in Three West Coast Women. If anything, she's only gotten better in the years since. ****

I am a devote fan of Kim Addonizio, gobbling up all of her work as fast as I can. And while I love that this collection continues her voice and her stuggle against the world, I do think that this collection is weaker than Tell Me or The Philospher's Club. This collection is divided into 5 sections corresponding to love, death, ways of the world, booze, and other. Her writing is very confessional and bluesy. She even refers to Sharon Olds, and a "form" of Billy Collins. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about love and heartache,the pains of mourning, the efforts of raising a daughter and the difficulties of minor celebrity.

I love this book, not as much as Tell Me, which freaking ROCKED, but still...no one now writes as sassy and real as Addonizio does. eagerly waiting ANOTHER!