Customer Reviews

Where a Nickel Costs a Dime: Poems

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Read it again and again -- always out loud -- and the extraordinary rhythms of Willie Perdomo's powerful poems will reach inside and grip your imagination. I never tire of picking this small volume up and enter once more New York City and the neighborhood of el barrio. The sounds of the streets, the cadence of young men and women as they boast and speak their affections, the sights of a Manhattan many visitors never see, all are integral to these poems. You'll be confronted with racism and poverty and violence. But, you'll equally face love and loyalty, family and hope. One of my students at the college in which I teach originally introduced Perdomo to me and I've been eager to share him with others ever since.

A couple of years back, a friend of mine gave me a grocery bag full of books. I found an exquisite piece of work beneath the pile - Where a Nickel Costs a Dime. I live down south - way south and life here can be homogenous. With this book, I saw el barrio without leaving mine. I walked up 125th street without moving my feet. I cried, lived and died in Harlem. The collection of images is sharp. I won't compare Willie Perdomo to anyone else. No se puede. (He can't be.)

Where a Nickel Costs a Dime - a must.

Willie Perdomo uses the language and flow of the people living and experiencing life in el barrio & the hood and introduces them to the masses. His style speaks to all who read him. It's as if wants to paint you a picture and include you in his recollections. I'm definitely feelin' him!

I have to agree with some of the others. Willie Perdomo is a gifted and talented voice. I recommend that people who buy this go ahead and buy Smoking Lovely. The combination of the two is very powerful

I love the poems in this book, particularly one called "Postcards of El Barrio".

Favorite line : the violent revolutions of red and white police sirens upset the sky blue peace of neon crucifixions

These poems have a rhythm and a style than can only come from years of being exposed to life in the mean streets of El Barrio. So be aware, you'll need an inner city bent to fully appreciate the language in this book. But, there is no denying the lyricism in its pages.

As for the performance CD included, it's not bad, but it feels like Perdomo is reading it at a break-neck pace. It makes it tough to sit back and appreciate his words.

All in all, this is a great book. Worth the money.

I read Willie's collection of poems, and as usual found him to be very deep, inspiring, and intuitive. When I use words like, "blast from the past", and "as usual", it is based on a familiarity of the author. Willie Perdomo and I went to the same college, and we were good friends. He used to read poetry to his circle of friends at college, and everyone had nothing but the upmost respect for him. He has, a way with words that captures your attention and forces you to think. Bravo, Willie on your successful book. May you continue to dominate and implode the literary world with your thoughts on latino/latina struggles.

Willie Perdomo is an incredible talent. His poetry speaks clearly of a world that is under-explored in literature.

there's no way to be lukewarm about this book. It's a raw and beautiful lyric, and always so specific. Whenever I open "Where A Nickel Costs a Dime" , Willie is in the room. And he owns the room. until the moment I've finished the book again, and set it away.

How could Amazon.com post such a scornful, personal review of a literary work? I live in the neighborhood where Willie Perdomo was raised and he is definitely not a disgrace to his people and his neighborhood. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a young and old Puerto Rican or African-American man or woman say they read his book and were affected, I would be rich. And now he is making contributions to children's literature with a new picture book called VISITING LANGSTON. People from all communities respect Willie and what he stands for. I buy this book regularly for people who live in our inner cities and need a witness. Please, the next time someone tries to post any kind of vicious attack on an author and his work, please refer to them to a therapist. Next thing you know he'll have a rabbit boiling in his kitchen. TCB

I wrote an earlier note on this under a different account but just wanted to add to that under this new account. I first came across Willie and his work live at SOB's back in 1996, right before this book was published. I'd been to a couple of poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and enjoyed them but hearing Willie was the first time poetry ever really connected for me. I FELT what Willie was saying - related to it like he was one of my boys - but at the same time realized that THIS WAS POETRY! It was a revelation for me as a fledgling writer looking for my own voice and, as a more established writer these days, I can honestly say that that is the most you can hope for from your writing - to touch someone deeply. Buy this book now!