Wishbone (The California Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Priscilla Lee (Author)

Book Description

Series: California Poetry | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Poetry. Asian American Studies. Through Priscilla Lee's WISHBONE, we enter a world both magical and harrowing, where the barracudas are melancholy and porcupines are kept as pets, a world in which a firing squad and America are a telegram apart. Seldom are we blessed with a first book as poignant and absorbing as this one is, as street-pure, as wise -- Carolyn Forch‚.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bold and tender, shaped out of classical mythologies and everyday life into an earned beauty we can trust. -- Yusef Komunyakaa

In Wishbone, Priscilla Lee mixes Kuan Yin and Christmas lights, shark fin dumplings and shots of tequila... -- Kim Addonizio

Perpetually cross[es] back and forth between past and present, fortune and accident, dreams and waking life....Rich, involving poems. -- Kim Addonizio

Priscilla Lees wonderful Wishbone draws together cultures and varied experiences to form a mature wisdom. -- Yusef Komunyakaa

About the Author

Priscilla Lee recived her B.A. in English from University of California at Berkeley. A recipient of both the Emily Chamberlain Cook Poetry Prize and the James D. Phelan Literary Award, her poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, ZYZZYVA, Storming Heaven's Gate: An Anthology of Women's Spiritual Writing (Plume), Making More Waves: New Writing by Asian American Women (Beacon Press), and other journals and anthologies. She works as a technical writer and lives in San Francisco with her husband.

Product Details

• Paperback: 78 pages
• Publisher: Roundhouse Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966669142
• ISBN-13: 978-0966669145
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,679,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wondrous debut, July 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wishbone (The California Poetry Series) (Paperback)

I was moved by this debut book. I loved how the images of bridges and of eyes connected the range of sections from the early familial content of the first section through the sections having to do with loves, friends, and finally the "new" family. I also liked the whole question of one's life relative to what is fated, even predicted about it: how one chooses one's life as much as one is chosen by it.

I was intrigued by the style of her long-lined poems in the section titled "Peel". I found them consistently successful, and unique to her rich and thoughtful mind. And the humor in "Burnt Offerings" simply underscored the wisdom I sense throughout the book.

I'm glad Priscilla Lee write this book, and I look forward to her other work.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wishbone is a constant read for me, November 3, 2003

By 

Cathryn A. Shea (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wishbone (The California Poetry Series) (Paperback)

I dip into this book almost daily. Priscilla's stories and images are magical and her skill with language is inspiring. I keep this book near.

5.0 out of 5 stars At last poetry without any stinking daffodils, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wishbone (The California Poetry Series) (Paperback)

This is the first book of poetry that didn't leave me feeling ill after reading it. This is true life without all the cosmetic work made to spice it up into something it isn't. Instead we get the real thing, which is more interesting. Wonderful work from a talented writer. Hope to see something else from this writer in the near future. I recommend this book for anybody interested in real poetry from the heart.