Halfway Decent Sinners (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: WordTech Communications (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933456191
• ISBN-13: 978-1933456195
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,939,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional poetry, highly recommended, December 7, 2006

By	Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The back cover photo of Michael Cleary captures a man with twinkling eyes and mischievous smile. His poetry reflects that humor, but Cleary's work is multi-faceted. One critic extols his "eloquent exploration of our flawed human condition." This book is, indeed, drawn from a world he observes with a keen eye, then mourns or celebrates through a facile weaving of words. The Church becomes "a sacred rigamarole of faith." Youthful fear is "dumb hope doing its best not to shudder or let go."
Humorous. Eloquent. Facile. Angry. Empathetic. Cleary's poetry is all these things and more.

If I had a favorite section in this book, it was a group of poems about Aunt Sara. Sara loved indiscreetly but passionately. She forgave, made allowances. In "Aunt Sara and the Man Dying by Ounces" she watches from a distance the family black sheep, for example, the war veteran destroyed by alcoholism:

Knowing how hope ends, she wraps his madness
in the brutal fact of dying: how
not letting go was all he had left to do,
hoarding drops as if they were minutes,
anything to slow the leaking of his days.

From the patient, penetrating heat of Florida to failed relationships and an agnostic's struggle with organized religion, Cleary paints his word pictures with candor and skill. Michael Cleary's poetry, whatever the topic, is exceptional and highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gobsmacked, March 24, 2007

By	Casey A. Henson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was intrigued by the title but was surprised at how rivited I was reading this collection. Perhaps it has something to do with the humor and insight that Cleary uses to describe those adolescent experiences shared by so many that kept me reading,as a closet full of unexamined memories of my own began to surface. I was unprepared and gobsmacked by his work and closed the book hungry for more.
Casey Henson

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable collection of memorable poetry drawn from the work of Michael Cleary, June 12, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Halfway Decent Sinners is a remarkable collection of memorable poetry drawn from the work of Michael Cleary. Intuitively mapping out the truths and perceptive realities of life through skillfully constructed word images, rhythms, and patterns, Halfway Decent Sinners deftly maneuvers the English language through pragmatic principles human attributes in a world of undeniable truths and restrictive social boundaries. Ex-Jock On Faith, Free Throws, Follow-Through: I believe/what the mind conceives/before the body acts/determines the aftermath./Freeze the last motion./Command grace with your will./Love the flight of the ball.//I believe/the ball knows/when the body knows/what to do after/the ball is gone./The heart's work is not done./The ending has only begun.