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Pat Parker

Jonestown and Other Madness Paperback – April 1, 1985

by Pat Parker (Author)

4.4 8 ratings

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Straightforward, no-nonsense poetry about being Black, female and gay.

Print length

75 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Firebrand Books
Publication date

April 1, 1985
Dimensions

5.75 x 0.25 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

0932379001
ISBN-13

978-0932379009
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Firebrand Books; First Edition (April 1, 1985)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 75 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0932379001
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0932379009
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.25 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,486,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,875 in Black & African American Poetry (Books)
- #6,311 in Feminist Theory (Books)
- #13,734 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 8 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

8 global ratings

5 star		81%
4 star 0% (0%)		0%
3 star		9%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		9%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Anonymous 1066

An important voice

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Pat Parker is such a strong voice. Read her. Read her. Funds are being raised to publish an anthology of her complete works.

4 people found this helpful

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Summer Stephanos

Vivid & accessible

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2021

Learned about Pat Parker after I picked up a copy of her published letters with Audre Lorde. Glad I did! Reading this collection of poems gives you insight about what it was like to be her during a time before the term “intersectionality” existed. She was Black, gay, feminist, politically active, angry, and full of love for the people in her life. Her poetry is vivid and exciting and accessible. I wish she was still here to lend her thoughts about the world today. Recommend you read the book of letters between her & Audre Lorde as well.

Helpful

It could have been more!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2009

I would have given more stars but I was really disappointed because the author and poetess, Pat Parker, only wrote one poem about Jonestown. There was a lot more to Jonestown than just one poem. Since she lived in Oakland during the time of November 18, 1978, she could have personalized the experience more than a poem. She could have remembered one of the victims especially the children, men, and women who died so needlessly and senselessly. I am sure her community was traumatically hit but I didn't feel it in the writings.

I also felt that the author cared more about her personal situation as an African American lesbian in urban America even in the early 1980s after Jonestown, and the senseless murders of Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk only 9 days after Jonestown. I don't recall reading anything about them.

I didn't care for her style of poetry which was quite angry, frustrated, and overwrought with fire for her own personal gain. No, I don't think I would have recommended this book to others but I wanted to read more about Jonestown and I didn't get that much more from Pat Parker in this book.

One person found this helpful

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Daniel L.

This is a book of POETRY!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 2, 2009

My rating of this book is really more 3.5 stars. I just felt that I had to offset the only other review of this book (which is angry and ignorant).

Pat Parker was a black Lesbian activist poet who lived in Oakland during the sixties and seventies among the hundreds of folks who would later go off to form the ill-fated Jonestown community.

But, as Ms. Parker states in her introduction, the poems are not primarily about that tragic event (a few are) but are inspired by the media treatment of Jonestown and how people process the "normal madness" that surrounds us.

Having said that, this book of free verse is not the best book of poems I've ever read. I'm not a scholar or academic (or even much of a poet) so I can't speak to the book on that level. It's just that few of the poems hit me on a gut level--which is the main reason I read poetry (that and poems are short). But I did appreciate poet's voice--being neither Black, queer, nor female, I found it enlightening.

If you are at all interested in the voices of oppressed people you should give Pat Parker a look.

BTW Pat Parker has a library named after her in New York City.

4 people found this helpful

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Stuffymuffy

NOT WORTH A PENNY! I'D GIVE IT A ZERO STAR RATING, IF I COULD!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 8, 2007

If I had wanted a book of poetry I would've bought something from Frost, Emerson, or Dickinson, not some unknown author that had a really "bad" idea of having people write poems, or "short stories" about the Jonestown tragedy! Yeah it was sad, but I wanted the hard facts about who, what, when, where, and why this happened, not some crappy prose. NOT WORTH THE MONEY! Sorry if you were one of the contributors of this book, but really it sucked! The title was especially misleading! I thought I was getting some great book about what happened!

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Bestivalite

Most beautiful political poetry

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

Absolutely enchanting. Parker describes life with a mesmerizing simplicity and ardent social consciousness. Possibly my favorite political poetry book ever.

R M Lewis

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

Arrived in excellent condition- classic text

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