American Smooth.American Smooth by Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952 in Akron, Ohio, USA) is an American poet and author. In 1987 she became the second African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize (after Gwendolyn Brooks in 1950). W. W. Norton & Company, September 2004 $22.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-393-05987-1 This is Rita Dove's full-bodied return after five years, presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. , of dancing. "Fox Trot Fridays" is the first to the floor with ... one man and one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight--just the sweep of Paradise and the space of a song to count all the wonders in it. Dove's way to "count all the wonders" throughout this collection leaves for us a surprisingly eccentric and memorable tally. In "Brown," the German waltz is offhandedly off·hand adv. Without preparation or forethought; extemporaneously. adj. also off·hand·ed Performed or expressed without preparation or forethought. See Synonyms at extemporaneous. recast as "that European constipated con·sti·pat·ed adj. Suffering from constipation. / swoon." And a bullet--of "all things--shows itself a sensuous dancer in "Meditation at Fifty Yards, Moving Target": ... o aperture o light let me off go off straight is my verb straight my glory road.... Ah, yes, moments like these abound and are perhaps a tad off-putting for those readers wooed by Dove's usual elusiveness. For the most part, these are courteous poems whose workmanship is discernable without knowing necessarily how to look. American Smooth is overwhelmingly about movement so any interruption or lull is strikingly obvious. "Twelve Chairs," for instance, has no true, convincing motion in the choreographic sweep of this collection. The brevity of these poems (one for each court juror juror n. any person who actually serves on a jury. Lists of potential jurors are chosen from various sources such as registered voters, automobile registration or telephone directories. ) edges the longer-lined/(limbed) Dove into banality: How long will this take? I am not my brother, thank you; Dove made us wait--for five years, but American Smooth is an uncanny, surefooted discovery that was worth the wait. Kevin Simmonds is a writer and musician who lives in the United States and northern Japan. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion