Book Review: Bridge of Sighs (2007) by Richard Russo

The most important reason I’d recommend Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo is that it’s one of those novels where the characters seem utterly real. You will come away with the feeling of being a part of their families, their town, and their environments. The novel creates the illusion of having known the characters in the flesh, that the plot of the novel is a set of memories from a past actually shared, actually experienced.

Bridge of Sighs is an expansive novel that sprawls outward and outward from a nexus of two boyhood friends, Lou “Lucy” Lynch and Bobby Marconi. Russo uses a variety of narrative techniques to provide the reader with an intimate experience of the lives, families, friends, and acquaintances of both Lucy and Bobby, and Russo generously does the same for many of the “supporting” characters whose lives are intertwined with those of the Lynch’s and Marconi’s.

The novel starts out with 60 year old Lou “Lucy” Lynch writing his childhood memoir as he strives to preserve his past, an impulse that defines the core of this character: his love of family and of Thomaston (the small town he’s never left), his desire for things to remain unchanged, and his unwavering faithfulness to his father’s corner grocery business and his father’s legacy of hopeful optimism. There are shifts from the pages of Lucy’s memoir to his first-person present-tense stream of consciousness which allows Lucy to reveal how things have changed since his childhood, where people are “now”, and the state of his current life. In other sections written in 3rd person point of view, Noonan (a.k.a. Bobby Marconi) and, later, Sarah (Berg) Lynch become the focal points. They too are given opportunity to dwell on their youth and to reflect on who they’ve become in the present.

The Lynch family is revealed as eminently lovable, even though Lucy’s parents “Big” Lou and Tessa never seem entirely on the same page when it come to ideology or temperament. Tessa is tough as nails, practical, and a realist. Whereas Lou is a big softy, always hoping for the best from the world and from others and consistently optimistic while wearing a goofy grin. They are often at odds in their approach when it comes to their neighbors, the Marconi family.

The Marconis are introduced as a secretive family led by an impenetrable patriarch. Bobby is typically not allowed to leave the house after school, to the constant disappointment and longing of his friend Lucy. Mrs. Marconi also seems to be on a short leash, having to conduct her friendship with Tessa Lynch only in the hours while the men are at work and children are at school. The Marconis give off the impression they wish to keep the entire world away, farther than at arms length.

In Bridge of Sighs’ 528 pages, Russo consistently keep the reader in a state of questioning. Will Lucy ever out grow of his neediness where it came to his friendship with Bobby? Although Sarah and Lucy are married in the present, is there a deep dark secret between Sarah and Bobby? Will Bobby and his father come to blows? Will Sarah’s eccentric, school teacher, father finish his novel and win back his ex-wife? Will Lucy and Sarah actually hear back from Bobby, now a famous painter in Venice, before their trip to Italy? A new question is raised on nearly every page. Some are answered quickly, within a few pages. Others are not resolved until hundreds of pages later. As in life, some questions remain unanswered. However, most of the big questions are resolved in a believable and satisfactory way.

One of the most artistically gratifying aspects of the novel is the lovely symmetries between the experiences and actions of the characters. For instance, Sarah’s choice between “bad boy” Bobby and “good boy” Lucy is paralleled by Tessa’s choice a generation earlier between Dec and Lou. Both Sarah and Tessa are the objects of a cross-racial attraction with significant consequences. Another such comparison can be made between Noonan’s painting of his father and Lucy’s memoir; both men at 60 are reflecting on the days of youth and what made them the men they are today. Also there’s the similarity between Sarah’s painting of the Bridge of Sighs and the appearance of the Bridge of Sighs in the background of Noonan’s painting of his father. To mention only one more, there are the unlikely friendships that cross the divide between race and economic class, Lucy and Gabriel as well as Sarah and Miss Rosa. Many more such comparisons are made throughout the novel, creating pattern of reverberations and echoes that enhance the reader’s experience of understanding how each generation faces many of the same challenges and share many of the same epiphanies.

“The Word ‘Passion’ Comes to Mind in Excess of Five Times”

by Keith Badowski

As I step into the role of President of Georgia Poetry Society, I feel I should introduce myself and offer a few words about my passion for our organization. The introduction first:

I was born and grew-up in New York State. In 1994, I moved to Athens, Georgia. I’m forty years old now and have been writing poetry for over twenty years. I dearly love my wife Christina. We currently live in Phenix City, Alabama where I am the Assistant to the Pastor at our local Methodist church. Both my bachelors and masters degrees are in English Literature. My poems are published or forthcoming in Oxalis, Monkey, The Reach of Song, Rambunctious Review, Birmingham Arts Journal, and FutureCycle Poetry. For me, the performance of poetry aloud is as important as the written page—which explains the hundreds of poetry readings I’ve participated in over the years. I’m also a big enthusiast about revision and being in community with fellow poets, motivating my active participation in the local poetry workshops in Columbus, GA. These are focused gatherings where poets give each other feedback and suggestions for improving their poems. (If you don’t have a poetry workshop near you, I urge you to start one; it may do wonders for your writing!)

Now let’s move on to my passion for our organization. My relationship with the Georgia Poetry Society (GPS) began back in 1997 when I made my way to one of the quarterly meetings in Atlanta. I remember the warm reception I received and how I was urged to read a poem in the “Member Readings” section of the program. How I enjoyed hearing so many different voices and such a variety of styles of poetry. It impressed me to see such an encouraging spirit among the members of the group. I felt as if I were “home.”

Since that first meeting, I have served as webmaster, newsletter editor, publicist, and board member for the Georgia Poetry Society. I urge and encourage all of you to volunteer to help with some aspect of GPS. We are a non-profit organization, driven by our passion for poetry and relying entirely on volunteer power. In other words, your creativity and passion is needed!

Over the years, my experiences at the society meetings have only enhanced the sense of value I find in GPS membership. My favorite thing about GPS is the camaraderie among poets—all of us giving each other energy and encouragement to write our visions, to revise and craft our writing, and to send it out to the world, entering contests or submitting it for publication. In addition, we get to hear some fabulous featured poets, the likes of Beth Gylys, John Stone or Thomas Lux—contemporary poets of the highest quality. Through our chapbook competition, we participate in “discovering” poets who, as is often the case, have been diligently honing their craft over the years while we were unawares. From time to time, we hear extraordinary lectures on poets or poetry, encouraging our journey in learning more about our craft. And who could forget the inspiration (and fun) we get from participating in our frequent poetry workshops? (It’s great to hear the spontaneous results and more than once I’ve come away with a workable poem.) Not to mention the plethora of contests and the chance at getting published in The Reach of Song. (Why not mention them? Well, most folks mention those things first, so I chose to be contrary!)

I see my job as president to be the passionate keeper of the flame that is GPS, aiming to encourage all of you to attend as many quarterly meetings as possible and to participate as fully as possible in all GPS activities. As we grow together in our craft together, I’m sure we’ll influence each other to greater heights!

Poem Publications

I’m excited to announce two recent publication acceptances. My “spontaneous” poem “Dream Theory,” prompted by some random words submitted by Todd Stiles, has been accepted at Birmingham Arts Journal and is slated for publication in the April 2009 issue. Another poem “Pursuit of the Sweet Spot” is currently available for your reading pleasure on the FutureCycle Poetry website. Later in the year (round about November) FutureCycle will produce a print anthology that will include this poem and all the other poems appearing on their website in the past year. My poem can be found at http://www.futurecycle.org/BadkowskiBio.aspx. Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

Book Review: Lines & Shadows by Joseph Wambaugh

Lines and Shadows by Joseph Wambaugh depicts the results of a real-life law-enforcement experiment that was conceived of by Dick Snider, an officer with the San Diego police department. Snider had a deep sympathy for the illegal immigrants crossing over from Mexico through the canyons on the border. Snider was well aware that these illegals were being attacked, robbed, beaten, raped, and abused by Mexican bandits who ambushed them in the dark, treacherous canyons. The boarder patrol was only interested in arresting boarder crossers, not protecting them or policing the canyons where visibility was nearly nil at night. Snider launched a one-man media campaign to raise awareness of the horrors experienced by these illegal immigrants. Somehow, against all odds, he convinced the media, the public, and (most remarkably) the Chief of Police that a task force was needed to protect the poor, suffering immigrants from the bandits in the canyons. Thus a San Diego police task force (The Board Crime Task Force) made up of mostly officers of Mexican decent, a rarity in the force, was formed.

Wambaugh reveals in the opening lines of the book that this experimental task force had a detrimental effect on the psyches of the officers who were assigned. We learn right off that three members of the team needed psychological counseling in the years that followed. Step by step we learn that their initiative of stopping the bandits in the canyons was much more like warfare in Vietnam than any ordinary (i.e. safe, normal) police work in San Diego. Over the course of the book the reader is privy to the gradual erosion of each officer’s sanity as the job gets more and more dangerous. The marriages of a few of the officers hang by a thread, not only because of the physical risks, but also due to the drinking and carousing the cops indulge in as a sort of celebration of another day of survival. Acclaim and notoriety go to their heads, as reporters and groupies swarm around them, as they are held up for public consumption as the last of the mythic gunslingers. If only their fans had the inside view that the reader is afforded, that their busts were typically characterized by bungling to such an extent that it was a miracle that they survived to reach the bar that night. Wambaugh makes it clear that each man had his own personal demons driving him to make this task force work and that each man displayed extraordinary bravery by taking on this work in the first place. However, as things got worse and worse, it’s almost funny how awful their performance as team really was. For instance, two of the cops were shot by their own team members. Also they clashed repeatedly with their counterparts on the Mexican side of the boarder and with the US boarder patrol. The reader is left with the impression that the canyons were an untenable disaster and that in some ways the cops amplified the messiness of an already messy situation.

One cop especially stands out from the team, Manny Lopez, the obvious leader and spokesperson. What’s memorable about Manny is his unflinching egotism about the job. Manny consistently laid aside caution and went in with guns blazing. The other cops came to regard him as a bit mad, or at the very least a very lucky psychopath and spotlight hog. There are several instances when the members of the team shake their heads in wonder that Manny didn’t get himself killed, that he didn’t get them all killed. Wambaugh leaves the reader with a vivid visual impression of Manny too: his extraordinarily expressive eyebrow that craws up his head when he’s confronted or challenged, his John Travolta suit right out of Saturday Night Fever, his swagger, and his intimidating presence. Each officer on the team is vividly realized by Wambaugh, but Manny’s charisma and insanity is depicted with special flare.

Wambaugh’s style might be thought by some as heavy handed and a bit manipulative. Yet I found the foreshadowing at the beginning of each chapter to be quite successful, mainly because I knew the content was reportage of real events. Wambaugh’s storytelling strategy is to hint, warn, and prophecy that things are going to get worse, marriages will pay a price, officers will become paranoid of each other, someone will get shot, things will be as awful as the nightmares the officers were starting to have, and ultimately the myth of the gunslingers will not hold up to the scrutiny of reality. Wambaugh also effectively uses refrains of quotations to carry themes through out the book. The reader is invited to share in the code words used by the cops and mottoes they told themselves to keep themselves going. There is a feel of ritual to the book as a whole.

Reading Lines and Shadows by Joseph Wambaugh put me inside the skin of ten cops who experienced the essence of fear and the poison of celebrity. This was the first Wambaugh book I’ve read; it’s also a rarity for me in that it is a true story. Apparently Wambaugh is well revered for producing non-fiction that reads like a novel, and although I’m a bit late jumping on that bandwagon, I wholeheartedly agree with that reverence. Lines and Shadows is suspenseful as any thriller and these real cops are equally as empathetic as any made-up characters in a novel. The book is eloquent, literary, and grants the reader a look inside the heads of all those involved in this unprecedented experiment in law enforcement.

Heartburn

At Under the Boardwalk in Eufaula, AL where I eat a polish sausage topped with onions and peppers, a vampiric flamingo with spiked feathers stands posed on one bony and impenetrable leg in ripples of molten lava and glares hideously at the swaying palms in the shadow of an erupting volcano.

An Odd Sentence from the Pen of Keith Badowski

Each person dealing out castigation was carefully screened by a panel of big-tent clowns and varsity football mascots to make sure that no merciless hecklers were granted a federal license and issued fully loaded cream pies in error.

Anne Sexton on Letting Out 'Some Extraordinary Animals'

Patricia Marx asks Anne Sexton what she means when she says, "The form is always important."

PM: Do you mean by form just the physical look of the poem?

Anne Sexton: Yes, sometimes, but also the sound. But I think of it as something you can hold. I think of it with my hands to begin with. I don’t know what the poem will be and I start out writing and it looks wrong. I start a long line and that looks wrong, and a short line, and I play around with rhyme, and then I sometimes make a kind of impossible syllabic count, and if I can get the first verse and it’s right, then I might keep on with that for four more verses, and then I might change it because I felt that it needed a new rhythm. It has as much to do with speech as it does with the way it will look on the page, because it will change speech—it’s a kind of compression. I used to describe it this way; that if you used form it was like letting a lot of wild animals out in the arena, but enclosing them in a cage, and you could let some extraordinary animals out if you had the right cage, and that cage would be form.

from “Interview with Anne Sexton” (1965)by Patricia Marx in Anne Sexton: The Artist and Her Critics edited by J.D. McClatchy (1978)

Anne Sexton seems to be saying that by using formal structure in poetry, the poet is liberated in terms of content. Sexton, at least, found form to be freeing instead of limiting. One way this might be characterized is that the form occupied the logical part of the brain, allowing the creative side to sneak out and go wild. --Keith Badowski

New Paltz Alumni Poetry Reading

Anne Gorrick reading at the SUNY New Paltz Alumni Poetry Reading on Thursday, December 4th, 2008. Anne gives a delightful reading and the music goes wonderfully with it. I don't know Anne, but I did graduate from New Paltz many years ago. The aura reminds me (fondly) of those days. Perhaps someday they'll invite me!

Poetry and Writing Stunts

If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m a sucker for writing stunts, such as the “spontaneous poems” I did for awhile. (By the way, I fully intend to get back to that stunt one day very soon—so keep tuned in!)

Anyway, I found my way to the website of René Battelle, who has explored several varieties of writing stunts.
See: http://afternoontea.250free.com/SpecialEvents/EventsFrontpage.html
Main Page: http://afternoontea.250free.com/

The following Writing Stunt ideas are inspired by René Battelle’s projects. In several instances, I’ve slightly modified what she describes on her website. Whatever the case, the credit goes to her for the inspiration.

Poem-a-day challenge—It’s self explanatory isn’t it? Write a poem every day for one month, any style, any length. (I’ve also heard of other poets doing this for an entire year, but that would be a Herculean feat!)

Stanza-a-day challenge--Write a four-line stanza for each day of the month, then post the entire poem for the 30th. The only real rule is that you are not allowed to look at the previous stanzas while you move forward with the poem. You can't look at any of them until the entire thing is done.

24-Hour Surrealist Poetry Marathon!--Produce one poem, written during that day sometime, that is no less than 10 lines long. Then the fun begins! All night, from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m., produce at least one poem per hour. There are no form or line restrictions for those hours, and since you’re awake all night it could get weird, which is where the Surrealist bit comes in!

Midnight Madness—For one week (or month if you can stand it), write a poem every night at midnight. Wake yourself up from a dead sleep (if necessary), and give yourself a mere hour to compose, edit, and post a lovely piece of verse for general consumption.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words--See if you can produce a thousand words for a picture. . . . All right, maybe not a thousand, but how about as many as you can? The challenge is to produce poems and/or stories from pictures in magazines or any other source of photography.

Ten Hour Shower—For ten hours, 8:00 p.m. -- 6:00 a.m., write a poem an hour, two if possible. Start out writing in your bathtub or shower stall. From there move to other unusual writing locations as needed, such as under the kitchen table or with your feet in the fireplace.

Poetry Duel—Find a fellow poet with a strong constitution and challenge him or her to a poetry duel. Go back and forth each day and write poems in response to each other's poems. See if you can keep it up for an entire month.

Morning Minute—For one month, every morning, within minutes of opening your eyes from sleep, taking no more than a minute (but less, if it happens) to write everything you’re thinking.

Denis Leary, Poetry Fan?

I've noticed that there are crossroads in various places between stand-up comedy and poetry. I've come across a number of poets who when they read their poems attempt to crack up their audience with their wit and delivery. Poets like Billy Collins and Thomas Lux weave humor into their poetry like it's the most natural thing in the world. My friend Ron Self, Columbus, GA attorney and poet, has this flare for comedy in his poems. Another friend of mine, stand-up comic, Joe Bronzi used to write brilliant poems; he still writes incredible dialogue in his scripts. As far as I can tell, poetry and stand-up comedy go well together. Both arts are language driven. Word choice, rhythm and style of diction have everything to do with it. You must love language to be good at either craft. So I wasn't too shocked to read in a recent interview published in the Chicago Tribune that, actor/comedian, Denis Leary is an avid poetry reader.

Q:So when you put your book on your bookshelf, what else is there?

Denis Leary:I've always been a fan of poetry. People may be surprised by that. Early in college [Emerson College in Boston], I had a huge crush on this poetry teacher ... that probably helped.

And also a plethora of sports books and history books, biographies. Any book about the Boston Red Sox, any baseball writing—it's the most prosaic thing in the world. I like Hemingway. But if there was a Hemingway book and the Robert Creamer book on Babe Ruth—I've read that book about three or four times—that's the one I'm going to pick up.

Q:What poetry's on your shelf?

Denis Leary:Tom Lux and [former U.S. Poet Laureate] Charles Simic and Bill Knott. Tom Lux and Bill Knott taught at Emerson College. I'm not really a classical guy because I grew up in the city. I actually don't get Shakespeare. I would never be able to perform Shakespeare. Scorsese's films "Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets"—that's the first time I saw guys in the movies who I felt like I grew up with them. That's like my Shakespeare.

Q:As a college student, you had two poems published in the distinguished poetry magazine Ploughshares [published by Emerson College]. Does it help your comedy writing that you once wrote poetry?

Denis Leary:It's the rhythm of it. I just learned this whole thing about rhythm, listening to these teachers talk about it.

For the entire article http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-denis-leary-1208dec08,0,6606675.story

History Among the Rocks by Robert Penn Warren

The reader of this Robert Penn Warren poem has a hypnotic voice. I'm impressed by the reading and the poem itself. Click play, lean back in your chair and treat yourself.

Apes Invade London

Den of Geek posted this picture and several others. I just love seeing these Apes roaming around London. In this picture, I love the fact that just as always the subway riders seem to be ignoring everything going on around them! The other pictures are well worth a look if you're an old time Ape fan like me. As a kid, I'd watch those Planet of the Apes movies every time they aired on television. One of my fondest memories is of viewing Battle for the Planet of the Apes in a drive-in with my family. It was a double feature with Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. There is a rumor going around that there will be another Planet of the Apes movie, despite the lack of enthusiasm around the Tim Burton outing. I'd be curious to see another take on the concepts of the old films. However, if I'm honest with myself . . . those old films live best in my memory and will never be topped or replaced by any "reimagining".

Dennis Lehane on The Given Day (novel)

You can watch this video for free at Amazon.com.  
Video:       Dennis Lehane on "The Given Day"  
Comment:     Here's a rare thing--an author interview where the novelist clearly shares his logic in constructing plot and character. Also comments on the gift of those characters that just "show up". Lehane is unquestionably one of my most admired novelists. --Keith Badowski

Watch this video at http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mB850HYHBAVZY    

Review: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Oct/Nov 2008

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
October/November 2008 • 60th Year of Publication

Days of Wonder (novelette) – Geoff Ryman
5 out of 5
A riveting tale of warfare between horses and cats. Both the horses and cats have human characteristics, such as speech; they also wield guns. The core of the story focuses on Leveza, a horse whose fold is slaughtered by the cats. Leveza in turn takes a cat captive, binds it with ropes, and knocks out its teeth. In the course of the conflict, a fascinating bond develops between captor and captive. I was swept up in the savage heartache of Leveza’s story. The sci-fi concept is that the now vanished humans genetically seeded their own knowledge and characteristics inside the DNA of animals. Leveza believes that humans could be genetically resurrected if all the various elements are brought together from the animal kingdoms.

The Visionaries (novelette) – Robert Reed
3.5 out of 5
Trolling the slush piles of various publishers are the agents of a mastermind who has figured out ways to identify the visions embedded in speculative fiction and apply them as financial tools. Certain rare visionaries have an innate bond with another individual existing 100 years in the future. This story focuses on one such “visionary” writer and his career path as author and forecaster of the future. The concept is clever, the narrator is likable, and there is nice surprise twist toward the end. However, overall the story seems light and designed mostly for brief amusement.

Planetesimal Dawn (novelette) – Tim Sullivan
3 out of 5
On an asteroid two humans struggle to get back to base and accidentally discover an alien mining system. One of the two humans is insufferably antisocial, so much so he resists all efforts to return to base. The other extricates herself from the mining system and encounters a bizarre alien in the process. The story’s concepts and plot held my attention while I was reading it, but characters were so unremarkable, I’m sure this one will quickly fade from my memory.

Inside Story (short story) – Albert E. Cowdrey
4.5 out of 5
Entering the wrong FEMA trailer could turn you inside-out, literarily. This tale feels like the X-files blended with a situation comedy set in New Orleans. I loved the dialogue with Cajun dialect. My favorite line: “’Jeeeeeesus Key-rist,’ Fournet muttered. ‘A four-foot-high parakeet made of rubber bands. I never seen nothing like that, even on Dr. Who. What the hell I’ma put in my report, assuming I ever get to make a report? They’ll think I’m nuts at Tulane and Broad.’” Highly entertaining.

Sleepless Years – Steven Utley
5 out of 5
Admittedly I’m partial to stories that examine issues of faith, particularly the gulf between Christianity and atheism, or in the case of this tale, agnosticism. The agnostic in this story is scientifically revived from death but in a state that prohibits sleep. Since he donated his body to science, his life is not his own, doomed to an endless existence as a lab experiment, since he could be kept “alive” forever. This painful story portrays how throughout a life characterized by tragedy one man is unable to accept Christian faith. I was deeply moved, saddened, and chilled by this story.

The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates – Stephen King
3 out of 5
It’s a ghost story. The eeriness is slight and not too memorable.

Dazzle Joins the Screenwriter's Guild – Scott Bradfield
3.5 out of 5
A talking dog is tapped to write a screenplay based on his biography. It’s amusing send up of Hollywood, worth a few chuckles, but that’s about it.

Going Back in Time – Laurel Winter
4 out of 5
This is a short, fragmented, experimental piece that playfully illustrates some of the theories of physics. It’s sexy, lively, and humorous.

Private Eye – Terry Bisson
4 out of 5
Not a P.I. story, but a vignette about the near-future of voyeurism. Subscribers pay to see what other “wired” people, called “Private Eyes” see. The Private Eye’s strict protocols result in a tour-de-force of sexual tension for the Private Eye, the object of his sight, and his viewers. At the risk of repeating myself, it’s sexy, lively, and humorous.

Whoever – Carol Emshwiller
4.5 out of 5
This is a fascinating little tale of amnesia. The narrator has no idea who she is or how she got where she is. It reminded me of Corwin’s plight in Roger Zelazny’s 1st Amber novel. The story has not only an interesting puzzle, but also romance and action. The narrator’s voice quite engaging as she theorizes what has happened to her.

Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment: One Daughter's Personal Account – M. Rickert
4.5 out of 5
I’m a big fan of M. Rickert, so I’m sad to say this isn’t her best story, but if you’ve never read her work before, it’ll probably blow you away. As usual for Rickert, she’s come up with an extremely creepy premise. Wives and mothers are vanishing, some on the run, others being captured. Some of these women are next seen at their public executions, which are broadcast live. This story follows one family whose wife/mother is missing. There’s a political barb in this one, and it’s fairly disturbing.


The Scarecrow's Boy – Michael Swanwick
4.5 out of 5
In a near-future where robot intelligence has been installed in such things as a scarecrow, a car, and boat, a little boy’s fate is in the hands of a one such scarecrow. This in an intriguing story of how an AI being sorts through memory, emotion, and programming to arrive at a suitable solution for this boy in danger.

POEM
December 22, 2012 – Sophie M. White
This poem has vivid details and a humorous premise.

COVER
"New Beginning" by Max Bertolini
Dramatic!

While Eagerly Awaiting the New Star Trek Feature Film. . .

. . . let's cast our memories backward!

Book Review: Players at the Game of People (1980) by John Brunner

Having been delighted with John Brunner’s The Whole Man, I had high expectations for Players at the Game of People. Unfortunately this novel turned out to be bleak, where as The Whole Man was hopeful, and depressing, where as The Whole Man was uplifting.

Players at the Game of People is also quite a confusing read. If it were not for the dust-jacket blurb, I wouldn’t have understood what was going on until about halfway through the novel. That said, the second half of the novel is much better than the first and almost made the novel as a whole worth my while.

Here’s the basic concept: Godwin is one of many human beings who have surrendered themselves to alien entities (or if you prefer a supernatural metaphor, devils). In exchange for allowing these entities to take over their bodies at a moment’s notice, the humans receive whatever career and/or lifestyle they wish. Godwin has chosen to be a man of leisure, experiencing exotic locales & women, eating posh food, and driving a fancy car.

The first half of the novel is so tough to get through because Godwin is so deeply unhappy and bored with his life. Clearly the deal he made has resulted in his inability to appreciate any of the delights of life, because they come without any effort.

In the second half of the book, Godwin comes to an awareness of how he has “sold his soul,” despite his adamant argument that without the deal he most likely would’ve ended up a wasted drunk on skid row. Sadly his awareness does not lead to character change. The ending is decidedly tragic.

As a reader, I’m perfectly willing to lay aside a book part the way through if it doesn’t please me. So it says something that I finished this novel, actually reading the last half in one sitting. Perhaps the hope of a redemptive ending kept me going. Whatever the case, I must admit that Brunner has done a excellent job of revealing in excruciating detail what it truly means to ‘gain the whole world but lose your soul.’

Audio Anthology: Poems read by Keith Badowski

These poems were not written by me. I only wish I had written them.

MP3 of the sound of Jealousy


MP3 of the sound of Aging


If you have Quick Time, the track will automatically play in it's entirety when you click on it.You can get Quick Time here.


Your other option is to right click on the link, select "Save Target As", and Browse to the location on your hard drive where you want to save the MP3 file.

In that case, you'll need to open the file in Windows Media Player or some other media program that handles MP3s.

Poetry Readings/Workshops in Atlanta, GA and Columbus, GA

COLUMBUS, GA OPENMIC & POETRY WORKSHOP

Meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road. Poetry Workshop meets the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at 513 Broadway. Call 706-649-3080 for information.

source: Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter

ALPHARETTA POETRY FORUM

Meets the third Tuesday of each month. We spend time reading and discussing poetry. For more information, contact Terry Hensel (tlhensel@comcast.net).

source: Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter

HARRIS COUNTY POETRY SOCIETY

Meets monthly at ArtWorks, a gallery/studio in Pine Mountain, GA. For information, contact Jeanne Koone at jlkoone@aol.com or by phone at 706-663-2671.

source: Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter

STONEPILE WRITERS

A group of writers and poets at North Georgia College and State University have created the StonepileWriters. For information about this new group, see http://stonepilewriters.edublogs.org/.

source: Georgia Poetry Society Newsletter

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Join us for an evening with celebrated Irish poet Bernard O’Donoghue

Dear Library Friends, we hope you can join us for this reading by Bernard O’Donoghue on 10.29.08 -- **no RSPV required**!

Look forward to seeing you, Lea

6:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Cox Hall Ballroom (third floor)
569 Asbury Circle, Emory University
Poet and literary critic Bernard O’Donoghue was born in Cullen, County Cork, Ireland
and now resides in Manchester, UK. O’Donoghue is author of Seamus Heaney and the
Language of Poetry (1995). His poetry collections include Poaching Rights (1987); The Weakness (1991); Gunpowder (1995); Here Nor There (1999); and Outlining (2003). In 1995 he received the Whitbread Poetry Award for Gunpowder. His most recent work consists of a verse translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2006) and Selected Poems (2008).

Reception and book signing will follow the poetry reading.
For directions: http://www.map.emory.edu/
Parking: In the Fishburne and Peavine parking decks
For more information: 404.727.0148

Lea McLees, Director of Communications
Emory University Libraries
540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta, GA 30332
TEL 404.727.0211 * FAX 404.727.0805
WWW http://web.library.emory.edu/

source: email announcement

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 8:00 PM

VOICES CARRY: AN EVENING OF POETRY & SPOKEN WORD
FEATURING ***THERESA DAVIS, JIM ELLEDGE, KODAC HARRISON, COLLIN KELLEY, LAUREL SNYDER & CECILIA WOLOCH***
WORDSMITHS BOOKS, DECATUR
Mark your calendars now for the fifth annual reading, which will be held this year at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur. A wine and cheese reception will be held, and poets will be signing their books. Visit www.wordsmithsbooks.com for directions and parking information.

source: http://www.poetryatlanta.blogspot.com/

Sunday, November 9 –

Poet Cecelia Woloch will give a reading of her work.2:00 PM, Smith-McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue.Woloch was named 2004’s Georgia Author of the Year in Poetry, and her work is included in Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems for Hard Times.

source: http://www.mccullerscenter.org/


Monday, November 10, 2008
is the deadline for requesting an application for GA Tech’s Poetry at Tech Community Poetry Workshops

Workshop with Travis Wayne Denton
Saturday, January 31, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
FREE
Room 10, Wesley New Media Center
in the Skiles Building on the Georgia Tech Campus

Workshop with Thomas Lux
Saturday, February 28, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
FREE
Room 10, Wesley New Media Center
in the Skiles Building on the Georgia Tech Campus

Workshop with Ginger Murchison
Saturday, March 28, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
FREE
Room 10, Wesley New Media Center
in the Skiles Building on the Georgia Tech Campus

Workshop with Katie Chaple
Saturday, April 11, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
FREE
Room 10, Wesley New Media Center
in the Skiles Building on the Georgia Tech Campus

To request an application, e-mail travis.denton@lcc.gatech.edu or call Travis Denton at POETRY at TECH at 404-385-2760 with your name, address, zip code and phone number. If you leave a voice mail, please speak slowly and spell your name and street address. Include your zip code and a phone number. The deadline for requesting an application is November 10, 2008.

Applications will be sent by November 20, 2008 to the physical address requested or to the e-mail address on the online request. POETRY at TECH is not responsible for snail mail or e-mail that does not reach you. If you requested an application and do not have one by the end of November, e-mail again or call. There is no need to call before November 15.

All applications without exception must be returned by email and postmarked by MIDNIGHT DECEMBER 10, 2008. Applications will be considered IN THE ORDER THEY ARE RECEIVED.

Applications NOT IN OUR HANDS by DECEMBER 10, 2008 CANNOT BE CONSIDERED.

NOTE: Applicants will be given the opportunity to request a preferred workshop and a second choice on the application; however, if your first- and second-choice workshops are full, you will be notified BEFORE being placed in another workshop. Should you decline a place in a workshop with availability, that place will be offered to the next name on the list.

Applicants should submit ONE poem (30 lines or fewer --Please!) with the application. Late submissions or those submitted on the day of the workshop will not be accepted as instructors will have studied the poems ahead of time. An application without a poem will be taken as indication that the applicant wishes to attend without workshopping a poem.

Instructors assume that all who submit poems are ready for and, in fact, invite rigorous critique by the instructor and other workshop participants. At no time, however, will a participant or his work be treated with disrespect or harshness. Workshop size will be strictly limited to ensure a safe and intimate environment in which participants can confidently develop their poetics and aesthetic standards.

Participants may bring a lunch or order a box lunch that will be delivered to the classroom. Menus and order forms will be part of the application.

E-mail any questions to travis.denton@lcc.gatech.edu

source: http://www.poetry.gatech.edu/workshops.html


Wednesday, November 12 –

Award-winning poet Michael Waters in two events: In the afternoon, a workshop at the Smith-McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue. In the evening, a formal reading. Exact times and locations to be announced. This is a Georgia Poetry Circuit event.

source: http://www.mccullerscenter.org/

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12; 8:15 pm

POETRY READING

Join two amazing poets Stephen Bluestone and Ginger Murchison as Callanwolde celebrates the art and performance of poetry with readings in the unique setting of the Callanwolde Conservatory. $5 General Admission, $3 Students/Seniors/Members. For more information call 404-872-5338.

Stephen Bluestone, a native New Yorker, has received numerous awards for his poetry, including the Greensboro Review Poetry Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize. Two of his volumes of poetry, The Laughing Monkeys of Gravity and The Flagrant Dead, were nominated for the National Book Award in Poetry. Holiness Everywhere, his free adaptation of a 12th-century work by Jehudah Halevi, set to music by Atlanta composer Curtis Bryant premiered in New York City in 2002. O City! a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 tragedy was performed by the Gregg Smith Singers in New York City in 2003, and more recently, a collaboration with composer David H. Johnson has resulted in a new work, Jerusalem Trilogy. Bluestone teaches English and film at Mercer University.

Ginger Murchison, is currently a candidate for an MFA in poetry at Warren Wilson College and editor of The Cortland Review. She assisted in the founding of Georgia Tech's poetry program, “POETRY at TECH”, while working there for 7 years. She is a two-time Pushcart nominee and her poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Terminus Magazine and in Volumes II and III of Java Monkey Speaks: A Poetry Anthology. Her chapbook Out Here, was recently released by Jeanne Duval Editions

source: http://www.callanwolde.org/events/index.html

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2008

Seventh Annual
Bourne Poetry Reading
Featuring: ILYA KAMINSKY and DAVID ST. JOHN
The Clary Theatre
In the Bill Moore Student Success Center
7:00 p.m., FREE
Open to the Public
No Tickets or Reservations Required
Book Sale and Signing to Follow the Reading
Parking across North Avenue
in the Burge Parking Deck.

source: http://www.poetry.gatech.edu/events.html

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 7:00 PM

***SHARON OLDS***
THE LITERARY CENTER @ MARGARET MITCHELL HOUSE
Award-winning poet Sharon Olds will make a rare appearance at the The Literary Center. Details to be announced soon. www.gwtw.org.

source: http://www.poetryatlanta.blogspot.com/


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 , 2008

An Evening of Spoken Word
Featuring ROGER BONAIR AGARD, TAYLOR MALI, MARTY McCONNELL, and GYPSEE YO

The Clary Theatre
In the Bill Moore Student Success Center
7:00 p.m., FREE
Open to the Public
No Tickets or Reservations Required
Book Sale and Signing to Follow the Reading
Parking across North Avenue
in the Burge Parking Deck.

source: http://www.poetry.gatech.edu/events.html

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th, 2008

Keith Badowski, featured reader

Johns Creek Poetry Writing Group meets monthly on a Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Northeast Spruill Oaks Regional Library, in the Johns Creek/Duluth area. On Dec. 13th, Keith Badowski will offer a 45 minute presentation of his poetry. Keith is incoming President of the Georgia Poetry Society. His poems have been published in Oxalis, Rambunctious Review, Monkey, and The Reach of Song. Johns Creek Poetry Writing Group also has a critiquing session, and a poetry book review presentation.

source: my own personal calendar


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2009


Seventh Annual
McEver Poetry Reading

Featuring KAREN HEAD, BRUCE MCEVER, CHELSEA RATHBURN, and JOHN SKOYLES
The Clary Theatre
In the Bill Moore Student Success Center
7:00 p.m., FREE
Open to the Public
No Tickets or Reservations Required
Book Sale and Signing to Follow the Reading
Parking across North Avenue
in the Burge Parking Deck.

source: http://www.poetry.gatech.edu/events.html

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2009

ED PAVLIC and
KEVIN YOUNG
The LeCraw Auditorium
in the College of Management in Technology Square, 800 West Peachtree St. (5th and West Peachtree)
7:00 p.m., FREE
Open to the Public
No Tickets or Reservations Required
Book Sale and Signing to Follow the Reading

source: http://www.poetry.gatech.edu/events.html

Tunes That Will Inhabit Your Dreams and You'll Wake Up Singing

These are mostly pop tunes that I couldn't ignore. I guarantee that after slight exposure you will happily catch yourself singing these songs in your head.
Enjoy!

What I did last weekend instead of 'Spontaneous Poetry'

So, last weekend I was in Baltimore, MD for the Baltimore Comic Con.
“Where are you from?” a stranger asks.
“Alabama,” I say.
“What brings you to Baltimore?”
“The Baltimore Comic Con,” I reply.
“Oh, yeah? Say something funny!”
“No. Not stand-up comedy, comic books.”
“Oh.”
End of conversation.

Believe it or not, I had the above conversation twice. Two different people jumped to the same conclusion. Maybe they should rename it the Baltimore Graphic Pictorial Storytelling Convention.

The weekend was quite enjoyable except for the stomach virus on Friday and the fever chills on Friday night.

I got to spend a bunch of time with my bud, Tim Healy. When we’re together we never let up on the joking around and teasing each other. On Thursday evening, I was doodling in the bar at the Marriott. Drew a lousy Spider-Man head on the back of an envelop. I discarded it and grabbed another envelop.

“What are you going to draw?” said Tim, “another lousy Spider-Man?” (Thanks, Tim.)
“No! You tell me what to draw. I’m taking requests.”
“Okay, Wolverine.”

So I start to draw Wolverine, staring with his pointy hair. When I get to the rest of his head, I draw a round circle. Spontaneously, I merged Marvel Comics with . . . well, you can see for yourself. (Click the thumbnail below to enlarge.)

Tim and I laughed so hard over that one, tears started rolling. Every so often, when the laughing started to trail off, Tim would utter a firm, declarative, “Wow!” About fifteen times, Tim said “Wow!” I thought I would burst. The bartenders thought perhaps we’d both had a bit too much. One beer is my limit, at least when Tim and I are goofing off. We are so easily amused.