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The Oregon Trail Is the Oregon Trail
Loosely or not so loosely based on the iconic computer game The Oregon Trail, THE OREGON TRAIL IS THE OREGON TRAIL chronicles the journey of a family on their way out West. Along the way, they fight dysentery, a racist Mel Gibson, syphilis, and consumption while learning that letting go is sometimes easier than starting over. Read the book, play the game, and never welcome...more
Paperback, 65 pages
Published
January 30th 2012
by Mud Luscious Press
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seriously batting eyelashes, "O you" and "am i blushing right now" at mud luscious and gregory sherl. age-old trick--very "trout fishing in america"--revamped perfectly to reside in a beautiful, honest place. it's not quite fan fiction and not quite the abstract, experimental "stand-in" that "trout fishing" was. the river is forded on page 1. people get syphilis. great jokes that are all "nostalgia" without being too gimmicky. the stories are very personal vignettes about a sweet, ever evolving...more
It's so much easier to give you one of his poems than explain all the brilliance of this collection.
"The Oregon Trail is based on a true story"
This one time we watched the weather.
You were naked & I was naked
& the sound of everything was louder
than the thunder we couldn't see.
You said I love you more than not getting dysentery.
I said Sing this trail to sleep under me
& you did. You sang it cold dead.
At the Kansas River crossing we fed
our oxen to the mouth of the river, slept
under our...more
"The Oregon Trail is based on a true story"
This one time we watched the weather.
You were naked & I was naked
& the sound of everything was louder
than the thunder we couldn't see.
You said I love you more than not getting dysentery.
I said Sing this trail to sleep under me
& you did. You sang it cold dead.
At the Kansas River crossing we fed
our oxen to the mouth of the river, slept
under our...more
Not since Cisneros' Loose Woman or Clifton's Blessing the Boats have I wanted to proselytize a book of poetry like I want to proselytize this one.
Sherl is a master storyteller within the short poetic form, and this is without a doubt one of the most original poetry collections I've ever read.
If you've ever died of dysentery this collection is not to be missed. And if you somehow missed the pioneering brilliance that was the original Oregon Trail game, if you let him, Sherl will still sucker-pu...more
Sherl is a master storyteller within the short poetic form, and this is without a doubt one of the most original poetry collections I've ever read.
If you've ever died of dysentery this collection is not to be missed. And if you somehow missed the pioneering brilliance that was the original Oregon Trail game, if you let him, Sherl will still sucker-pu...more
Reviewed by C.L. Bledsoe at The Ampersand Review:
"The Oregon Trail is the Oregon Trail is a collection of poems narrated by a character who seems to exist in the world of the classic computer game The Oregon Trail, while, simultaneously experiencing various elements of modern culture – it’s as though a player were caught in the game, though it isn’t presented as tritely as that. He, and his family, travel the trail and seem to be caught in a kind of Groundhog’s Day situation, forever redoing the...more
"The Oregon Trail is the Oregon Trail is a collection of poems narrated by a character who seems to exist in the world of the classic computer game The Oregon Trail, while, simultaneously experiencing various elements of modern culture – it’s as though a player were caught in the game, though it isn’t presented as tritely as that. He, and his family, travel the trail and seem to be caught in a kind of Groundhog’s Day situation, forever redoing the...more
The Oregon Trail is The Oregon Trail's poems are beautifully crafted, and Sherl's consistent use of The Oregon Trail as metaphor adds a unique humor and relatability to them. These poems are not about the computer game, but the game's archetypes of The Thief Who Steals Things During the Night, The Rich Banker from Boston, Child #1 and Child #2, and even The Oxen take on a life of their own as The Trail is described over and over and over again. Occasionally The Oregon Trail is fun. Sometimes it'...more
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There are plenty of ways to expire on The Oregon Trail, as the frontiersmen who used the route in the 1840s and anyone who has played the 1970s computer game of the same name can attest. Both the trail and the pioneering computer game that was developed to educate school children about its perils have proved to be maddeningly alluring. So it should come as no surprise that Gregory Sherl’s new collection of poems, The Oregon Trail Is the Oregon Trail, is equally deceptive.
Unlike video games of to...more
Unlike video games of to...more
It's a book of poetry which often references The Oregon Trail video game. However, for a book of poetry that's tied to The Oregon Trail video game there is an awful lot of sex. I'd say most of the poems are 50% sex and 50% Oregon Trail the video game.
I wanted to like it more than I did what with The Oregon Trail connection, and there were some clever lines about various things having to do with the game (being limited to 100 lbs. after hunting, fording the river, hiring an Indian guide, etc). Th...more
I wanted to like it more than I did what with The Oregon Trail connection, and there were some clever lines about various things having to do with the game (being limited to 100 lbs. after hunting, fording the river, hiring an Indian guide, etc). Th...more
This is definitely a book to keep in your purse, backpack, or pocket for frequent reading. The book follows a speaker who is apparently trapped in a perpetual loop of the computer game Oregon Trail. He and his family face hardships, conquer them, and are sometimes conquered themselves. The book is rich with surprising metaphor, and the speaker's voice is very strong. The poems in this book are, in keeping with Sherl's style, full of sex, love, and the longing for both - topics by which I, for on...more
Five stars for the kookiness of the concept, and for some really great jokes aging gamers will adore.
If you loved the old DOS game "The Oregon Trail" but wish there had been much more sex in it, this book will make you smile. It's not going to change the world, but... full of poetry that weds text-based adventure with literary porn, Sherl's slim volume is certainly diverting. Did we really want the world changed, anyway?
If you loved the old DOS game "The Oregon Trail" but wish there had been much more sex in it, this book will make you smile. It's not going to change the world, but... full of poetry that weds text-based adventure with literary porn, Sherl's slim volume is certainly diverting. Did we really want the world changed, anyway?
1 like · like · see review
Gone are the pop song references of Sherl's first two books (they're replaced by references to wagons and rivers) and gone are the drug references (for the most part), but these poems move in interesting new ways that seem like they're more fueled by starvation, fatigue, and the fear of dying. Oh, there's still some sex of course.
Gregory Sherl's words drip off each page. There's a hunger in this world that can only be fed by his beautiful words. There is a word of his for every piece of loneliness, anxiety and depression that can be felt. This book is the sweater you want to wear when Florida is not acting like Florida outside.
One of the best collections I've read in a long time! Gregory Sherl works magic on words, but more importantly emotions. He gives us truth, vulnerability and the unexpected, always! A treasure! Hope everyone gets a copy of this! I keep for inspiration! Exceptional!
made me at least a little bit aroused maybe about 9 times.
per poem.
a big squishy warm lovely pillow of language getting all mushed around like a sleeping face.
made me drool.
this isnt a very good review but this book is a very good book.
per poem.
a big squishy warm lovely pillow of language getting all mushed around like a sleeping face.
made me drool.
this isnt a very good review but this book is a very good book.
Somehow Gregory Sherl was able to turn one of the most primitive slow-paced computer games ever created, into a series of rich lively poems full of humor and emotion.
I don't think Sherl even has the faintest clue, honestly, as to what an amazing poet he is. I just hope he doesn't stop making poems like these poems.
Best read while traveling westward in the vicinity of strangers. Intimate and not long enough.
Fantastic. The poems build on each other in wonderful ways. I love that hush that falls on the reader when the rhythm of a poem takes over. I got that here for pages at a time. How much more can you ask?
There's plenty here for the reader who wants to reminisce about The Oregon Trail. But the book is far more playful than that. The Oregon Trail is more than The Oregon Trail, as Sherl knows.
There's plenty here for the reader who wants to reminisce about The Oregon Trail. But the book is far more playful than that. The Oregon Trail is more than The Oregon Trail, as Sherl knows.
Read this one a bit at a time or in stretches. Give it a couple week and let them sink in or blow by. Just give it a chance... Life, death, disease, sex, and a fuck-ton of Kansas River. Why not?
fun!
I had heard so many good things about this book and they were all true, and there were other good things I hadn't heard. Read this now then ford the river, but watch out for dyssentary and thieves.
This book was so sad and beautiful and funny and good.
May 18, 2013
Aryeh
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Robert Cojocaru
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Chas
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Mike Tager
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Layla
marked it as to-read
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