Deborah Garrison, whose work as an editor and writer has enlivened the pages of The New Yorker for more than a decade, evokes the characters and ev...
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Feb 01, 2012
SmarterLilac
rated it: 
Cute, funny, with flashes of profundity. Even if I did wind up hating the speaker for her arrogance. I still have this on my personal poetry shelf after ten years.
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Jul 18, 2009
Jen
rated it:
I read this collection of poems before falling asleep. They’re contemporary, and narrative driven, about marriage and, as the title dictates, being a career girl. They bend towards the angry feminists, and in the most gusto of them all, Fight Song, the energy takes the tired, hum-drum to the next level:
“Fuck the culture scanners, contest winners/ subtle thinkers and the hacks who offend them; / people who give catered dinners / and (saddest of sinners) the sheep who attend them—”
Th More...
“Fuck the culture scanners, contest winners/ subtle thinkers and the hacks who offend them; / people who give catered dinners / and (saddest of sinners) the sheep who attend them—”
Th More...
May 10, 2009
Kathy
rated it: 
Tell me you haven't had a day like this.....go ahead
Excerpt:
FIGHT SONG
Sometimes you have to say it:
Fuck them all.
Yes fuck them all--
the artsy posers,
the office blowhards
and brown nosers;
Fuck the type who gets the job done
and the type who stands on principle;
the down-to-earth and understated;
the overhyped and underrated;
Project director?
Get a bullshit detector.
More...
Excerpt:
FIGHT SONG
Sometimes you have to say it:
Fuck them all.
Yes fuck them all--
the artsy posers,
the office blowhards
and brown nosers;
Fuck the type who gets the job done
and the type who stands on principle;
the down-to-earth and understated;
the overhyped and underrated;
Project director?
Get a bullshit detector.
More...
May 30, 2011
Jess
rated it:
Came across Garrison's poetry in Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft and wanted to read more.
This was a decent collection. I particular like her use of rhyme, especially the internal and imperfect rhyme. When you read it aloud, some of her stuff just sounds great.
A few poems felt unfinished and I'd hunt for another stanza or couplet. Some poems are better than others (as always) but mostly I just enjoyed it. I'd recommend checking it out from More...
Jul 31, 2011
Phil
rated it: 
I really like the voice in these poems, and I like that there are a few poems that are pleasantly different. I mean, most of these are about relationships, love, being used, and so on, but then BAM there's a contemplative poem about looking at birds.
Aug 16, 2011
Karan
rated it:
Read first time in 2000, second time in August 2011. It ages very well ...
From "Please Fire Me"
Her come another alpha male -
A man's man, a dealmaker,
holds tanks of liquor,
charms them pantsless at lunch:
I've never been sicker.
Do I have to stare into his eyes
and sympathize? If I want my job
I do. Well I think I'm through
with the working world,
through with warming eggs
and being Zenlike in my detachment
More...
From "Please Fire Me"
Her come another alpha male -
A man's man, a dealmaker,
holds tanks of liquor,
charms them pantsless at lunch:
I've never been sicker.
Do I have to stare into his eyes
and sympathize? If I want my job
I do. Well I think I'm through
with the working world,
through with warming eggs
and being Zenlike in my detachment
More...
Sep 17, 2007
Amber
rated it:
I have a hell of a time reading long, serious poems- these are smart, modern and funny. I bought it compulsively, randomly flipping through the poetry section of B&N and only after bring it home realized I'd read her stuff before in the Writer's Almanac.
Jan 04, 2008
Megan
rated it: 
These poems aren't completely terrible but they aren't particularly good, either. They read kind of like Sex in the City, minus the sex, the humor, or anything else interesting, distilled into the poetry of, say, Billy Collins.
Feb 01, 2008
A book of poetry I keep meaning to pick up - Deborah has written for us.
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