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46th out of 206 books
—
52 voters
Domestic Work: Poems
Mississippi native Natasha Trethewey, author of "Bellocq's Ophelia" and "Domestic Work," has been awarded the Grolier Poetry Prize and a Pushcart Prize. Her work was also included in "The Best American Poetry 2000." Trethewey now lives in Decatur, Georgia, and is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.
Winner of the 1999 Cave Canem Poetry Prize
Winner o...more
Winner of the 1999 Cave Canem Poetry Prize
Winner o...more
Paperback, 70 pages
Published
August 1st 2000
by Graywolf Press
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Natasha Trethewey, the poetess, writes a memory poem on every page. As I read each poem in "doMESTIC WORK, I realized these poems were memories and celebrations of hard working African Americans. The poems are so special and so beautiful I had to look at the poems in a personal way. Natasha Trethewey's poetry made me cry, smile, laugh and ponder my life. I remember my mother using Dixie Peach on my hair. To keep our kitchen cool while straightening my hair my mother kept the back door open. Ever...more
Natasha Trethewey's Domestic Work is a graphic relief map of history and memory. She writes in bumps and raises, valleys and rifts, impressions and depressions. Although this is her telling, her vision, I feel her voice is a bit removed; perhaps it's because she's addressing the past while she is very alive in the present, her present. And perhaps it is the style of the collection which makes me feel a bit detached. Where I quote below, I'm right there with her. Other places I'm not, I'm floatin...more
Each of the poems is like a little short story, some adding up to ongoing threads of her grandmother's life. In different poems, we see her leaving town with a man; while pregnant, waiting for him; then across the table from each other we see the first crack. She's back in her home town, jobs ranging from elevator operator, hair care, in a drapery factory (you have to read about what happens when her boss searches her purse), then sewing at home, styling her wig each day in case someone comes by...more
Jun 28, 2012
Paul Hankins
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
june-2012-reads,
mr-hankins-says-don-t-miss,
poet-laureate-or-former-poet-laurea,
poetry-adult,
poetry-america-as-subject-theme,
poetry-as-memoir,
poetry-celebration-of-family,
poetry-economic-diversity,
poetry-glance-at-historical-periods,
poetry-multicultural,
poetry-multiple-voices,
powerful-verse,
writer-workshop-ready
This work from newly-appointed U. S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey, begins with a forward by Rita Dove. Dove begins with a quote from James Baldwin, "People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them."
And this is just the beginning of an amazing collection of poems that takes a close look at people--from memory and from images. All kinds of people. I think the poetry community is in for a real treat with this new appointment.
Trethewey's poetry affords an almost seamless transiti...more
And this is just the beginning of an amazing collection of poems that takes a close look at people--from memory and from images. All kinds of people. I think the poetry community is in for a real treat with this new appointment.
Trethewey's poetry affords an almost seamless transiti...more
Trethewey has an ear for conversational tones. Each of her poems read fast, so fast that my only complaint is sometimes I had to stop and re-read the poems to see her word play. It takes a great poet to make structure secondary to the language of a poem, and Tretheway is a great poetess. Take for instance "Family Portrait." The language and narration are so rich that it took me three readings before I discovered the sonnet form.
The poem also has excellent examples of ekphrasis, the dramatic repr...more
The poem also has excellent examples of ekphrasis, the dramatic repr...more
I first read Tretheway a year ago, and I was not impressed. Domestic Work’s “obsession with the stereotypes of blackness,” as I responded back then, “feels disingenuous and distanced.” I faulted Tretheway’s narrative voice for inserting clichés into the minds of these black-people-in-pictures; for example, I felt that, “ ‘At the Owl Club’ is meant to be a triumphant moment for the black man in America, but instead, it comes off as ‘the black man’ stereotype who eats gumbo and only ever thinks ‘I...more
This is Trethewey's first published book of poetry, and like 2006's Pulitzer Prize winning Native Guard, she uses the small vignettes of life, hers and others, to illustrate what it meant to grow up and live as an African American in the South. Her work is elegant and powerful, addressing the challenges and the strength to be found in that world. Very strong, sometimes painfully so, work.
Inspiring! The images brought to life the poems based on photos. It was as if I were seeing the photo myself.
It's not as good as Native Guard (I would be surprised if she ever tops it), but it's still a worthwhile read.
this woman uses language beautifully. i just read and reread her work. I see something new every time I do.
1 like · like · see review
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Favorite poem: "Early Evening, Frankfort, Kentucky"
Fabulous.
I think this is a collection worth reading. As a white male, I feel I learned a little bit more about Black culture in the US. I know some reviews are critical of her 'stereotyping.' But, to me this felt like a sincere effort and portrayal.
I absolutely loved this book: the vignettes are superb.
You get so many vivid snapshots of life from the perspective of the women, from the perspective of the observer, and from outside perspectives.
She plays with form and makes a sonnet have life again. Its like form springs to life in her hands!
You get so many vivid snapshots of life from the perspective of the women, from the perspective of the observer, and from outside perspectives.
She plays with form and makes a sonnet have life again. Its like form springs to life in her hands!
Beautiful and visual poetry - each poem is like watching a photograph developing (dating myself - referring to pre-digital photography!) I highly recommend this collection.
This is a favorite of mine, full of well-crafted poetry bearing witness to the lives of black Southerners of the past.
LIKED IT. Great craft.
Favorite poems in this collection:
Early Evening, Frankfort, Kentucky
Flounder
Microscope
Carpenter Bee
Early Evening, Frankfort, Kentucky
Flounder
Microscope
Carpenter Bee
Click to access my review.
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