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Pear Slip
by
Matthew Hittinger (Goodreads Author)
Poetry. Saddle-stapled chapbook.
"'Take a pear. Any pear. Divide it into sensuous surface and the idea of sensuous surface. Mix with one part philosophy and two parts jeu d'esprit. Pass the whole through a filter of buoyant affection for Cezanne, Van Gogh, Pissarro, and their everyday proliferation on posterboard and computer screen, and this is what you get: a fertile conc...more
"'Take a pear. Any pear. Divide it into sensuous surface and the idea of sensuous surface. Mix with one part philosophy and two parts jeu d'esprit. Pass the whole through a filter of buoyant affection for Cezanne, Van Gogh, Pissarro, and their everyday proliferation on posterboard and computer screen, and this is what you get: a fertile conc...more
Chapbook, 20 pages
Published
December 13th 2007
by Spire Press Inc
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poetry is not usually "my thing" so to speak. i find myself becoming uncomfortable at times, in the places where it becomes very personal or sentimental, and this is probably in part due to the fact that i consider myself to be a largely visual person. being drawn to books about theory and evolution probably nudges me even a little more in the direction of "not-poetry." however, this was a different experience entirely.
the preface dealt with thinking about writing poetry about pears, and certain...more
the preface dealt with thinking about writing poetry about pears, and certain...more
"This Is Not About Pears" was featured on Verse Daily June 17, 2009.
A review from Therese Broderick who maintains the blog Ekphrasis: Writing About Art:
When you see the phrase “still life,” what comes to your mind? Now that I’ve read the very engaging and inventive poems in Matthew Hittinger’s chapbook Pear Slip, I think primarily of pears. This award-winning chapbook (Spire Press, 2007) compiles eight poems, plus a preface entitled “Pear Poetics,” which consider pears from several angles: as a...more
A review from Therese Broderick who maintains the blog Ekphrasis: Writing About Art:
When you see the phrase “still life,” what comes to your mind? Now that I’ve read the very engaging and inventive poems in Matthew Hittinger’s chapbook Pear Slip, I think primarily of pears. This award-winning chapbook (Spire Press, 2007) compiles eight poems, plus a preface entitled “Pear Poetics,” which consider pears from several angles: as a...more
Matthew has a striking gift for exacting, brilliant description. This book is the best of a still-life, life rendered on paper, but it's also more. Matthew shares his view, and I see better.
Pear Slip is a wonderful word-scape! So beautiful and innovative, as in How to Write, How to not Write about Pears:
-So I wrote a poem about this, called it ‘Genesis’ left Milton’s
Serpent but changed his apple to a pear (pears are juicier) ate,
Exposed wet teeth marks like Adam’s next to my wide bite.-
"Pared, Canned" reminds me of "The Mouse's Tale" from Alice in Wonderland. Matthew Hittinger, along with Randall Mann, Andrew Demcak, and Charles Jensen, are all poets to watch. These are the artist...more
-So I wrote a poem about this, called it ‘Genesis’ left Milton’s
Serpent but changed his apple to a pear (pears are juicier) ate,
Exposed wet teeth marks like Adam’s next to my wide bite.-
"Pared, Canned" reminds me of "The Mouse's Tale" from Alice in Wonderland. Matthew Hittinger, along with Randall Mann, Andrew Demcak, and Charles Jensen, are all poets to watch. These are the artist...more
Eloquent, Sensuous Perseverations on the Pear
Matthew Hittinger is an artist. He is able to paint with words intimate still lifes focused on one object - a pear - and make each of the eight poems in this small but treasureable book an experience the reader will use as a pause to enjoy, yes, but to also become more acutely attuned to the simple things in our lives that deserve our attention.
Hittinger introduces his observations and responses to the pear in a set of four brief statements 'Preface:...more
Matthew Hittinger is an artist. He is able to paint with words intimate still lifes focused on one object - a pear - and make each of the eight poems in this small but treasureable book an experience the reader will use as a pause to enjoy, yes, but to also become more acutely attuned to the simple things in our lives that deserve our attention.
Hittinger introduces his observations and responses to the pear in a set of four brief statements 'Preface:...more
Oh, this slim volume is a giant 5-star! "Greet each {poem}, hear each, slip inside the frame" (8). Find yourself inside this fine art gallery of poems and enrich your day with sweetness, texture and tenderness.
"Forget the single apple," Hittinger states. "Send me sequences of pears" (8).
And let them get historic: "Gauguin and Pissarro each give a wink // through those cross-hatched brushstrokes" (18). And let them get kinky: "banana dreams of pear, pear dreams / of pear, the erect stems" (23)....more
"Forget the single apple," Hittinger states. "Send me sequences of pears" (8).
And let them get historic: "Gauguin and Pissarro each give a wink // through those cross-hatched brushstrokes" (18). And let them get kinky: "banana dreams of pear, pear dreams / of pear, the erect stems" (23)....more
Technically superb poetry that failed to really hit me emotionally or intellectually.
Honestly, the writing was really good. Just not my "thing," so to speak.
Honestly, the writing was really good. Just not my "thing," so to speak.
I can see where other people would like this chapbook. The poems are smartly crafted. I'm just not a fan. I don't have any emotional connection to the poems. Maybe I'm prejudice against pears? I'm not sure.
Hear Matthew read Pear Slip on the Joe Milford Poetry Show.
apples are not the only forbidden fruit... pears have affinity shaped aspirations....
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Matthew Hittinger is the author of Skin Shift (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2012), and the chapbooks Platos de Sal (Seven Kitchens Press, 2009), Narcissus Resists (GOSS183/MiPOesias, 2009), and Pear Slip (Spire Press, 2007) winner of the Spire Press 2006 Chapbook Award. Named a 2012 debut poet by Poets & Writers Magazine, Matthew's honors include a Hopwood Award and The Helen S. and John Wagner Priz...more
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