Matthea Harvey's "Modern Life" introduces a new voice that tries to exist in the gray area between good and evil, love and hate. In the central seq...
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Jun 04, 2008
Juliet
rated it: 
Overall, this book fluctuated between two stars and three and one half stars for me.
One more pro: a few of the poems at the end made me envision rather quirkily charming Amelie-esque scenes.
One more con: What kind of a poem is this?
YOU HAVE MY EYES
Give them back.
(And that's the entire poem. Seriously, what the heck is that? It's silly, stupid, and annoying.)
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One more pro: a few of the poems at the end made me envision rather quirkily charming Amelie-esque scenes.
One more con: What kind of a poem is this?
YOU HAVE MY EYES
Give them back.
(And that's the entire poem. Seriously, what the heck is that? It's silly, stupid, and annoying.)
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More...
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Aug 01, 2011
A runner-up for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award, Harvey offers a mixture of prose poems and standard verse in MODERN LIFE, which accurately reflects the sense of foreboding terror that fills any serious news-watcher. Without her dazzling skill for accuracy and imagery, her poems would be heavy with the turgidity and portentousness that sinks so much contemporary poetry along these lines.
Her closeness of observation manifests itself in “Ode to the Double-Sided Nature of Things,” More...
Her closeness of observation manifests itself in “Ode to the Double-Sided Nature of Things,” More...
May 03, 2011
Terry
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In her third book of poetry titled Modern Life Harvey comes back with what seems to be an even balance between her previous two books, at least in terms of style. Again she touches on love, but with a hint of wry humor : “Your horoscope read: /You have an infectious smile. Mine said:/ Check the glove compartment” (68). Again with the paint imagery: “Dip that tiny brush into your paintbox and mix up something nice and muddy for me” (28).
She returns to using titles as the set point for he More...
She returns to using titles as the set point for he More...
Nov 15, 2007
Amy
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I heard Matthea Harvey read at Open Books last night. She was disarmingly down-to-earth: charming & funny, & her reading kicked ass! This book is likely her best yet, from what I've heard/read so far. There is something for everyone in here: prose poems, strange lyric poems, grotesque animal poems ("Dinna'Pig"!) and flower petals like "little meat sunsets".
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Dec 01, 2009
Steven
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Before picking up this collection, I had read a few of Matthea Harvey's poems in literary journals and I was struck by their playful use of language (akin to Harryette Mullen), humor and humanity. All of those skills play out well in this book and the variety of forms is refreshing, ranging from prose poems to the loose abecedarians of the two "future"/"terror" sections. But, like Ms. Mullen's work, it's only when all of this playfulness somehow connects to actual human exp
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Jan 04, 2012
Christina Marie
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Matthea Harvey's Modern Life contains prose poetry that completely legitimizes the form. Her poetic blocks take one instance, flesh it out, and sum it up, all while maintaining a poetic voice.
When I read the sections The Future of Terror and Terror of The Future, not only did I fully appreciate the chiasmus, but I also thought, Wow she's got a way with alliteration. Each poem grows from alliteration and some assonance with a bit of internal rhyming. Then I read an end-note that expla More...
When I read the sections The Future of Terror and Terror of The Future, not only did I fully appreciate the chiasmus, but I also thought, Wow she's got a way with alliteration. Each poem grows from alliteration and some assonance with a bit of internal rhyming. Then I read an end-note that expla More...
Dec 13, 2008
Kimberly
rated it:
I wish this were a book of short stories but otherwise I'm ok. Very inventive, sometimes beautiful. Perhaps more beautiful in the middle (to me at least, where I thought there were people, that I might relate to) and less beautiful when I realized that "The Future of Terror" and "Terror of the Future" were meant to be abecedarian, and then all I could do was struggle not to alphabetize while reading. I sense she would get along well with Jesse Ball. I sense I want to impose s
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Oct 08, 2010
Ryo
rated it:
In a bit of a rush, but I want to get this quick review off to you. Modern Life is the third in Harvey's collections of poems and is most notable for the two sections, "The Future of Terror," and "The Terror of the Future," which anchor the book like two firm columns running through this seven sectioned collection. Please pick up a copy at Graywolf. Like much of Harvey's work, the book as a whole is extremely organized, with a parallel section structure that runs roughly like
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Oct 26, 2009
Michael
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Matthea Harvey’s world depicted in Modern Life is raw and broke: a system, and all of its implications, gone awry. The metal of machines, once new and useful, has rusted; the scientific discoveries, once progressive and optimistic, have devolved into hideous creatures: hollowed out carcasses (“The Empty Pet Factory”), spliced and mutilated (“How We Learned to Hold Hands”) for human needs; the ancient notion of freedom and free will has collapsed into a crippling fear of terror. Modern Life is
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Jan 08, 2010
Robert
rated it:
Matthea Harvey, Modern Life (Graywolf Press, 2007)
“The ham flowers have veins and are rimmed in rind, a little meat sunset.”
(“Implications for Modern Life”)
I opened Matthea Harvey's Modern Life, turned to the first page, and was greeted with this as an introduction to her work. How could I not immediately fall in love? And I'm happy to say that as the collection progresses, it pretty much stay this good. Of course, the pit- and pratfalls of this sort of comic-grotes More...
“The ham flowers have veins and are rimmed in rind, a little meat sunset.”
(“Implications for Modern Life”)
I opened Matthea Harvey's Modern Life, turned to the first page, and was greeted with this as an introduction to her work. How could I not immediately fall in love? And I'm happy to say that as the collection progresses, it pretty much stay this good. Of course, the pit- and pratfalls of this sort of comic-grotes More...
Jan 24, 2008
Michael
rated it:
A reader of Harvey’s previous collections will no doubt find familiar ground in Modern Life: dream-like narratives, the frequent appearance of horses, an inventive playfulness (“Pug owners are 90% more likely to deny that they look like their pets than other dog owners,” for instance). Harvey is attracted to the proper noun and in her poems we encounter “Ghost Morse Code” for the stripes on the road (“not the new ones but the ones the wheels had worn away”), the representation of the sun as a “G
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Oct 11, 2007
Peter
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Matthea Harvey, during her reading on September 16, stated that her new collection of poetry, Modern Life, dealt with the notion of halving. This trope of halves is well-established in the book's imagery, as centaurs, the Berlin Wall, a half-robot/half-boy, and other halves and halving mechanisms appear intermittently. These halves contribute to her book's rhythm, as well as its proportions and sense of space. The blank pages diving the book into sections seemed to pose questions concerning e
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Feb 27, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Hmm... I'm torn. I want to love this book, as I love Matthea. But I found the book as a whole somewhat disjointed. I didn't like the Robo-boy deviations. Everything else was pure opium.
I'm still trying to get my hands on Sad Little Breathing Machine, as the idea of having a poetic engine is quite genius. And I wanna see how she carries it beyond the one poem I came across.
I have a feeling I'll enjoy it more than Modern Life.
I'm still trying to get my hands on Sad Little Breathing Machine, as the idea of having a poetic engine is quite genius. And I wanna see how she carries it beyond the one poem I came across.
I have a feeling I'll enjoy it more than Modern Life.
Apr 20, 2011
Rob the Obscure
rated it:
Harvey is pushing the limits. It's refreshing to see a skilled poet that is not resting in safe, comfortable waters.
She is pushing the boundaries - the boundaries between poetry and fiction, the boundaries between romance and sex, the boundaries between comedy and alienation, and the boundaries between depth and humor.
It's an education in writing for the 21st century.
She is pushing the boundaries - the boundaries between poetry and fiction, the boundaries between romance and sex, the boundaries between comedy and alienation, and the boundaries between depth and humor.
It's an education in writing for the 21st century.
Jan 04, 2009
karen
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these are poems that even a non-poetry lover can appreciate. most of them read like little bite-sized prose pieces with accessible imagery and just enough quirk to get my attention. i seem to have a knack for subconsciously selecting things to read that are somehow similar in tone and vibe, because it was a really great follow-up to littlest hitler. yay, me!
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Apr 08, 2009
Kristin
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Harvey's third book of poetry veers off from her first two, into a future at once as strange and familiar as our own. Though some of the work is written in form and can get a bit tedious (especially "The Future of Terror" and "Terror of the Future"), this seems purposeful, and her focus in this work is broad and sensory, and much of the poetry is deeply poignant, particularly in a time as uncertain as ours.
Jul 22, 2008
You can always read a book as an example of its author's psychological state, but I haven't come across many books that beg so fiercely for such a reading. Some readers seem to be finding Modern Life great tripping fun, but I confess I'm not laughing. Instead, I'm (unfashionably, I know) worried for Harvey. She/her poetic voice seems trapped in a bubble of isolation and craving, fear of emotion and desperate need. A shifting and elusive "you" moves through the book, never satisfying th
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Jan 29, 2012
Siel
rated it:
Lots of surreal absurdist story-poems -- i.e. the Robo-Boy series. Some constraint-based work -- The Future of Terror and The Terror of the Future composed primarily of words between Terror and Future in the dictionary.
Oct 03, 2011
pearl
rated it:
Read this over the summer for my Art of Narrative class. Wonderful, entirely consumable and delightful, post-apocalyptic and sad. Poetry for people who don't like poetry, and fresh dewy gems for those who love it.
Nov 20, 2009
Erin
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Amazing form and excellent scenarios for the future of life! One of my favorite books from poetry class this term. Like Roboboy, I now consider Mrs. Butterworth one of the grandest heroes of American culture.
Nov 16, 2010
Brian
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Matthea Harvey writes with sparkle and delight, even when her theme turns dark. Because of the style--what I'd call something like surrealism or magical realism--there is an emotional distance that limits my connection with the work. Still, some delightful lines, like: "Our first protests were tentative:/ we tapped on their taillights with teaspoons,".
Jun 26, 2011
Laura
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"Truly it's exhausting how many minds there are to swoop in and out of." -- Once around the Park with Omniscience
"The myocardiograph measured our heartache and it was more than the manuals said we could manage." -- Terror of the Future /1
"The myocardiograph measured our heartache and it was more than the manuals said we could manage." -- Terror of the Future /1
Aug 20, 2009
Kristen
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Such a delightful collection. If the end of the world is going to be like this, I'm totally ready.
Nov 23, 2008
Joseph
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Kind of classy appropriation of avant-garde techniques. It's hybrid, dig?
Dec 16, 2007
Stephanie
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I am in love with everything about this book, except for the "terror of the future", "future of terror" sections. Those sections felt like a departure from the beautiful explorations/examinations that take place in the other poems. The Roboboy poems were my favorite - "No One Will See Themselves in You" is probably my favorite poem in the whole collection.
I have only read through the book once. I want to spend some more time with the "terror" More...
I have only read through the book once. I want to spend some more time with the "terror" More...
Nov 17, 2007
Nicola
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like the cover of this book (designed by Harvey), the poems have a strange math to them: the halving of the dominoe's division; the multiplication of dominoes in rows; the blackberry bruise of defaced, once-ordered numbers; deranged co-ordinates: horizontals (x-axis) and verticals (y-axis) stepping on each other...and somehow this relates to all her wonderful alliteration (an overused device that usually annoys me to no end). readreadread this!!
