"A Brief History of Time," Beers' first collection of poetry, is at once an exploration of what it is to grow up in rural America and a treatise fo...
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Mar 12, 2009
R.
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A Brief History of Time: Read in the parking lot of Safeway; late in the day. The car was warm, womby. At any rate, this first poem (the title poem) is a compact novella of ideas both romantic and cosmic. Somehow both autobiographical and universal; the shared memoir of multitudes.
Would you know me: Read after work; 1 a.m. on a Thursday. The dream of transformation; the farmgirl dreaming of being a citygirl dreaming of being a farmgirl. The sadness of a roadside produce stand. More...
Would you know me: Read after work; 1 a.m. on a Thursday. The dream of transformation; the farmgirl dreaming of being a citygirl dreaming of being a farmgirl. The sadness of a roadside produce stand. More...
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Apr 17, 2009
Heather
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Shaindel Beers has a beautiful poetic voice and vision. I loved her use of place and the vivid way her poems set off locations and longings. I read this book in one day, inhaled it really.
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Mar 13, 2009
Lisa
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I have seen Shaindel's work grow and evolve over the past thirteen years.
She has an unflinching, ironic, honest, and at times, deliciously dark, voice in her poetry. I especially like the way she uses her observant eye in the works "Sleeping Man and Woman...," "To CKC," "Rewind," "Body Shop," "In a Top Drawer," and "Because You Are In It." I like others in this collection, but these are nearly perfect to me, and I can More...
She has an unflinching, ironic, honest, and at times, deliciously dark, voice in her poetry. I especially like the way she uses her observant eye in the works "Sleeping Man and Woman...," "To CKC," "Rewind," "Body Shop," "In a Top Drawer," and "Because You Are In It." I like others in this collection, but these are nearly perfect to me, and I can More...
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Feb 28, 2009
David
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I am always looking for poems that continue what Walt Whitman started -- poems that explore American characters, our battles and desires, our multitude'ness. Beers is one of those poets. Like many poets, she has walked in two kinds of dust -- the sweat of working class rural America and the must of academia -- and she manages to embrace and reject both as appropriate.
I will carry the memory of the woman in the dollar store with me for a long time.
These poems ache, sometimes, More...
I will carry the memory of the woman in the dollar store with me for a long time.
These poems ache, sometimes, More...
Feb 23, 2009
Lisa
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I have been fortunate enough to have read Shaindel's work before this book came out. Ms. Beers has an incredible love affair with words. I find her work to be a rare delight as she has the ability to put together words that not only are full of passion (even in the most subtle ways) but so real, you can see yourself there. First Love is one of my favorite poems. I was so glad to see it was in her book. That poem is so realistic, I was leaning against the wall watching as the girl took care of he
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May 19, 2009
Erik
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I was astonished by the breadth, humanity, and craft of these poems. Shaindel is one of my goodreads friends, but she's one of those friends I've exhanged hardly two words with, so I'm not glowing with praise out of obligation. These poems are good.
The range alone is incredible. There's free verse, poems with long lines, poems with short lines, and even a ghazal, an underutilized form that is perhaps my favorite (Jim Harrison excels at the ghazal). And there are two sestinas. I've he More...
The range alone is incredible. There's free verse, poems with long lines, poems with short lines, and even a ghazal, an underutilized form that is perhaps my favorite (Jim Harrison excels at the ghazal). And there are two sestinas. I've he More...
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Feb 03, 2010
Samuel
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When I first read "Cicadas", a poem from Shaindel Beers that I encountered online, I was so blown away by the unique perspecive on time, that I decided this was a poet I had to read more of, and immediately got "A Brief History of Time", her first book, which promised more of the same.
It didn't disappoint. This book cemented Shaindel Beers in my mind as not just a writer with an impressive depth and facility of language, but - at least to my mind - one of the for More...
It didn't disappoint. This book cemented Shaindel Beers in my mind as not just a writer with an impressive depth and facility of language, but - at least to my mind - one of the for More...
Feb 09, 2011
Ryann
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Shaindel Beer’s tells her story of a life lived in the country, love affairs, beauty and heart ache. Her poetry is compacted with the brutal honesty of a strong woman and the endearing golden heart of a child in its passion to dream and hope. With her vision, they are truly impactful in their haunting effects. At some points, her poetry is like a stream of consciousness, drifting into other tangents and musings that are insightful and lavished, like a scenic detour. I would recommend this book
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Aug 18, 2009
Matthew
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I think I'm in love with "The Calypso Diaries" :
"Sometimes you let him go because it's more cruel
than keeping him.
Sometimes you let him go because freedom
is the opposite of love.
Sometimes you let him go because freedom
is the only love.
Sometimes you let him go because there is only
one Penelope.
Sometimes you let him go because there is only one Calypso
and you know that he will think of her more often
from across More...
"Sometimes you let him go because it's more cruel
than keeping him.
Sometimes you let him go because freedom
is the opposite of love.
Sometimes you let him go because freedom
is the only love.
Sometimes you let him go because there is only
one Penelope.
Sometimes you let him go because there is only one Calypso
and you know that he will think of her more often
from across More...
Jun 13, 2010
Sarah
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I am drawn to books for any number of reasons: familiarity with the author, familiarity with the location, a love of the title, a love of the cover art and so forth. For A Brief History of Time it was location, title and cover and having "met" the author via twitter. In fact, she's the first author I've asked up front for a chance to review.
The title, bringing to mind instantly the Stephen Hawking book, combined with a typically American windmill on against an expansive blu More...
The title, bringing to mind instantly the Stephen Hawking book, combined with a typically American windmill on against an expansive blu More...
Jun 15, 2009
Julene
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I first read Shaindel Beers poem "HA!" online, it has been published in The Minnesota Review, so I may have been there, or possibly on one of the blog sites where she is doing her cyberspace book tour. (A good thing to check out, it's the wave of the future in book promotion!) "HA!" is a poem of the moment. It addresses, in vivid imagery, a woman with ovarian cancer who works in a dollar store with no health insurance. I would like President Obama and his team, and all the in
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May 30, 2009
Zinta
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Z: Before we begin our archaeological dig into the history of time, Shaindel, let me ask something else itching on my mind. Tell me about your name. You might guess that I love unusual names.
Shaindel: That’s funny because I’ve always been curious about your name, too. Shaindel is a Yiddish name that means “pretty.” It was my father’s mother’s name, and he promised his parents that he would name his first son and daughter after them. They both died when he was young, so this was real More...
Shaindel: That’s funny because I’ve always been curious about your name, too. Shaindel is a Yiddish name that means “pretty.” It was my father’s mother’s name, and he promised his parents that he would name his first son and daughter after them. They both died when he was young, so this was real More...
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Oct 25, 2010
Amy
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Most of the poems in this collection are narrative. They are pared down to essential details; transmogrifying words into emotions. Some poems harken to confessionals; others are more like persona poems. And the fact that the reader cannot tell the difference, is both enlightening and mysterious. The poet has a way with words, and a way with story-telling. Beers brings alive the vastness of landscape: literally, figuratively, and beautifully.
Jul 21, 2009
Karen
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A few years ago, I took a workshop under poet Margaret Gibson who talked about the importance of poetry giving voice to those who cannot speak. The whole time I was reading Shaindel Beers' A Brief History of Time (Salt Publishing, 2009), I thought of Gibson's words. Beers' first collection of poetry is a work that explores the lives of those (usually women) who are usually not heard. In "HA!" we learn the story of a woman "dying of ovarian cancer" who has to work at the
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Apr 07, 2010
Jessie
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Excerpt from review on Poets' Quarterly:
Complicating the desire to define self, in this collection, is the issue of love. “First Love” is an unusual love poem given that the speaker is a young teen who is tending to her boyfriend who works in a blue collared job. The speaker says, “I’d fold his hands in mine / like folding sugar into butter” as she would remove “the muted glitter of metal shards /just under the skin.” This is a speaker who doesn’t know easy love. You can go back to t More...
Complicating the desire to define self, in this collection, is the issue of love. “First Love” is an unusual love poem given that the speaker is a young teen who is tending to her boyfriend who works in a blue collared job. The speaker says, “I’d fold his hands in mine / like folding sugar into butter” as she would remove “the muted glitter of metal shards /just under the skin.” This is a speaker who doesn’t know easy love. You can go back to t More...
Jul 11, 2009
Melissa
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This collection of poems is absolutely beautiful. You don't need to be a big fan of poetry to enjoy this book - there's really something for everyone here and Shaindel Beers has a style that immediately grabs you and is immensely readable. My favorites were the refreshingly honest "My Love, A Partial Explanation", the beautiful "Belonging" and the deeply emotional "A Man Walks Into a Bar."
Apr 28, 2010
Tara
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I knew when we had a conversation about fishing that I would like Beers's work. Her poetry is surprising and takes new tacks on old themes. Her hearbreaking poems like "Tryptich" and "To CKC, Stillborn" are balanced by more humorous ones such as "Taking Back the Bra Drawer" and "Why Gold-digging Fails." Her power is in the accumulation of the poem in its entirety and each small or profound message contained therein.
Feb 07, 2009
Judy
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Shaindel Beers’ “A Brief History of Time” grips the heart in a gentle vise. It exquisitely does what good poetry should do: paints word pictures, capturing moments of human experience and immersing the reader within them. These poems are works of art, worth revisiting many times.
Jul 21, 2010
Dana
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I have this habit when I read books of poetry, of folding down the corners of the poems I like - when I finished this book, I found I had folded almost as many pages as not. A wonderful collection of poems both beautiful and accessible. So glad the author convinced me to buy it.
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May 08, 2009
David
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A remarkable first book by a talented and visionary young poet. The range of her poetry is surprising and her "lived" experience of the world much beyond her years. The fruit of her poetry tree is ripe and full of juice -- humor, sadness, revelation.
Apr 04, 2010
Greg
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Not sure if it was, but reads like a self-published book. A few good pieces, but should maybe have gone through a good editorial process.
Nov 15, 2010
Greg
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A lovely lyrical voice echoing through the heartland. Calypso's Diaries is a brilliant evocation of her story in The Odyssey.
Jan 24, 2009
Ummm... I wrote it, so I'll let others review it :-)
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May 30, 2009
Nick
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Amazon 2009-01-25. Author Shaindel Beers is one of my GoodReads friends, and has written a book of American poetry with a title more famously used by British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking for his popularization of quantum cosmology. I figure this is a good sign, and thus picked it up in my desperate search for modern poetry of value.
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Jun 10, 2009
Matthew
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Interesting life experiences through the eyes of a young woman.
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Jan 25, 2010
Shans
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I don't usually breeze through poetry, but I flew threw these poems and not because I wasn't really reading them. I really love the way Beers writes; probably because I know her!! :)
Mar 13, 2010
Anne
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A few good poems, but most of these are too prose-y and pretentious. It needed a much better editor and much culling.
