From Sharon Olds—a stunning new collection of poems that project a fresh spirit, a startling energy of language and counterpoint, and a movin...
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reviews
Aug 31, 2010
A couple of these poems recall "I Go Back to May 1937," a Sharon Olds poem I used to carry in my wallet. It's interesting to read her more recent work, which sometimes seems like an altered point of view on previous poems (the daughter is now the mother; the mother is now the mother alone; the lover is now the former lover; etc.). Here are three that stood out to me, for different reasons:
Sleep Suite
To end up in an old hotel suite
with one’s nearly-gr More...
Sleep Suite
To end up in an old hotel suite
with one’s nearly-gr More...
Oct 22, 2011
Amy
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I am a big fan of "The Gold Cell" and so it is really fantastic to see how Olds has developed in the 15 years between these two collections--it's like she has grown into this great love and I was excited by her maturation as a writer. Her depth/detail and exposed tenderness and sorrow are my draws. I love how she "rewards" the reader with a flip in the middle of a poem. I thought the opener was a particularly good example of this, as was the revelation about her marriage. Sud
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Oct 13, 2010
Kathleen
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I really like Sharon Olds. This was hard to read and very good. Some poems I cringed and winced at. "Still Life in Landscape" really does make you look at a car accident. And imagine others. "The Foetus in the Voting Booth" hangs one up in there, illegally, makes you think of all kinds of injustice, and still somehow manages not to judge, leaving that to you, the reader, man or woman. And "A Time of Passion" broke my heart and inspired a blog entry.
I More...
I More...
Oct 27, 2009
Mary
rated it: 
Sharon Olds is a new favorite poet. I love how visceral her poetry is. I feel it in my fingers and toes, as much as I experience it any other way. This book offers poems from every life stage, birth through childhood, early marriage, motherhood, coping with aging parents, the empty nest, and divorce in middle age. Her stuff is so relational...
I confess that I haven't read every poem in here, but I've read the majority of them, and it's not a novel--- I'm claiming it as read today jus More...
I confess that I haven't read every poem in here, but I've read the majority of them, and it's not a novel--- I'm claiming it as read today jus More...
Mar 01, 2009
Megan
rated it: 
Strong, swift, bold, and vulnerable - this collection stings real like stepping from a hot shower into a breezy room. Memory blurred with coping, accepting, and healing in the present moment meets loving openly in the face of emotional closures. Sharon Olds writes with middle-aged maturity mixed with youthful optimism and starry-eyed yet sober indulgence in all things body, heart, and mind.
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Aug 26, 2010
Mairead
rated it: 
Not nearly as good as the Gold Cell, sadly, but the lacking nature of her worst won't keep me from hunting down what she can be at her best.
Dec 16, 2009
Michael
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An amazing poet; priceless humor, moving emotion, intense craft. I enjoyed this collection very much.
Feb 26, 2008
Kat
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I think this book could easily pass as prose poetry or short-shorts if she took out all the line breaks. It's all very personal, conversational, accessible. I remember a poem toward the beginning about having a threesome in a schoolyard tree, with recurring geometry references... a lovely poem, and the geometry bit resonated for me at the time I was reading the book. Midway through the book, though, I stopped feeling entertained by her storytelling style and decided I needed her to start tell
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Dec 11, 2011
Mike
rated it:
favorites:
14 sunday night
23 still life in landscape
89 the shyness
97 the learner
14 sunday night
23 still life in landscape
89 the shyness
97 the learner
Jun 05, 2011
Denise
rated it:
No one writes about relationships like Olds. She inspire much of my writing.
Jan 20, 2008
W.B.
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A typical mix of stunners, fairly strong work and the cringeworthy, which is pretty much the Olds hallmark when it comes to her collections. Maybe this is a result of her prolificity. I'm sure some day she'll sort out the goats from the lambs and have a very strong Selected. Isn't it time...mabye it exists..oh wow, I just saw she had one as early as 2002....I wonder if that's a good culling...if that matches my favorites...she's a very good reader...no wonder she's been on the circuit so long...
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Apr 23, 2010
Kristina
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This collection sticks to the bones. Something primitive and masterful moves in these poems, as dancers in gauzy, loose chiffon alternately squatting and twirling across a dark stage.
Oct 09, 2010
Terresa
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Before reading this book, I had a vague appreciation for Olds. Upon finishing this book, I have a touchstone.
Oct 01, 2007
Elise
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I love poetry, though I'm kind of new to exploring the vast field. Sharon Olds is someone with whom I've become acquainted only in the last year. I love the provocative and descriptive nature of her poems. I love the way she describes her beautiful relationships with her beloved husband.
Oct 24, 2007
The gift-giver didn't know I liked Sharon Olds, but he saw this book and read in it and thought I would like it. I love it when someone knows what I'll like just by the words alone. Can't wait to dig in.
Mar 23, 2009
Jill
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I reread this book and found myself astonished by the excellent way Olds handles a complicated subject matter, with wry subversive import and natural eloquence.
Great stuff!
Great stuff!
Jul 20, 2011
Amber
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Emily gave this to me at Ike's baby shower. I've just started reading it--slowly, of course.
(nearly 2 years later...)
Still reading, rereading. It's beautiful.
(nearly 2 years later...)
Still reading, rereading. It's beautiful.
Mar 19, 2010
Rachel
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Not my favorite book of Sharon Olds' poetry. Her older stuff is a little more gut-wrenching, which is where (I think) she's at her best.
Feb 06, 2011
Erica
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Absolutely amazing.The Unswept Room is one of Olds' very best. A must read for lovers of contemporary American poetry.
Jan 29, 2012
Miss Mandatory
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Raw, intimate, brazen, a kind of aspirant for your own self in connection with another.
Feb 24, 2010
Sara
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I liked this book much better than all of her previous collections of poetry.
Feb 09, 2012
Jan 31, 2012
