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No Surrender
by
Ai
A disillusioned Irish nun moves to America, meets Elvis, and rediscovers her faith. An amputee goes on a strange journey during a hurricane. Each of the speakers in Ai's daring new collection has a uniquely American story to tell, and each is told with the poet's characteristic dark humor and ambition.’
From "Brotherhood"
Now we're middle aged,
Bearing the curse, not the l
...moreHardcover, 137 pages
Published
September 27th 2010
by W. W. Norton & Company
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This is the last collection of poems by this award winning poet of mixed descent (African-American, Japanese-American, Native American), who died this spring, which consists of narrative poems about people from various backgrounds struggling to survive against difficult odds: a second generation Irish Catholic woman in post-World War II faces ostracization from her family and community after getting pregnant out of wedlock; a widow must cope with her husband's sudden death from the bombing of Pa...more
I love Ai: One of the few women of color who have been awarded the National Book Award for poetry. Her poetry is moving, straightforward, and accessible. I love the conversational tone, the depth of emotion laid out so bravely on the page. For anyone who does not understand or think they can understand poetry, they should try Ai (Japanese for "love"). This book really helped me define punctuation and form for one of my poems. The way she writes poetry feels so comfortable to me. I'm going to buy...more
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A gorgeous collection of poetry, which presents narrative style monologues from the point of view of a variety of people, men and women of different stations. One series of poems looks at the lives of Irish settlers, and others look at the lives Japanese or other heritages. Almost all are underscored with subtle subversive discussion, while being vivid and detailed portrayals. Most of these poems are fairly easy reads (while still being intelligent and evocative) and I would recommend them for t...more
A random book of poems that I picked up at the library. Some of them were pretty difficult to read because Ai certainly has a way of expressing the emotion that resonated with me. The poem that I will remember the most is "Discipline".
These were short story poems at their best. The longer pieces so descriptive and the characters defined well. This is one to share with people. Maybe give as a Christmas gift.
The last book of poems by Ai who died in 2010 is sober and enlightening collestion of poems by people who are also often vicitms,
Aug 19, 2012
Paul
added it
You either appreciate Ai's distinctive narrative form or you don't. This is one of her best and most shocking collections of poetry. I appreciated all of the stories of struggle and am happy to see that even as she was dying she approached it with such strength. She passed too soon. She will always be a source of inspiration for me.
Sad to read that Ai had passed away in March. Met her at a writer's community group over 30 years ago, a beautiful woman who encouraged us as a published writer even though only a few years separated us. Hadn't read her poetry since that last meeting but finding it again in this book, the last of hers to be published.
Feb 18, 2013
Jesse
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Ai is a poet who has been said to be a mixture of Japanese, Choctaw-Chickasaw, Black, Irish, Southern Cheyenne, and Comanche. Her birth name was Florence Anthony but she changed her name to "Ai" which means love in Japanese.
Her poems have dark themes to them and contain violence, rape, and other subjects that aren't considered appropriate. She often writes from the antagonist point of view and has...more
More about Ai...
Her poems have dark themes to them and contain violence, rape, and other subjects that aren't considered appropriate. She often writes from the antagonist point of view and has...more
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