What do you think?
Rate this book
The Island of Lost Luggage
". . . at the Island of Lost Luggage, they line up:
the disappeared, the lost children, the Earharts
of modern life. It's your bad luck to die in the cold
wars of certain nations. But in the line at Unclaimed
Baggage, no one mourns for the sorry world
that sent them here . . ."
The abused. The oppressed. The terrified victims of institutionalized insanity. Making daring connections between the personal and the political, Janet McAdams draws new lines in the conflict between the new and old worlds as she redefines the struggle to remain human.This award-winning collection of poetry forges surprising links among seemingly unrelated forms of violence and resistance in today's world: war in Central America, abuses against Nature, the battleground of the bedroom. McAdams evokes the absurdity of everyday existence as she sends out a new call for social responsibility.
The Island of Lost Luggage is the poetry winner of the 1999 First Book Awards competition of the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
the disappeared, the lost children, the Earharts
of modern life. It's your bad luck to die in the cold
wars of certain nations. But in the line at Unclaimed
Baggage, no one mourns for the sorry world
that sent them here . . ."
The abused. The oppressed. The terrified victims of institutionalized insanity. Making daring connections between the personal and the political, Janet McAdams draws new lines in the conflict between the new and old worlds as she redefines the struggle to remain human.This award-winning collection of poetry forges surprising links among seemingly unrelated forms of violence and resistance in today's world: war in Central America, abuses against Nature, the battleground of the bedroom. McAdams evokes the absurdity of everyday existence as she sends out a new call for social responsibility.
The Island of Lost Luggage is the poetry winner of the 1999 First Book Awards competition of the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.
- GenresPoetryIndigenousQueer
75 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
49 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2025
A collection of poems about violence, politics, survival, love, and hope.
from Leaving the Old Gods: "A girl, he said, and I nodded / though we wouldn't have known. / I would have left hi then / for ten thousand pesos. / I didn't know what world you would inhabit, / swimming there, baby, not-baby / part of my body, not me, / swept aside like locks of hair / or toenail parings."
from News from the Imaginary Front: "I'm licking salt from the long wound of history. / This blood is sweet and my mouth's full of it. / I'm milking this body for everything it's worth."
from Cemetery Autumn: "Dry your eyes, I told myself, it is pollen / not sorrow. / Rise and go: it is not fatigue / but September's dead heat. / It is not love, / but heat only heat."
from Leaving the Old Gods: "A girl, he said, and I nodded / though we wouldn't have known. / I would have left hi then / for ten thousand pesos. / I didn't know what world you would inhabit, / swimming there, baby, not-baby / part of my body, not me, / swept aside like locks of hair / or toenail parings."
from News from the Imaginary Front: "I'm licking salt from the long wound of history. / This blood is sweet and my mouth's full of it. / I'm milking this body for everything it's worth."
from Cemetery Autumn: "Dry your eyes, I told myself, it is pollen / not sorrow. / Rise and go: it is not fatigue / but September's dead heat. / It is not love, / but heat only heat."
September 21, 2018
I revisited this poetry collection this morning, and once again was amazed/astounded/deeply moved - and, yes, sometimes disturbed - by it. I don't care if Janet McAdams is my sister-in-law, this book (an American Book Award Winner) gets 5 stars rising on its own merit.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews