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Why Happiness Makes Me Nervous
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In words and pictures, Liza Charlesworth’s new book, Why Happiness Makes Me Nervous, captures the poetic journey of a girl’s complicated coming of age. Loneliness, divorce, loss, love, burgeoning sexuality, and those awkward, epic years between adolescent and adulthood are explored in the pairing of these riveting poems and vivid photographs.
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<<>> SHOULD have made GR's Best Awards nominees for Poetry <<>>
The images themselves are thoughtful and provocative. They explore color and punctuate as the theme of the poem tells a story about life. From youth to the golden years, there is an observance, often tinged with disappointment. They speak from a woman's point of view as she unravels life's conflicts and epiphanies.
Strong intersection of image an<<>>The ...more
The future holds a wall of needles
& this is the rule: We have to walk through it,
we have to
--"Why Happiness Makes me Nervous" excerpt
The images themselves are thoughtful and provocative. They explore color and punctuate as the theme of the poem tells a story about life. From youth to the golden years, there is an observance, often tinged with disappointment. They speak from a woman's point of view as she unravels life's conflicts and epiphanies.
Strong intersection of image an<<>>The ...more
I had to live with each of these poems for a few weeks, turning them over and over in my head. I couldn't just swipe the page and move on to the next. Charlesworth's words are gorgeous and true, and I feel less alone with them beside me.
...it's 7.54 in the morning
and your voice comes small,
sifted through the black holes of the phone:
"I'm gonna die, I quit AA," you say,
injecting your poison
into the five minutes that remain
before I leave to get my train
(And you know what time I get my train).
All my thanks to Vivian for giving this to me. It's perfect.
I had to live with each of these poems for a few weeks, turning them over and over in my head. I couldn't just swipe the page and move on to the next. Charlesworth's words are gorgeous and true, and I feel less alone with them beside me.
...it's 7.54 in the morning
and your voice comes small,
sifted through the black holes of the phone:
"I'm gonna die, I quit AA," you say,
injecting your poison
into the five minutes that remain
before I leave to get my train
(And you know what time I get my train).
All my thanks to Vivian for giving this to me. It's perfect.
...more
...it's 7.54 in the morning
and your voice comes small,
sifted through the black holes of the phone:
"I'm gonna die, I quit AA," you say,
injecting your poison
into the five minutes that remain
before I leave to get my train
(And you know what time I get my train).
All my thanks to Vivian for giving this to me. It's perfect.
I had to live with each of these poems for a few weeks, turning them over and over in my head. I couldn't just swipe the page and move on to the next. Charlesworth's words are gorgeous and true, and I feel less alone with them beside me.
...it's 7.54 in the morning
and your voice comes small,
sifted through the black holes of the phone:
"I'm gonna die, I quit AA," you say,
injecting your poison
into the five minutes that remain
before I leave to get my train
(And you know what time I get my train).
All my thanks to Vivian for giving this to me. It's perfect.
...more
Liza Charlesworth practices two arts, poetry and photography, so brightly that they both shine in her new collection Why Happiness Makes Me Nervous. Her contemporary street images make windows through which we peer into her past—a childhood not as bright as those gleaming photos. The happy present earned by Charlesworth’s determination and intensity can make a poet who didn’t begin with the examples of the sturdy marriage and parenthood she has built very nervous indeed. The poems shiver with th
...more
Dec 18, 2016
Nenia ⚜️ Author of Filthy Trash and Unhinged Psychos ⚜️ Campbell
marked it as poetry-wishlist
OMG THIS SOUNDS AMAZING
#NEED #WANT #NEED
#NEED #WANT #NEED
I received this for free for review from Netgalley.
This is a collection of poetry and photography that follows a journey from childhood to adulthood.
I enjoyed most of the photography in this book. There was poetry that I really enjoyed, poetry that I understood personally, and poetry that I just did not understand or did not like. I did like the fact that it was set up to follow the growth from childhood to adulthood. I had to keep in mind as any time I read something that my op ...more
This is a collection of poetry and photography that follows a journey from childhood to adulthood.
I enjoyed most of the photography in this book. There was poetry that I really enjoyed, poetry that I understood personally, and poetry that I just did not understand or did not like. I did like the fact that it was set up to follow the growth from childhood to adulthood. I had to keep in mind as any time I read something that my op ...more
I would have bought this for the title (I couldn't relate more!) and the gorgeous cover art alone. The entire volume lives up to this promise. Charlesworth is an amazing writer, and her photographs/visual compositions are beautiful. I wish I had larger versions hanging in my home -- they are mesmerizing.
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