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The Radiance of Pigs
Now in paperback, Stan Rice's most recent collection brims with dynamic, unpredictable poems that delve into the darker reaches of humor and experience.
- GenresPoetry
90 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 1999
43 people want to read
About the author
Stan Rice
12 books41 followersStan Rice was an American poet and artist and husband of writer Anne Rice (married 1961). He was a Professor of English and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University and retired as Chairman of the Creative Writing Department in 1989. Stan Rice died from brain cancer and was survived by his wife, novelist Anne Rice and son, author Christopher Rice.
It was the death of the couple's first child, daughter Michele (1966-1972), at age six of leukemia, which sparked Stan Rice's becoming a published author. His first book of poems, based on her illness and death, was titled Some Lamb, and was published in 1975. He encouraged his wife to quit her work as a waitress, cook and theater usher in order to devote herself full time to her writing.
Both encouraged their son, Christopher, to write as well.
He is entombed in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.
It was the death of the couple's first child, daughter Michele (1966-1972), at age six of leukemia, which sparked Stan Rice's becoming a published author. His first book of poems, based on her illness and death, was titled Some Lamb, and was published in 1975. He encouraged his wife to quit her work as a waitress, cook and theater usher in order to devote herself full time to her writing.
Both encouraged their son, Christopher, to write as well.
He is entombed in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 19, 2025
Twelve
By the time you are twelve your affections are fixed.
Then come the decades that roll your heart like a cheese
In the sea. Yes, it is surreal.
Then you are twelve again, and old.
And you find the waxed red ball of your heart on the shore.
And you are not surprised by anything now except
That you should love at the end what you loved
At the beginning.
Stan Rice
Stan Rice is a brilliant poet. His poetry is deceptively simple. He may be the most exciting poet of his generation, not to mention one of the best ~~ one of the very best. It is easy to see his influence on his wife Anne's work. Often, people say he rode her coattails, but this is not true. Mr. Rice was published before his wife and rightfully so. The degree of openness in his poems amazes me. At times it feels as if you are a voyeur, peeking into Anne and his marriage. He speaks openly about his son, Christopher's penis as well as his own. Rice is fearless. His poetry is his confessional.
Rice divides The Radiance of Pigs into three sections: “Childhood,” “Hades,” and “Resurrection,” In each section, the poet revisits experiences that have made him the man he has become. Many of the poems in "Childhood" deal with his father’s death. These poems are some of the most honest I have read about the tough-to-bridge gulf between fathers and sons. In “Hades,” Rice relives the erotic experiences and fantasies that have made him the man he was to become; I can't help but feel that Rice, as are many artists, was driven by his sexual appetites. In “Resurrection,” Rice gains perspective and a degree of self-acceptance that allows him to be reborn. The book’s three-part journey maps a progression through purity, sexual awareness and finally acceptance.
If you've not read Rice's poems, please do so. Rice's poems are life affirming and filled with radiance.
MY TRIP TO HADES
I had to go to Hades
Because I wanted a dark beer.
Anne stayed above, drinking
The golden stuff. Once there
I couldnt get enough.
The other inhabitants were going through hell
So they didnt know I was constantly drunk.
I stayed there about ten years
And grew more and more charming.
I was constantly hung-over, of course,
But it was a price I was willing to pay
For being considered such a nice person.
Eventually I got so tired of being sick in the mornings
I quit; and immediately surfaced.
For two years I was ok.
My colleagues even elected me chairman.
Then one day one of them treated me
As if I were Satan; and then another.
They thought I wanted power.
All I wanted was to be desired.
But I was sober, and so moved on.
Being drunk is like being dead,
And a death to fear.
But there’s one other thing I’d like to make clear.
In Hades they brew a great dark beer.
Stan Rice
By the time you are twelve your affections are fixed.
Then come the decades that roll your heart like a cheese
In the sea. Yes, it is surreal.
Then you are twelve again, and old.
And you find the waxed red ball of your heart on the shore.
And you are not surprised by anything now except
That you should love at the end what you loved
At the beginning.
Stan Rice
Stan Rice is a brilliant poet. His poetry is deceptively simple. He may be the most exciting poet of his generation, not to mention one of the best ~~ one of the very best. It is easy to see his influence on his wife Anne's work. Often, people say he rode her coattails, but this is not true. Mr. Rice was published before his wife and rightfully so. The degree of openness in his poems amazes me. At times it feels as if you are a voyeur, peeking into Anne and his marriage. He speaks openly about his son, Christopher's penis as well as his own. Rice is fearless. His poetry is his confessional.
Rice divides The Radiance of Pigs into three sections: “Childhood,” “Hades,” and “Resurrection,” In each section, the poet revisits experiences that have made him the man he has become. Many of the poems in "Childhood" deal with his father’s death. These poems are some of the most honest I have read about the tough-to-bridge gulf between fathers and sons. In “Hades,” Rice relives the erotic experiences and fantasies that have made him the man he was to become; I can't help but feel that Rice, as are many artists, was driven by his sexual appetites. In “Resurrection,” Rice gains perspective and a degree of self-acceptance that allows him to be reborn. The book’s three-part journey maps a progression through purity, sexual awareness and finally acceptance.
If you've not read Rice's poems, please do so. Rice's poems are life affirming and filled with radiance.
MY TRIP TO HADES
I had to go to Hades
Because I wanted a dark beer.
Anne stayed above, drinking
The golden stuff. Once there
I couldnt get enough.
The other inhabitants were going through hell
So they didnt know I was constantly drunk.
I stayed there about ten years
And grew more and more charming.
I was constantly hung-over, of course,
But it was a price I was willing to pay
For being considered such a nice person.
Eventually I got so tired of being sick in the mornings
I quit; and immediately surfaced.
For two years I was ok.
My colleagues even elected me chairman.
Then one day one of them treated me
As if I were Satan; and then another.
They thought I wanted power.
All I wanted was to be desired.
But I was sober, and so moved on.
Being drunk is like being dead,
And a death to fear.
But there’s one other thing I’d like to make clear.
In Hades they brew a great dark beer.
Stan Rice
January 25, 2012
Overall, I'm a fan of Stan Rice. This particular book, however, isn't one of my favorites. Reading some of the poems, I found myself wondering if he simply closed his eyes and put his finger on random words in the dictionary. And just when my impatience seemed about to peak, I'd turn the page and discover something brilliant and moving. That's just the nature of poetry, I guess.
August 30, 2010
I don't usually read poetry, but this book is AMAZING and really has a unique flair. I would totally recommend it! :)
August 22, 2013
Stan is a good poet. He's a mix of Irvine Welsh & Dylan Thomas. His poems are a unique and many times beautiful read.
May 1, 2021
This was alright. I'm really not into this kind of modern poetry to begin with, practically without form or rhyme. I suppose I just need to read more of it, but whatever makes it great isn't striking me. Some lines or couplets were good in alliteration or imagery, but I found many poems disjointed on subject even within themselves. I assume there's probably devices that went over my head, but I felt less inclined to learn them outside of a few. This might have to do with the sort of everyday life topics of the poems, which rarely interest me to begin with. Anyway, it was worth a read just to see and learn this avenue of poetry.
Quotes:
“The acid ants, the acidic ants, flowering
On the piece of melon in the saucer,
Making milky the wedge of cheese,
Are a garnet, burst into pieces of life,
On the pale pale saucer.
I hold the magnifying glass over them
And stare down as through a hole of water.
They shred with their ice tong jaws, shred and hurry,
Their antenna touch and touch, their
Black rears become more swollen,
They have exoskeletons, spikes,
They take their sweetness back to the queen,
For she alone lays the eggs
With the eyeballs like goldfish in condoms.”
Quotes:
“The acid ants, the acidic ants, flowering
On the piece of melon in the saucer,
Making milky the wedge of cheese,
Are a garnet, burst into pieces of life,
On the pale pale saucer.
I hold the magnifying glass over them
And stare down as through a hole of water.
They shred with their ice tong jaws, shred and hurry,
Their antenna touch and touch, their
Black rears become more swollen,
They have exoskeletons, spikes,
They take their sweetness back to the queen,
For she alone lays the eggs
With the eyeballs like goldfish in condoms.”
November 27, 2017
This collection of poetry was filled with despair, humor, and beautiful imagery. Quite an eclectic mix.
June 10, 2025
"eyes like two goldfish in condoms"
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews