The Date Fruit Elegies

by John Olivares Espinoza

Book by John Olivares Espinoza

Genres: Poetry

78 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2008

About the author

Born and raised in Indio, California by Mexican parents, John Olivares Espinoza derives his poetic subjects from the population and landscape of Southern California's Coachella Valley. Having studied creative writing at the University of California, Riverside (BA) and Arizona State University (MFA), Espinoza is the author of THE DATE FRUIT ELEGIES (Bilingual Press, 2008) and two previous chapbooks, ALUMINUM TIMES (Swan Scythe, 2002) and GARDENERS OF EDEN (Chicano Chapbook Series, 2000). His poems also appear in various literary journals such as QUARTERLY WEST, POETRY INTERNATIONAL, and RIVENDELL. Espinoza's work is also recently anthologized in BEAR FLAG REPUBLIC: PROSE POEMS OF CALIFORNIA (2008), THE WIND SHIFTS: NEW LATINO POETRY (2007), and HOMAGE TO VALLEJO (2007). He currently teaches writing and literature at The National Hispanic University in San Jose, CA, where he lives with his wife.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how varied these poems are, both in sentiment and in style (lyrics, narratives, prose poems)

A segment from "Black Hair Lying on a White Pillow"-- nice movement from somber--> dark humor--> deeply touching (within two stanzas!):

"Before I'm forgotten over the weekend. I would be remembered
at a half-time memorial:
football players holding their helmets over their hearts,
cheerleaders holding my freshman photo over theirs--
finally my face between their cleavage.

At my funeral
my grandfather would weep.
My grandfather, stricken with Alzheimer's,
would believe he was dead
And had forgotten to crawl back into the coffin."


My faves:
"Las Cucarachas"
"Network of Bone"
"Slower than the Days of My Grandfather"
"Watering the Black Pots in the Fall"
"Black Hair Lying on a White Pillow"
...and pretty much everything in the 3rd section, "Twenty-Five-Cent Stories: Please Insert Coin(s)"

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is saturated with vivid images that I just loved. The poems felt real, autobiographical, close, and tender. They were obviously personal but you can still enter into them and be a part of the story. I had more to say, but I feel like a review of such a great book has to be more eloquent than I can do right now. Excellent is a good word to end on. Read this book; it's excellent.

My favorites:
-Contemporary American Hunger
-Las Cucarachas
-Love Simple
-One Headlight and a Windshield Mosaic
-Black Hair Lying On a White Pillow
-Left Eye Losing Sight
-Tips From the Oedipal
-Spanglish As Experienced By A Native Speaker
-Grass Isn't Mowed On Weekends
-Ode to the Sandwich: An Anti-Ode

[Tonya]

Went to a reading of his and liked his down-to-earth poetry. His poetry may not always have a lot of rhythm, but most end on a powerful note. Most of the poems are biographical and center on family which I found at times made them easier to relate to. Espinoza himself has a great sense of humor that at times outshined his work!

[Trey]

I found this book hard worked and hard earned. Most of the poems are generated from the memories of growing up and much of the emotional subject matter is worked out by embracing a firm sense of his identity. I look forward to John's future work.