July

by Kathleen Ossip

In her groundbreaking and most politicized collection, Kathleen Ossip takes a hard look at the U.S.A. as it now stands. She meditates on our various responses to our country―whether ironic, infantile, righteous, or defeated. Her diction is both high and low, her tone both elegant and straightforward. The book’s crowning achievement, its anchor, and its centerpiece is the poem “July.” In a generous fifty pages, Ossip recounts a road trip from Bemidji, MN, to Key West, FL, with her daughter riding shotgun. Inspired by images that flick across their car windows and nurtured by intimate conversation and plenty of time to think, the poem has an entertaining cinematic sweep. There are poems based on bumper stickers, the names of churches, little shops. Traveling tests her beliefs, and Ossip fully discloses her doubts and confusions. Ossip is an unconventional, mighty magician with words.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The latest in my poetry reading experiments, this, like so many of them, was interesting though not really something to go wild over. I’m just not a fan of modern poetry and these poems, despite the fact that a few of them actually (gasp) rhymed, is very much modern in style.
There are three sections in the book, the middle is dedicated to a road trip taken during the turbulent 2016. Meaning there’s a good amount of political commentary in here (albeit subtle), which is interesting and not something that’s normally you see a lot of. Some of the poems just do that thing where it’s like a proper story only written out in poetic form. Some poetry was done in bumper stickers. That’s pretty original.
Overall, though, there were enough clever linguistic gymnastics and acrobatics to make it worth a read for a layperson and would probably delight a fan. So, for a venture outside of the traditional comfort zone for experiment’s sake, this kind of worked. Language was appreciated.

[Viktoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thoughts, upon first quick reading: sweeping view of the US, it’s nature, people, politics, hell and heaven (including those of Dante’s). This is an eclectic collection; woven from everything that makes the country and it’s people.

Ossip travels with her college bound daughter, exploring the world she’s sending her to, and also commenting on mothering. And more.

I’ll return to this book of poetry for more in-depth reading, and to understand what kind of vision Ossip might want readers to see and feel…

[Juliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’ve come to a conclusion about happiness: I want it.” At the risk of gushing, Kathleen Ossip’s July is one of the most exciting, energising yet arresting books of poetry I’ve read, constantly spilling over with jolts of insight, with reflections on aesthetics and poetics and what it means to be alive under conditions of the modern world. The titular poem is “its anchor, its centerpiece”, a sprawling diaristic view of a US road-trip with her daughter, set in 2016 and contrasting travel and Disney World with Trump, BLM, terrorism: America and the world falling apart. “And I was more / stirred than I am by great art.” “Years ago he said if she / weren’t his daughter he’d date her, and / I understood why Dante / had to write his *Inferno*.” Much clarity emerges from this period: “Time is a river until it’s a wall. Time is a river until it’s a plot”; “A saint is someone who absorbs hatred and doesn’t pass it on”, a perfect line. The book’s first part has a number of outstanding poems: ‘Old Strange Book’ (too good), ‘Your Ardor’, ‘A Valley View’, ‘On Beauty’, and ‘Attitudes at the New Year’, which ends so perfectly relatable: “I anticipate // the beginning with three promises: I begin. I’ll act. I’m going to wait.” The short final section, a trio of poems, declares that “We need faith while the possible is possible. / After, we need hope”, and insists “Trust not, fear not apocalyptic discourse.” The smallness of family is juxtaposed against the largeness of nation, reminding me of a favourite book, the novel Ducks, Newburyport. Ossip’s final, hopeful flourish is a godsend, the greatest of her many gifts: “With imagination, inside our time, / maybe we’ll earn our own sublime.”

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. I liked some of the poems, and others I didn't. The titular poem, "July," was sometimes interesting, but too often it felt disjointed and rambling. I though the political commentary was very milquetoast and that this book can only be considered "politicized" by people who have never read poetry by Black poets. A lot of times, the "subtleness" of the commentary made the narrator sound more like she was using mentions of Black people to get attention, honestly. Not sure that is what this collection should be getting praise for.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

In thinking about this collection, I find my mind keeps returning to the title poem, which makes up the middle third of the book. There’s something so American about a road trip, and using a road trip as a way of reckoning with America itself, it feels apt. And not just with a place or a home or a country, but also reckoning with oneself, both one’s complicity and one’s power. I’m going to have to think more but there’s interesting stuff here.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book should really be read through the lens of the title poem, "July," where Ossip provides a lyric chronicling of her trip across the country. Perhaps it could be read as her own Purgatorio, as she references Paradiso in the book's final section. However it is, the various stresses (political, cultural, and personal) that shape the book's poems are given direct access in this central poem, casting a long shadow over the rest of the book. And, ultimately informing that work.

[Nancy]

It was as if I were in the car with them, in the hotel rooms, in a now.
And yes to the way the text felt made of sidebars. So reading is like finding things when walking and looking down, and I am walking around inside someone's head.

[Samantha M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely, and just really fucking good.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this being a very political and intense read, and gave me nostalgia for the summer as I read it in the winter.