Rise of the Trust Fall

by Mindy Nettifee

In Mindy Nettifee's second book, Rise of the Trust Fall , her poems possess a magic that can only come from a seasoned writer willing to share more on the page than she's comfortable with.  

Whether exploring the strange alchemy of healing, the perils of self-actualization, or the contemporary experience of womanhood, the poems in this daring collection are gorgeous and vibrant, bitingly funny, and unflinchingly honest. Rise of the Trust Fall challenges more than our understanding of ourselves. It calls us to connect to our humanity, to celebrate its flaws, and then to demand more of it, in every well crafted line.

Praise


"Rise of the Trust Fall by Mindy Nettifee is the linguistic orgasm we've all been waiting for, no clit-stims necessary."

- BUST Magazine


"Mindy Nettifee is destined to be the next Dorothy Parker."

- Poetic Diversity


"When award-winning poet Mindy Nettifee speaks...you're powerless–you have no choice but to raise your wine glass high over your osmosis head and join her pledge of allegiance to graphic truth. Her poems have the grace of cursive letters and the guts of a truck driver."

- District Weekly

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2010

About the author

Mindy Nettifee is an award winning writer and accomplished performance poet. She is the author of two full-length collections Sleepyhead Assassins (Moon Tide Press) and Rise of the Trust Fall (Write Bloody Press), and a collection of essays on writing Glitter In The Blood - A Poet's Manifesto for Better, Braver Writing (Write Bloody Press). She is a three time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, and a Powell's Books Indie Press Best Seller 2013. She is a co-editor of the anthology Courage - Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls due out Spring 2014 on Write Bloody Press.

She has performed and taught in over 500 hundreds of venues, colleges and universities across America and Europe, competed in five National Poetry Slams, opened for indie rock act the Cold War Kids, headlined national poetry tours The Last Nerve - A High Tea Poetry Brawl, The Whirlwind Company and The Poetry Revival, and was featured in the critically acclaimed poetry concert documentary The Drums Inside Your Chest.

Mindy currently serves as director of the nonprofit poetry organization Write Now Poetry Society, which she co-founded with actress and author Amber Tamblyn in 2007. Write Now's mission is simply to build the audience for great contemporary poetry. Through her work at Write Now, she has curated poetry events for The Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, GirlFest, the Mission Creek Festival, and others.

Reviews

[Ronnie Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first encountered Nettifee when she toured with the Elephant Engine High Dive Revival. Suffice to say, I was hooked before she even took the stage. Nettifee has a disarmingly impish presence that left me completely unprepared for her words. Nettifee's poems are unflinching and unapologetic. She tells it like is, mastering the art of being direct without being offensive. There are no pulled punches in this collection, yet you come away from each poem feeling a little more at peace with your own wreckage. I suppose, more than anything, the poems in this book remind us that being in pieces is very different from being broken. Her spirit never wavers, and neither will your love for this book.

[Liz Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was read for the #readwomen month.
A very direct writer, I like that about her. This small collection has gotten me excited to listen to her perform, she does have a fantastic sense of humour. I will not say that her writing is beautiful, but I believe that is a side effect of her poignant way of telling people off for their stupidity. Yes, this is a poet I can get behind.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe my reactions to this fucking brilliant collection of poems were, in order:

-yaaaaalllll w h a t
-WOW
-D A M N
-Oh
-mmmmmmmmm

And I mean all of that in the best possible way.

[Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favorite book of poetry. Nettifee speaks the same language as my heart. At times gentle, but often sardonic. This collection is full of insights and experiences, almost all of which left me nodding, "Yes, that's it exactly." Brava.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is a wild, tender dive into the mess of healing, self-awareness, relationships, and the ache of being human. Nettifee’s poems are a punch to the gut or a balm to the soul, sometimes both at once.

Reading this felt like sitting on library steps with my best friend, sipping Big Gulps, trading points of view on the poems. I sat with many of the poems for hours after— I wanted their company.

Favorites include:
“Why I Sounded So Freaked Out When I Called”
“Disciple”
“Modern Magic Spells for Troubled Women”
and
“Don’t Pretend You Don’t Know What to Do.”

One that made me gush was “It’s National Fall-Madly-In-Love Day” where she writes:

“Trust will flood you like a baptism, like a monsoon of yeses. The magnets beneath my skin will draw the magnets beneath your skin and we will power kiss on every bridge we can find. We will reinvent osmosis.”

I read it in the middle of the office cafeteria and muttered, “F*ck.”

The kind of whisper that means:
I wish I wrote that.
I feel so seen.
I’m reading this again, right now.

So many of her poems hit me like that. And yes—I’d gladly read them over and over.

[Vyapti · Rating 4 out of 5]

“we could barely stand, so we rested our foreheads together in praise of gravity. i swear i could feel the dawning of something- what comes after bitterness, low in the stomach like sick bees.” i want to cry

[Loulose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Det kan godt hende jeg misforstod hele boka, men den var i hvertfall ikke noe for meg.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mindy Nettifee reminds me why I love poetry.

Favourites:
'When the Economy Was Booming' LOVE LOVE LOVE!
'All I Have to Say for Myself'
'The Things I Can Not Fix Get together for Their Annual Reunion Camp Out'
'In Media Res' - I wish I could get this poem tattooed into the inside of my brain
'Why I Sounded So Freaked out When I Called' - Incredibly powerful
'Disciple'
'Kill the Messenger' - Incredibly smart and witty
'Radioactive Date'
'Zen of the Broken'

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having met her in person, I can readily attest to the fact that Mindy Nettifee is one hot and classy broad. Now, having read her poetry, it's clear that she possesses great lake-fulls of feeling, insight, hilarity, and sheer word-ly firepower.

She runs the gamut in here from relationships-falling-apart to relationships-just-beginning to really-wanting-this-goddam-relationship-to-get-off-the-ground-please-God, as well as kind of mini-memoirs about family as well as place and time. She brings the same kind of plain speech infused with arresting metaphors and piercing juxtapositions of detail; even when the speaker of the poem is in the depths of despair or fear, you can tell she's having fun with the sheer act of putting words together. Also, it's interesting how the whole book gradually ascends in mood, beginning with these kind of broken and bitter pieces, until it seems like we're tracking her recognition and her deliberate corrections. She starts to write for others, to try and share her hard-won spoils and be a guide, until she even goes beyond that and just starts to get her rave-up on; the last pieces are almost ecstatic in tone, though they're never cliche or blind to reality.

The whole book is just kind of a great trip, and just leaves me pumped to try some of these tones and forms and approaches in my own writing. Whoever doubted, even for a second, that poetry had anything to offer the world today, needs to sign up with the Cult of Mindy.

[Devan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mindy Nettifee is one of my new favorite poets. This books is amazingly beautiful with verses that I wanted to read to whoever was in the room with me while I was reading. She is lyrical and yet simple, well-crafted and yet natural. I highly recommend this book, and any of Nettifee's other works, for anyone interested in poetry.

[Jerrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

You're not cool enough for this book, but that's ok. It will knock you down and then levitate you back to your feet. There's just a stunning array of styles and themes on display here, summary seems not only impossible but beside the point. Go to the hippest bookstore near you and buy this book. Your shelves need this soulful, spunky volume desperately, even if they don't know it yet.

[Jenna Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

beyond brilliant. *in awe*

[Victor]

Mindy Nettifee is one of the most significant poetic voices writing today, and if you know me, you know I don't say that sort of thing lightly. Seriously, read this one, and pay attention.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read this with Elle this week; I first read it in 2011. It is still as beautiful as it was the first time.

[dc · Rating 4 out of 5]

mindy nettifee surprised me with her poetry. although sometimes i felt like i was reading slam poetry, mostly i felt i was reading soul-beautified poetry. i really like this book of poetry.

[Anna Lise · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems give me limitless inspiration. I really enjoy this poet's work.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid four stars earned by the greatness of Part I offsetting the mediocrity of Parts II & III.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her use of words is unparalleled. Looking forward to her future works.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure gold.