If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?

by Matthea Harvey

A brilliant combination of poetry and visual artwork by Matthea Harvey, whose vision is “nothing short of blazingly original” (Time Out New York)

She didn’t even know she had a name until one day she heard the human explaining to another one, “Oh that’s just the backyard mermaid.” “Backyard Mermaid,” she murmured, as if in prayer. On days when there’s no sprinkler to comb through her curls, no rain pouring in glorious torrents from the gutters, no dew in the grass for her to nuzzle with her nose, not even a mud puddle in the kiddie pool, she wonders how much longer she can bear this life. The front yard thud of the newspaper every morning. Singing songs to the unresponsive push mower in the garage. Wriggling under fence after fence to reach the house four down which has an aquarium in the back window. She wants to get lost in that sad glowing square of blue. Don’t you?
            —from “The Backyard Mermaid”

Prose poems introduce deeply untraditional mermaids alongside mer-tool silhouettes. A text by Ray Bradbury is erased into a melancholy meeting with a Martian. The Michelin Man is possessed by William Shakespeare. Antonio Meucci’s invention of the telephone is chronicled next to embroidered images of his real and imagined patents. If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? combines Matthea Harvey’s award-winning poetry with her fascinating visual artwork into a true hybrid book, an amazing and beautiful work by one of our most ingenious creative artists.

Genres: Poetry, Art, College, School

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2014

About the author

Matthea Harvey is the author of three books of poetry--Modern Life, Sad Little Breathing Machine and Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form, and one children's book, The Little General and the Giant Snowflake. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence and lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Laryssa Wirstiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book based on a very enthusiastic Los Angeles Times review and my love for literature/art hybrid books. Upon first glance, I was excited about the large print format, the high-quality paper, and the full-color photos and illustrations. I was really looking forward to read this book.

However, I was a little disappointed. I thought the mermaid poems and the glass factory poems (probably my favorite and, in my opinion, worth the book purchase alone) were brilliant. I'll definitely go back to those two sections in the book.

However, I couldn't really get into the other poems. I don't know what that says about me as a reader or about my tastes - I felt like there was a wall between me and the poems that I could not penetrate. I just couldn't find my way into them. Was I not trying hard enough? I dunno.

In regard to the artwork, I loved the mermaid illustrations and the close-up photos of tiny figurines embedded in large blocks of ice. I'm pretty happy to display this book on my bookshelf because it's definitely unique and a must-have for lovers of contemporary American poetry.

I was pretty shocked by all the art/poem collaborations listed on the last page of the book and wonder if exploring some of them will give me a better appreciation for Harvey's poetry. She is clearly well respected in both the worlds of poetry and contemporary art. I would be interested in learning more and am open to someone changing my mind about her work.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun. Poignant. Wonderful.

[Carl Lavigne · Rating 5 out of 5]

in case you ever want to shed a tear over mermaids and the invention of the telephone

[Joshua Gage · Rating 4 out of 5]

If The Tabloids Are True, What Are You? is an interesting amalgam of art, poetry, short fiction, erasures and other art forms. Harvey is clearly playing off the speculative aspects of tabloid papers, whether it be mermaids or demonic possession, interstellar travel or even Elvis. While many of these tropes aren’t unique in their own right, Harvey is able to take the clichés and invigorate them with a fresh perspective, using them to explore various aspects of the modern 21st century and make commentary on the human condition. While a few sections will hold readers’ interests, many of them will fall flat due to their elaborate complexity and experiments with language, voice, perspective, presentation, mixed media, etc. Furthermore, the high cover price makes this a book to pursue through the library, and not something to purchase for one’s collection without thoroughly previewing it first.

Read more here: http://sfpoetry.com/sl/reviews/14revi...

[Pais · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is made up of surreal--magical-realism at times--poetry that transports you to different possible realities. Harvey is clearly in love with language, and her rhyming and wordplay is particularly strong in this collection. I appreciated the use of images interspersed throughout, but some (most notably the final section) worked better than others in terms of adding more layers of meaning.


Highlights: mermaid poems, constellation poems, glass factory poems, and the Telettrofono section

I particularly love how the motif of mermaids comes back around in the final section, to beautiful effect.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will up to a 5 if it sits well, more thoughts to come

[Danielle Palmer]

DNF. I read the backyard mermaid poem in a different book and liked it enough that I wanted to check out more of the author’s work. That being said…I didn’t “get” most of the poems that were included here.

[Erica Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is as dazzling as I hoped it would be. I'm in love with all these mermaids (and poems).

Postcard review: http://ow.ly/ZxAx309kglG

[gwayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wildly imaginative poetry collection conjures, among other things, everyday women moonlighting as mermaids, a prison masquerading as a glass factory, and a continents-spanning, possibly interspecific love story. Now and then Harvey edges toward gimmicky tedium, especially with some of her world play, but a page or so later she'll redeem herself with a warmer brew of whimsy and heart. My personal favorites include "Using a Hula Hoop Can Get You Abducted by Aliens" and "[This is what the Last Ones left us]": in both she looks at human civilization from a removed but affectionate vantage point. I also loved the pair of poems arguing in favor of two new constellations for our times, the No More Suicide Fox and the Retaliation Rat. The artwork is dreamy and fun, especially the miniature figures trapped in ice and the mermaids with unusual tails. Harvey finds magic in the familiar and empathy in the otherworldly, and her configurations give keen pleasure.

[Tom Renjilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book that I've read this year. The poems and art contain fantastical and mythic elements-- mermaids and Michelin men possessed by Shakespeare-- but they repurpose tabloid sensationalism into a means of defamiliarizing and seeing anew common tropes and themes, rather than escaping them. The aesthetic feels like looking at someone's very well curated tumblr in 2010

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Harvey's most ambitious book of poems (& photography, miniature sculpture within ice cubes, sewn objects, silhouettes) to date. Her odd, willful, playful talent sometimes promises more than it can deliver ("Michelin Man Possessed By William Shakespeare") and sometimes sneaks up on you with excellence ("There's A String Attached To Everything"). The mermaid poems are worth the price of admission. There's a lot to wade through--it's like a curiosity shop or church thrift store. But the gems and the journey make it worth the effort.

A good sample: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

[Vincent Scarpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's so much I want to say about this book, which is yet another gem released by Graywolf this year, but I think Paul Muldoon covers it all in his blurb when he says that, in the book, "intention and accident are so inextricably bound that they seem to form a single, unforgettable gesture." Harvey is just so unbelievably intelligent and imaginative, and that's showcased in every aspect of this book—which, by the way, is one you want to own, not borrow.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This confounding and beautiful book is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It’s unclassifiable, unsparing, unafraid and undeniably a work of genius. It’s a living, breathing portmanteau manuscript, a griffin, a chimera, a Barthelme collage. It is made up of poems, prose poems, illustrations, photographs, a love story, fairy tales, looping and loopy narratives and a lot of stuff about mermaids. In short, it's the best book I've read so far this year and, well, it blew my little mind.

[Mary Buschi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous in every way.

[Ben Houge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this fine book, first time reading it to a baby. Baby really loved the pictures and would sit down and play with the book for quite some time. I remember being really excited when I bought this book right after it came out at Elliot Bay Book Co. in Seattle. I had discovered Matthea Harvey's work relatively recently (Modern Life), and this was kind of like when one of your favorite artists releases a new album and you can't wait to hear it.

One thing I love about this book is how it reaches out to other kinds of artistic practices. I love not only the poetry but also the way that images are incorporated as a kind of visual poetry (serving as poem titles, for example). The final Teletrofono sequence of this book (baby's least favorite part) was originally developed as a sound walk on Staten Island; I would have loved to experience that.

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this book was utterly delightful to me. I loved the mermaid poems that it opens with and could have honestly read a much longer series of these. As with any collection that is as broad and playful in its scope, with its erasure poems, speculative poems, artwork and historical fiction-in-a-play-in-a-poem poems, not every piece landed for me. However I admired the daring of Harvey's imagination, the precision of her voice.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the artwork in this book, as well as the concept of combining poetry and art. The mermaid pieces and photos of figures in ice were fantastic. I had a mixed reaction to the poetry. I really enjoyed the mermaid poems, M is for Martian and Telettrofono, but I had a hard time connecting with many of the poems in the middle of the book.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazingly beautiful in its design and in its language. The individual pieces are each pretty distinct from one another, and the accompanying artwork for each piece is phenomenal. "Telettrofono" was beautiful, both in its sentiment and its accompanying needlework. I'm excited to listen to the audio version.

[Diana Marie Denza · Rating 5 out of 5]

An innovative, gorgeous, thought-provoking collection you'll come back to again and again! The series of poems about the mermaids and "Inside the Glass Factory" were brilliant pieces of cultural commentary, but my favorite poem by far was "Telettrofono," the tragic story of inventor Antonio Meucci. Originally created as a soundwalk, you can listen to the full poem on Poetry Foundation.

[eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent collection. I love the scrapbook feel of it and the sections were all so different from each other it was amazing! However, I always try to rate poetry based on the accessibility to the reader and this honestly feels like something that is forever doomed to be in an MFA classroom. I appreciate it for what it is! A mixed visual piece of poetry that talks about mermaids and glass -- love.

[Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original and highly imaginative collection of poetry and art. I have not come across anything else quite like it. The collection tends to be playful across the board, and the Meuci telettrophono ending outright quite remarkable: an unusual stew of creativity, history, drama, poetry, and art.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thing you want to hold in your hands. And the mermaids! So much shaping and reshaping in each poem, like a cootie catcher. The glass factory is ON FIRE good. Telettrofono's stitches are sweetness; but the text left me out.

[Sara Habein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Truly, wow. I am so glad that I finally read this amazing collection of art and poetry. A beautiful, surreal escape. I loved it for its strangeness, its inventiveness, and how it inspires my own work.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems for people who hate poems, or love poems, or feel neutrally about poems. Wonderfully weird with resonant, striking imagery that's hard to let go of when the book is over. Thanks to Ally Talbot Paprocki for the excellent recommendation!

[Anya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book, renewed it several times to have more hours with it. I think I should just get this book. The mermaids are just amazing, also loved the octopus. This is a very creative and very inspiring book of poetry.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially the Telettrofono.

[Timbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overly precocious and abstruse to the point of opaqueness.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

{ ***\ 3.5 stars }

Pretty solid 3 stars through most of the book, but I really loved the last section (Telettrofono).

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing.

[Jiv Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

a book about Pictures