Michelle Tea - The Beautiful: Collected Poems The Beautiful: Collected PoemsPrice: $14.95 » » Buy this Product @ Amazon.com « «
Editorial ReviewsProduct Description Michelle Tea ran away to San Francisco in the early 90s. There she found a home in open mic venues, and self-published a steady stream of very limited edition photocopied poetry chapbooks, which are available in a single volume for the first time in The Beautiful. Reflective themes of unrequited love and languor, hopes and heartbreak, prostitution and destitution fill every page with immediately accessible narrative lines. Similar Products
Customer ReviewsCarissa A. Boak Said: Poetic Voice of Queer Subculture ( May. 17th 2009 ) Tea has been called a voice of the queer urban subculture emerging as gay, lesbian and transgender individuals are becoming somewhat more noticed in mainstream media. And this is what this collection of poems seems to be primarily about: Tea's relationship with America which is like that of a codependant woman in a somewhat abusive relationship. In the title poem of the collection, "The Beautiful", she writes as if America is a girl she is dating: "can I process/my bad relationship/with America/can we go to/couple's counseling." In the poem "McDonalds" the girl America takes her money while offering limited choices for spending what she has left: "I ate the burger/because I only had/two dollars/I had three but one/for the bus." Tea's poetic constructions get their in-your-face punch from the short-story narrative style of her poems. As with her other works, the poems vividly illustrate her life experiences and memories. Those unused to her style of combining her compassion with her frankness may view her as offensive or shocking. In her poem "Johns Who Don't Pay Are Rapists" she writes about some of her experiences as a prostitute: "but with a gun that flashes/on the mirrored walls and/what do they do they throw me/onto the bed and/it is about consent". Michelle Tea continues to a be a loud and strong feminist voice for straight and gay women alike. C. Reilly Said: Amazing. ( Feb. 7th 2007 ) I was very disappointed to see this collection rated so poorly. If you're expecting "conventional" poetry, this book may not be for you, but there is an intrinsic beauty to her work that is rarely appreciated in literature. Tea's poems are more honest and realistic than most poetry I've studied. "For Zanne For Zanne For Zanne" is one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever come across. I was appalled at reading that her poetry does not have much depth, because there is so much behind her words, and I really feel like it depends on the depth of the reader for that to actually sink in. While I would agree it does have a very high school feel to it, that's where the beauty is- it is so streamingly pure. If you can't see the beauty in it, I feel sorry for you, because it is an amazing collection of poems. I would recommend her poetry before any of her novels. skip this one Said: not good at all ( Jul. 6th 2005 ) she claims to be a feminist, yet she eschews all jobs she has and decides to be a prostitute, since she can make so much money in so little time. in one poem she's complaining that a women ought to be able to make money without prostituting herself. does she realize there are actually plenty of ways? instead of just thinking of college as "groping for wet spaces" in the dark, maybe she should have thought of it as education that would help her start a career. asdf Said: meh. ( Jun. 2nd 2005 ) it's allright. the whole book is more like reading a diary of a 15 yr old aspiring poet. you know, the kind of teenager that takes themselves too seriously. throughout the collection, tea never seems to mature or to learn anything, but perhaps that comes in a later book. tea's writing does draw you in, though. if only she would apply her style to something other than her angsty relationships, her writing would be great. the best parts of her poems are usually when she digresses and talks about her surroundings, but then she always goes back to the afore-mentioned angst. tea is like those hippie and hippie wannabe people you lived with in the dorms, the ani difranco worshipping freshmen who prided themselves on being so openminded, when in fact they looked down upon anyone who wasn't exactly like themselves. if they, and tea, ever grow up, they might have something interesting to say, but for now....meh. |
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