A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge

Rating:
Summary: Well, it was a funny idea...
Review: A Night Without Armor II was a clever idea, but it gets boring quickly. The poems aren't interesting or funny enough to keep the book going. Judging by some of Beau's other work, he's an excellent poet. I wish he would put out a book of his more engaging efforts.

Rating:
Summary: What poetry seems to lose when people get too stuffy
Review: An amazing book - so many people forget that poetry can be funny or outrageous or disgusting and still carry water. What struck me, as I was reading this, was that the book could stand alone. It didn't need Jewel's book behind it. Instead of merely capitalizing on angst and sentimentality, as too many poets do, it threw dirt in my face and made me like it.

Yum!

Rating:
Summary: B E A U, about tha HORSE OCK MANIFESTO:
Review: Buy the book everyone! It will make you rich and beautiful! Beau- I want to use the "Manifesto" as the subject of a short film. Don't know how else to get in touch wit you. . . [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Beau is God
Review: He wrote it in four hours and you can tell. Beau Sia is a pretty fantastic spoken word performer and his onstage work is definitely stronger than this. That aside, this book is still a Beau Sia work, making it a cut funnier and more eloquent than the rest. Ironically it reads a bit stronger than many other more popular spoken word artists inspite of the fact that it is a quickly written satire. A wonderful experiment.

Rating:
Summary: Beau's book: parody or experiment?
Review: I don't really believe that "a night without armor II: the revenge" is a parody of Jewel's book. Yes, the cover was parodied, and Beau used all of Jewel's titles as titles for his own poems. But from there, any similarity between what Beau writes and what Jewel wrote ends. He claims to have written this book in four hours, and having known Beau in high school and knowing the way he does things, it's probably true. But the quickness in the writing and the total opposite-of-Jewel's-writing approach he takes should not be taken for a straight parody, as, say, "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Eat It" would be. Beau is original and fresh, and in a world of driveling, whining poets (I did not mention Jewel here out of respect for her fans), I think maybe we need a breath of fresh Oklahoma air.

-the artist formerly known as M. J.

Rating:
Summary: What do you expect?
Review: I don't understand what people expect from this book. I mean, of course it wouldn't be able to hold up without Jewel's original book. I mean, it was written specifically for the purpose of trashing it. I think Beau Sia is absolutely hilarious (if you've heard or read any of his other stuff, you'd most definitely agree). And speaking as a poet (getting involved with poetry slams is what introduced me to Sia's work), Jewel and her style of poetry were what made me hate poetry in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: i hated it
Review: i have to say, i hated this book. it was not funny and not deep and not inspiring whatsoever. beau sia is the worst writer of all time and i will not buy his cd or buy any more of his works. he will not be known as the greatest poet of all time in a few years. i do not recommend this book to anyone at all and i'm not gonna read this book over and over again.

i lie sometimes. :)

Rating:
Summary: Worst book I have EVER read!
Review: Jewel's book is her thoughts, life experiences, and dreams. It it sad that someone would want to trash such a beautiful person. I bought this book, read it, and threw it in the garbage. It did nothing more than insult. Beau, why don't you try something original. Then I'll be able to get a laugh from your work.

Rating:
Summary: derivative, egotistical, but not as bad as his CD
Review: the cover photo doesn't make sense unless one has seen Jewel's book. something about the look on the face, though, is annoying--it says it all. the poems say very little except that Sia has deep resentments, no mercy and can't feel a thing. it's a vicious attack cloaked in parody--railing against "uncool" pop poetry with "cool" pop poetry. the CD is even worse: "I'm the world's greatest emcee..." he's not. self-vaunting and screechy sounding, the voice on the CD also says it all...ending with a leech-like suck and spew of how Ginsberg said he was "beautiful" at some poetry reading in New York just days before his death. America the Beautiful. Beau Sia wants to be the America. Beau Sia the America! but he needs your support before he can become her. and burn you.

Rating:
Summary: most beau sia detractors are working too hard
Review: This book isn't a piece of art in itself. Divorced from context it's funny as hell, but that's about it. However, it becomes great in comparison to the relentlessly mediocre, staid, trite, and self-indulgent book by Jewel. Nothing against Jewel. I'm sure she's a nice person, and I find some of her music bearable, however, you have to be kidding yourself if you think she can write poetry. SHE CANNOT!

I know that this book probably doesn't deserve five stars. As I said, it isn't anything special in itself. But its sense of occasion, its mordant wit, and its self-deprecating, irreverent, and unholy tone are wonderful, even indispensable.

As for those Jewel fans out there who view this book negatively because of your fan status, get over it. Writers bash each other all of the time. If she didn't want to get slammed for her very personal and private writings, she shouldn't have published them for the whole world to see. I think Sia's book was both a good reality check for Jewel in that it exposed the fact that her poetry needs a whole lot of work, as well as giving free publicity for the book (I read Jewel's book because of Sia's).

In closing, if you aren't uptight, can tolerate foul language, and have a sense of humor, read this book. If you are so much of a Jewel fan that you cannot tolerate detractors, then don't. Pretty simple.