The Summer of Black Widows

Rating:
Summary: weak collection
Review: the poems in this collection range from merely mediocre to bad. the major theme is being indian and the wrongs done. but if you are familiar with alexie's worth than that won't surprise you. and his sister's death by fire makes an appearance in several poems. the problem is alexie never says anything new in this book. you could pick any five poems at random and that's all you need. the other poems say the same thing. there is one bright spot, the first section of his poem "Inside Dachau", but it completely falls apart after that first section. i hope that one day alexie will select his best 10 poems and the best of his short stories and put out a selected poems and prose, that way instead of having so many mediocre books, maybe we can get one book that is really good.

Rating:
Summary: abstract
Review: This book seems the most abstract of Alexie's works to date. Containing the same insightful, introspective and powerful images and descriptions as his past works, this one differs in that it is slightly less "in-your-face". Keeps the reader thinking, wondering what the underlying meaning of the work could mean. This is not a spoon-fed collection of easy to read poems. Keep this one around awhile for study and contemplation. Truly inspired.

Rating:
Summary: admiration and awe
Review: This collection of poems is woven beautifully together. Like his other books of poetry and novels this book is thought provoking, humorous, disturbing and wonderful. Once again I am left breathless at the end of one of Mr. Alexie's book wanting more. I found myself weaving in and out of the book, reading one poem then returning to a previous poem because of the way they interconnected. A truely wonderful experience and cannot wait for the next release be it novel, poetry or film by this young talented writer.