Things and Flesh

Rating:
Summary: Not meritless, but also not very good
Review: If Gregg were a personal friend, I would of course applaud her. She is not completely without talent and there are some nice poems in this book, though I think most would agree that her best are to be found in her first book. But I am not her friend, I am a poet: and as a reader I have to say she is just not in the same league as poets such as C.D. Wright, Lucie Brock-Broido, or Carolyn Forche, or any one of a number of newer fresher voices who have recently published. She never discovered anything. She never broke new ground. She is a poet who has always promised much, but delivered little. This book is hands down her most mediocre. It suffers from aesthetic laziness, from default thinking and repetition, and I would say a lifelong lack of courage. Sad because she really is a "could have been".

Rating:
Summary: The problems with "Poe-biz"
Review: This is a profoundly mediocre book of the type which, unfortunately, seems to be very common today as poets feel the pressures to crank out puffed up collections of verse so that they can present an acceptable curriculum vitae to the myriad of academic programs in which they aspire to teach. That is my interpretation anyway. I can think of no other reason why Gregg would submit such self-centered drivel to the public.

Almost none of these poems feel fully realized. They suffer from a lack of wisdom, a lack of thought, and an utterly flat ear.

One of the saddest things is that in the few places where Gregg succeeds, she sounds exactly like Jack Gilbert. It is a fatal flaw which has made it difficult for many readers to take Gregg seriously. I have heard many people comment on this. I too found her first book promising. Its promise lay mainly in my belief that, sooner or later, Gregg would outgrow her tendency to channel Gilbert, and grow into her own. It just hasn't happened.

There are some poets who really should take a long break from manufacturing verse, and simply spend time at the humble task of READING poetry. Gregg belongs on that list. She has several favorite cliches which she uses over and over, and which she really needs to retire. Surely she can do better.

Rating:
Summary: No Vision
Review: When Gregg's first book came out, she was a poet I found promising. In my opinion though, Gregg hasn't lived up to that promise at all. Her work at best fizzles and fails to reach its mark, and at worst insults the reader's intelligence with it vapid, self-centered pronouncements.

One thing I cannot get away from as I read these poems is simply how false they all sound. In poem after poem, the poet seems to desperately try to be something she is not. Imitation for the sake of learning is fine, but at some point one expects a poet to find and have the courage follow her own voice. This particular book has gotten a number of bad reviews, and one can see why.

It is really too bad because I think Gregg's early work showed some talent. Judging by this collection, it just never took root or gained substance. One wishes for and expects better.