Deepstep Come Shining

Rating:
Summary: Spare your wallet and your time
Review: Don't bother investing in a work of such paltry pseudo-poetry. Michael Ondaatje's assessment of the book (found on the back cover) is far more poetic than anything Wright offers up as "poetry" during the course of her disconnected ramblings. If you are appreciative of fragmentary gobs of language which hardly convey meaning, you'll go for this; however, for my money, I'd rather buy a dictionary and read it cover to cover for sheer linguistic enjoyment. I'm sure a dictionary has better narrative elements, too.

If you want real poetry, try E. E. Cummings, Louise Glück, Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove, or Auden. Don't bother with Wright.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and Strange
Review: In this book length poem C.D. Wright navigates through the American South, both geographically and linguisticly. The result is a beautiful dark journey with powerful rhythms and imagery. One of the most consuming, pleasurable reads I've had.

Rating:
Summary: contemporary poetry at its best
Review: This is a difficult book of poetry, but one well worth the challenge. Wright brings one into a world of language that trancends the ordinary...her words are haunting, and her vision is remarkable.