Diane Seuss, Frank: Sonnets
 

Has anyone here read this? Thoughts?

https://www.amazon.com/frank-sonnets...dp/1644450453/

I have not, but the fact that there's an entire book of sonnets out there that won a Pulitzer along with a host of other poetry prizes in this day-and-age makes me want to read it immediately. Thanks for the heads up as I'll probably grab the Kindle edition.

Jonathan, before you do anything hasty, look at the "Look inside" option on Amazon. You will see that the poems do not seem to be metrical or rhyme. So, if sonnets that don't do either appeal to you, go ahead.

Susan

Jonathan, you might find Terrance Hayes's American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin more to your liking. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2016. He wrote all 70 in a span of 200 days, so they're not all great, some in fact are bad, but they are frequently entertaining and they range from traditional to experimental, though they are all 14 lines.

@Susan: I do not mind un-rhymed, un-metrical poetry in general, and don't demand them (even if I prefer them, all things being equal; which they never are) in forms like the sonnet. Thanks for the caution, though.

@Orwn: Thanks for the additional suggestion. I've written around 50 sonnets in my lifetime, many of which I spent weeks on from initial conception to the final polishing; it amazes me how some possess the facility to write so many so quickly! It also sounds like an interesting project that I will check out.

I've read this and her earlier books. No, they are not formal sonnets. So, if that is the deal breaker step back. Seuss is very much a contemporary poet. I read once where, when asked what she thought is essential to be a poet, she responded "memory." I don't agree with that. I am pretty tired of the autopoliticalsexual poetry so prevalent these days. I understand why it's out there, why it may even be necessary at this time, but it doesn't usually make for great poetry. In the end, it's so self-centered it makes me tired. It's sort of like being trapped by a person with a giant ego and genius gift for gab at a party you didn't want to go to in the first place. Seuss is from that school, but I have to say is better than most. I know she's been influenced by Gerald Stern's American Sonnets, which manages to be drawn from experience without making us look at his fingernails, or genitals, and I think it serves her well. Her best book is The Four-Legged Girl, IMO, although, as said, I'm pretty fried on that type of poetry.

She did win the Pulitizer with Frank, btw.

My half-penny, FWIW

Thanks very much, friends.

I once heard a drunk guy opine that there is no such thing as bad or boring sex. Some poets seem to be of the same opinion. I guess I'm about to find out if Diane Seuss is one of them.

I don't mind free verse, if it's good. Can't write it myself, but I'm not opposed to those who can.

Julie, are you sure the drunk guy wasn't talking about pizza?

Hear, here.

Yes. Surely everyone has deeply regretted pizza at least once.