A humble volume of poems that advocates kindness and exemplifies wisdom.
Hood’s poems play with form as they explore themes of faith, hope, and love in this collection.
In this volume, the poet regards social phenomena—haircuts, gender identity, the contrasts between the past and present-day life, American culture, family, marriage, aging, and mortality—with compassion and acceptance. One of the collection’s more didactic poems, “Talking and Listening,” emphasizes the loss of love between people when communication breaks down, while “Purchased Kisses” upholds the sacredness of small intimacies. Of the more personal poems, “Dreams Before…” expresses loneliness in truth and quietness, while “Despair” uses sweet rhymes to express a bitter emotion. There is a simplicity in the author’s voice that evokes picking up a familiar object, observing it from several angles, then putting it down gently, as in “The Ayers Maple”: “I wonder and notice again / A small stone plaque placed to remind / Succeeding generations that those who were once young / Loved maples, too, And oaks / enough to plant them.” The poems alternate between long and short line lengths, occasionally employing end rhymes that are sometimes a bit contrived but always fun, even when the subject matter has somber undertones, as in “Real”: “When you are lost / You need to stop / To clear your clouded mind / To quiet fears / To ponder doubts / To let them go / To move on with your find…” Even when the form is playful, the speaker always finds a way back to the crux of the poem, and each ending is satisfying, often containing a moral. The poems on gender and sexuality are somewhat reductive; “The Cross Dresser” opens with an onlooker’s presumption: “Clothes are one way / You try to say / Just who you think you are. / You snap a photo with your phone / To twitter near -or far.” The most powerful pieces in the collection are the confessional poems, which are vulnerable and honest, including “And Now That I am Eighty-two” and “Who Are You?”
A humble volume of poems that advocates kindness and exemplifies wisdom.Pub Date: June 12, 2023
ISBN: 9798890300911
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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