Reviews for Walk on the wild side

The average rating for Walk on the wild side based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-12-25 00:00:00 Joe Vince I picked up Walk on the Wild Side: Urban American Poetry since 1975 expecting it to be more or less Everyman's Poems of New York with a wider focus and a more contemporary (well, 20th century) angle, which I thought would result in a vital and edgy anthology of poems of what life is truly like in the big city. It turns out I was half right. Editor Nicholas Christopher collected 115 poems from sixty poets - including, one notes, three from himself - which he chooses to arrange alphabetically by author rather than thematically or by city. While I understand his reasoning, I actually think I would have enjoyed exploring the works more grouped into regions and tasting the different flavors of Chicago, Detroit, or LA as presented by the various poets. As it was, the quality of the volume seemed to degrade as it went on, which seems odd given the alphabetical arrangement, so it's possible that I just started losing interest in the concept. Although I appreciated Christopher focusing on contemporary (more or less) poets and not simply trotting out the same old Sandburg poems about Chicago, overall I found this particular selection more mildly uninspiring than wild, so I doubt I'll be taking this particular Walk again.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-12 00:00:00 Milo Milic 60 poets, many of them well-published, familiar names, mixed with less well-known poets, contributed 115 poems to this anthology. The editor deliberately chose not to group the poems by specific city or region; the collection is arranged alphabetically by writer. Christopher used only work by American poets writing about or in American cities, and in his intro he discussed why he chose the year 1975. In the interest of full disclosure, I enjoy themed anthologies. I almost always discover writers whose work I want to explore further, as well as enjoy the rhythm of familiar poets. This collection held far more hits than misses, although there were a few poems where I struggled to find anything specifically urban. There are poems I return to, lines that catch in my throat, take my breath, make me stop and close the book. It would be difficult to quote from or even list all of my favorites, and I feel a bit guilty mentioning just a few. Following is a sampling. Many of the poems describe scenes found while walking through a city. and there on the corner of Thirty-fourth and Fifth, the man with the saxophone, his fingerless gloves caked with grime, his face also, the layers of clothes welded to his skin. (The Man with the Saxophone, Ai) Then, on Broadway, red wings in a storefront tableau, lustrous, the live macaws preening, beaks opening and closing like those animated knives that unfold all night in jewelers’ windows. (Broadway, Mark Doty) Closest to the exit, rainbow trout examining the snow That falls like bait, like a hundred vowels In search of a language. (The Consequences of Waking, by Vickie Karp) There are poems that deal with crime. The quarter-moon goes blank Behind a cloud. He frames a picture In his head, retraces his footsteps To Shorty’s liquor store. He will go in this time. (The Cage Walker, Yusef Komunyakaa) Carol Muske takes us on a kindergarten field trip. Downtown, on the precinct wall, hangs the map of Gang Territories, blocks belonging to the red Bloods or blue Crips. (Field Trip, Carol Muske) One of my absolute favorites: The night we bailed out Jolene from Riker’s Island tumbleweeds in such multitudes were blowing through the dark it might almost have been Wyoming. She’d turned larceny against the bureaucracy into an art form. When they raised the subway fare and simultaneously cut back on Human Resources, Jolene began jumping turnstiles as a matter of principle. (Amaranth and Moly, Amy Clampett) One of the most poignant poems in this collection is PBS, by Robert Mazzocco. The ferries go out with the bodies from the morgue, on a cool winter’s day, the ferries go out, carrying off the bodies of strangers, who have been found, desolate and alone, lost in the heart of the city. Mazzocco goes on to describe Rikers Island inmates digging graves for burial in Potters Field. Walk on the Wild Side is a wonderful collection of poetry that pulses with heartbeat of America’s cities.