Slant Six by Erin Belieu in PDF, DOC, EPUB
9781556594717 English 1556594712 "Belieu's lyric musicality and strong sense of satire create an energetic tension and a rollicking fun book to read." -- Publishers Weekly , on Slant Six "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry , the New York Times , and the Atlantic . Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida., "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."-Robert Olen ButlerErin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six, is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life-from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. "12-Step": I am consideringlighthouses in a completely new light- their butch neutrality, their grandbut modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appearhere at any moment. I have been making this effort,placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, and Atlantic Monthly. Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida., Honored as one of "10 Favorite Books of 2014" --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" -- American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is inno¢ everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review "A smart and nettling book of poems -- about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties -- from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. ''12-Step,'' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza--''myself''--before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu''s speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." -- Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's ''[b]etter,'' she suggests, ''to forget perfection.''" -- The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America''s finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu''s fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu''s poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . ., Honored as one of "10 Favorite Books of 2014" Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them." Publishers Weekly, starred review "A smart and nettling book of poems about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. ''12-Step,'' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza''myself''before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu''s speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's ''[b]etter,'' she suggests, ''to forget perfection.''" The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison." Boston Book Review "[One] of America''s finest poets."Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu''s fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American lifefrom the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu''s poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . ., Honored as one of 10 Favorite Books of 2014" -Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" - American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."- Publishers Weekly, starred review"A smart and nettling book of poems - about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties - from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."-Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step,' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza-'myself'-before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." - Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallowsof today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's '[b]etter,' she suggests, 'to forget perfection.'" - The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poemsthat say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and graceus. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." -Cheryl Strayed"Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."-RobertOlen ButlerErin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six, is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life-from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am consideringlighthouses in a completely new light- their butch neutrality, their grandbut modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appearhere at any moment. I have been making this effort,placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . ", Starred review in Publishers Weekly: "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is inno¢ everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step,' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza--'myself'--before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." -- Booklist "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry , the New York Times , and the Atlantic . Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.
9781556594717 English 1556594712 "Belieu's lyric musicality and strong sense of satire create an energetic tension and a rollicking fun book to read." -- Publishers Weekly , on Slant Six "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry , the New York Times , and the Atlantic . Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida., "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."-Robert Olen ButlerErin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six, is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life-from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. "12-Step": I am consideringlighthouses in a completely new light- their butch neutrality, their grandbut modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appearhere at any moment. I have been making this effort,placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, the New York Times, and Atlantic Monthly. Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida., Honored as one of "10 Favorite Books of 2014" --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" -- American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is inno¢ everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review "A smart and nettling book of poems -- about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties -- from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. ''12-Step,'' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza--''myself''--before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu''s speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." -- Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's ''[b]etter,'' she suggests, ''to forget perfection.''" -- The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America''s finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu''s fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu''s poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . ., Honored as one of "10 Favorite Books of 2014" Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them." Publishers Weekly, starred review "A smart and nettling book of poems about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. ''12-Step,'' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza''myself''before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu''s speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallows of today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's ''[b]etter,'' she suggests, ''to forget perfection.''" The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison." Boston Book Review "[One] of America''s finest poets."Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu''s fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American lifefrom the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu''s poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . ., Honored as one of 10 Favorite Books of 2014" -Dwight Garner, The New York Times Honored as a "Standout Book of 2014" - American Poet magazine "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is innocent; everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."- Publishers Weekly, starred review"A smart and nettling book of poems - about love, sex, social class and our free-floating anxieties - from a writer who is a comedian of the human spirit. Her crisp free verse has as many subcurrents as a magnetic field."-Dwight Garner, The New York Times "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step,' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza-'myself'-before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." - Booklist "From poem to poem in the smart, savvy Slant Six, Belieu channels an updated American idiom, one of stubborn in-betweenhood. Like the plain-spoken poetry that plumbed the depths of American consciousness in the 20th century, Belieu trawls the shallowsof today's America and finds just as much caught in its oily reflections as in its murkier subcurrents. It's '[b]etter,' she suggests, 'to forget perfection.'" - The Boston Globe "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poemsthat say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and graceus. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." -Cheryl Strayed"Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."-RobertOlen ButlerErin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six, is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life-from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am consideringlighthouses in a completely new light- their butch neutrality, their grandbut modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appearhere at any moment. I have been making this effort,placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . ", Starred review in Publishers Weekly: "Belieu oscillates between dark humor, self-consciousness, and pointed satire in a fourth collection that's equal-opportunity in its critique. In the world of these poems, no one is inno¢ everyone is confined to the complexity, absurdity, and, above all, fallibility of their human condition.... Anchoring the work is a conversational, lyrical speaker willing to implicate herself as part of the political and social constructs she criticizes, as when she depicts a Southern American culture still reeling from its history of social injustice, and even the Civil War: "Don't tell us/ history. Nobody hearts a cemetery/ like we do." It's a fantastic collection; Belieu desires not to dress issues up but confront them."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Politics, pop culture, and parenthood appear here along with reflections on our collective moments of hypocrisy and hope. '12-Step,' one of the most resonant entries, begins innocuously with a meditation about lighthouses, then the speaker gathers speed and confidence and reaches a risky but profound one-word stanza--'myself'--before ending with a haunting inversion of the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. Amid the quips and the elegant observations about immortality, Belieu's speakers never forget their responsibilities, or their possibilities." -- Booklist "I've never read a poem by Erin Belieu that I didn't want to immediately rip from its bindings so I could fold it up and carry around in my pockets and read so many times that the paper turned back into pulp. She's just that good. That honest and brave and beautiful and wise and funny. She writes poems we need. Poems that say who I am and who you are and how and why we got to be this way. Poems that wonder if we can ever change. Poems that know us and show us and grace us. Poems that remember us and forget us and leave us dazzled in their dust. In Slant Six, she's outdone herself. It's a spellbinding, heart-opening beauty of a book." --Cheryl Strayed "Erin Belieu . . . is always ready to surprise, to astonish, and, ultimately, to defy comparison."-- Boston Book Review "[One] of America's finest poets."--Robert Olen Butler Erin Belieu's fourth collection, Slant Six , is an inundation of the humor and horror in contemporary American life--from the last saltine cracked in the sleeve, to the kitty-cat calendar in an office cubicle. With its prophecies of impending destruction, and a simultaneous flood of respect for Americans, Erin Belieu's poems close like Ziploc bags around a human heart. From "12-Step": I am considering lighthouses in a completely new light-- their butch neutrality, their grand but modest surfaces. A lighthouse could appear here at any moment. I have been making this effort, placing myself in uncomfortable positions, only for the documented health benefits . . . Erin Belieu is the author of three books, and her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry , the New York Times , and the Atlantic . Belieu co-founded VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and currently directs the creative writing program at Florida State University. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.