Reviews

Please by Jericho Brown

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scrow1022's review against another edition

5.0

This was harder to read than his second book, grittier yet also more veiled. There were lines I shuddered at, from both pain at what he was saying and pleasure in how he could say it. But there is a rhythm to his work that draws me in.

shaunnow38's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

zellapaige's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

A man I tried to love / Handed me binoculars and / Explained the shrike / Impales its victims on barbed wire / And rusty nails.
(Sean, 37)

This collection is gorgeously written. The strength of Jericho's reflections on his life and culture makes for a beautifully crafted collection. However, the collection is deeply steeped in the culture of music. I personally do not have any depth of understanding of music or musical history, so the portions of the collection focused on that mostly went over my head. Even though I found the musically themed poems predominately fascinating, I was frustrated by how inaccessible I found them.

White folks looking at me // Directly and going blind // So they wouldn't have to see / What in the world was burning black.
(Track 4: Reflections, 11)

My favorite poems in the collection are Again, Detailing the Nape, Grip, Fall, Tin Man, Lunch, Lion, and Family Portrait. Perhaps my utmost favorite of the collection is the poem, Betty Jo Jackson. I found that poem to be one of the most interesting insights into the personal biography of the author. Despite the entire poem focusing on a story about his mother many years before he was born. I found the poem to be a genius blend of a family kind of myth and personal reflections. Your Body Made Heavy with Gin is one of the most beautiful reflections on the long-term effects of physical abuse. I found the poem to be a brilliant blend of pain and honesty.

But you were humming // A love song–then hoping to hear him / Sing the lyrics.
(Crickets, 32)

dillarhonda's review against another edition

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Jericho Brown's Please blurs the line between violence and love. The suggestion that those who have experienced a violent childhood are more likely to experience violent intimate relationships is a subtle thread that binds these poems together. Brown's title, read as either a request or a plea for mercy, illuminates the complicated relationships victims can have with their abusers. The difference between abuse and love can be hard to see in these poems, with many meriting an immediate second or third reading. Intricately structured and radiating heat, Brown's poems are both difficult to read and impossible to look away from.