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meaghanelizabook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Graphic: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
jayisreading's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was quite a collection, especially when it comes to the titles (many of them bound to make you chuckle). Most of these poems were playful, sometimes with a bite, though some had a tinge of sadness to them. Teeming with pop culture references, I have to admit quite a few flew over my head, but I still found Parker’s playfulness engaging.
I have to admit that these poems didn’t grab my attention the same way her later works did, but I think it’s fair to say that there was enormous growth from this debut collection to her next two collections.
Some favorites: “The World Is Beautiful but You Are Not in It,” “Greetings from Struggle City,” “On Getting One’s Groove Back,” “Young, Sassy, and Black,” and “Epistolary Poem for Reader, Brother, Grandmother, Men (or, When I Say I Want to Spit You Up)”
Read for the Sealey Challenge.
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
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