A review by tomhill
Erratic Facts by Kay Ryan

3.0

This didn't resonate with me the way The Best of It did. Perhaps that book sets unrealistic expectations, as The Best of It is, as the title suggests, a collection of the best of Kay Ryan's work and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize. Ryan's trademark style is here, but her phrasing and what imagery there is just didn't capture me the same way. I think Kay Ryan's writing style, when done well, really packs a punch. I was a bit uninspired by most of the poems in Erratic Facts although I continue to admire Ryan's style and have appreciation for how deceptively simple it often seems. My favorite poem was "Velvet":

There are
hills you
long to
touch:

velvet to
the eyes.

So much
is soft

the wrong
size.