A review by shanviolinlove
The Beforelife by Franz Wright

2.0

I was actually disappointed in this collection of poems by an artist of Wright's caliber. Having been mesmerized earlier this year by his stunning collection, Walking to Martha's Vineyard, I was expecting something with the same eloquence and achingly beautiful remorse over passing time, aging, death. Martha's Vineyard could convey raw anger and questioning without the adulteration of vulgarities that Wright seems to rely on in The Beforelife. I also found the structure of the poems a bit archaic, with unmemorable line breaks and cliche topics. It is not the worst collection of poetry I have ever encountered, but I was expecting something much more evocative and deeper from Franz Wright than this collection provided.