A review by bigcheese
I Am in Bed With You, by Emma Barnes
2.0
‘This is a creation myth,’ so cute and entertaining it’s a wacky way to tell a story. It’s less about saying things than being wacky, but it is appreciated. Good creation myth, valid as any other.
That tone and subject matter doesn’t continue. Barnes’ voice is assured and some of the pieces have a few passages that a strong impact. ‘Ohio,’ to me, was the strongest piece in the first section (the section is named after the opening piece: ‘This is a creation myth’). ‘Ohio’ is vivid and depressing, though it doesn’t make itself as clear as I need at this time. The last piece in ‘This is a creation myth,’ ‘Landslide,’ is so incoherent that I can’t retain an image from it. I didn’t feel very much through this first third of the collection. I’m not getting enough imagery there is a lot of sentences coming at you from the void.
Prose poems are cool in essence though.
Lots of Sigourney Weaver to come.
Not sure if it’s about the circumstance of waking up and starting to read but ‘Sigourney Weaver gets citizenship’ and ‘the impregnation’ are my two favourites so far of the section.
Most of the time I’m not seeing much point to anything in the book.
I guess it is kind of charming seeing Sigourney Weaver wandering around Aro Valley, in Aro Video etc.
‘Down,’ towards the end, was the best—an all round solid piece. Read that and the first 20 pages. Some of the very final ones were slightly evocative.
I wouldn’t say that anyone should put this book on their shelf. I’d put it on to Aro Valley residents for a bit of kitsch. Don’t even get it out from the library unless it’s the only book available and you feel the need to read. Sigourney Weaver admirers won’t get much out of that section, but I’d recommend it to Sigourney Weaver mega fans and Weaver herself.
That tone and subject matter doesn’t continue. Barnes’ voice is assured and some of the pieces have a few passages that a strong impact. ‘Ohio,’ to me, was the strongest piece in the first section (the section is named after the opening piece: ‘This is a creation myth’). ‘Ohio’ is vivid and depressing, though it doesn’t make itself as clear as I need at this time. The last piece in ‘This is a creation myth,’ ‘Landslide,’ is so incoherent that I can’t retain an image from it. I didn’t feel very much through this first third of the collection. I’m not getting enough imagery there is a lot of sentences coming at you from the void.
Prose poems are cool in essence though.
Lots of Sigourney Weaver to come.
Not sure if it’s about the circumstance of waking up and starting to read but ‘Sigourney Weaver gets citizenship’ and ‘the impregnation’ are my two favourites so far of the section.
Most of the time I’m not seeing much point to anything in the book.
I guess it is kind of charming seeing Sigourney Weaver wandering around Aro Valley, in Aro Video etc.
‘Down,’ towards the end, was the best—an all round solid piece. Read that and the first 20 pages. Some of the very final ones were slightly evocative.
I wouldn’t say that anyone should put this book on their shelf. I’d put it on to Aro Valley residents for a bit of kitsch. Don’t even get it out from the library unless it’s the only book available and you feel the need to read. Sigourney Weaver admirers won’t get much out of that section, but I’d recommend it to Sigourney Weaver mega fans and Weaver herself.