Rusell Edson

The selected pieces in Little Mr. Prose Poem come from ten volumes Russell Edson published between 1964 and 2009. While Edson's style could consistently be called strange throughout those decades, the poems from the second volume represented here struck me as strange simply for the sake of being strange, and it was my least favorite section (and had the fewest poems chosen for this book, so maybe my opinion is shared).

At his best, Edson is strange AND a pleasure to read. "Now that you are falling down your stairway, what is it you have forgotten?" "The Wheel" is about being stuck with family, so re-read every "wheel" in the poem as the obligation of a "We'll." Here's a line that in its lush loveliness evokes a Chagall painting: "The husband said, shall we do backward dives, and into windows floating come kissing in a central room?"

A few of the poems make me think I've learned something fairly superficial about Edson (ah, yes, this was the poet's Hemorrhoid Period). A few more of the poems show me something profound about myself. I dislike some of the poems as gratuitously ugly except for a sentence or phrase that I love, and I love some of the poems in spite of the ugliest parts of themselves. I can't say I appreciate the scatological stuff (or the monkeys or "cow's milk bags"), but Edson's way with violence can be surprisingly delightful: simultaneously frightening and fun in the way a good murder mystery can be fun ("Slaughter Time in the Hills" and "Sweet Tooth").

This book is number 196 in BOA Editions' American Poets Continuum Series. The formatting, editing, Foreword and Afterword all greatly enhanced my reading experience, and I will certainly be seeking out other volumes in the series. (The complete series to date is enticingly listed at the end of the book.)… (más)

Even the title of this collection contains such satirical irony as I try to both envision what exactly a prose poem is, and what it would look like if it was a person. After reading a few poems selected at random, I found reading the foreword and afterward helpful for both insight and some context. I had not been aware of Russell Edson and this collection was quite a joyous introduction--- at times inspiring! Although the settings and scenarios of the poems are often on the surface preposterous, they speak so sharply to the human condition that I'm not sure whether to laugh at or with the characters, poem and/or poet. I like poetry that pushes me to think and this certainly does. I'd have enjoyed a bit more from the editor as far as why certain poems were chosen and the overall goal of the collection. This is book to be read over time in small and large chunks and I can see myself returning to it again. Edson's Mentality (p. 113) may be a great one to start with. Others that stood out included Angels (p. 128), The Gift (p. 113), The Cottage in the Woods (p. 92). I cannot begin to review the range of "topics" as Edson speaks of farting pianos, monkeys spreading hemmorhoids, wooly sheep the size of grains of rice, and erasing the wrong nostril to have it then be forever lost. Enjoy!!… (más)