Signs of Love
Lesléa Newman
Review
Leslea Newman is a writer of astonishing versatility and craft. Two of her early books of poetry which had gone out of print, Signs of Love and Sweet Dark Places, have been reissued in a combined volume, Signs of Love (Windstorm, 12.95). How to Be a Famous Lesbian Writer: An Autobiography in Progress is a very funny and, I m afraid, painfully accurate look at the travails of a writer s life. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Cat expresses the reality of the Lesbian nation… How I Want You is the clearest and most romantic explication of desire you ll ever read, and I wish I had a woman in my life right now just so I could read her those words. No kidding, Signs of Love is breathtaking. –Deborah Peifer, Bay Area Reporter, March 1, 2001
Review
Consider the titles of some of the 98 selections in Signs of Love, Leslea Newman s new collection of poems. Titles such as Rage and Mugged and Central Park Jogger. Consider these titles and consider yourself warned: The work of this distinctive and distinguished lesbian poet is as demanding, and rewarding, as it is impossible to pigeonhole. There are romantic poems and polemical poems… as well as erotic poems, very erotic poems, and stupendously steamy erotic poems. There are also angry poems about rape and bulimia: playful poems about cats and baby dykes; and pensive poems about writers and writing. A good number of these poems and some of the most affecting explore Newman s heritage. She writes with great tenderness about her grandmother, about Seders and Sabbaths, about the tastes and textures of growing up in Jewish Brooklyn in the 1960s. (She also includes a glossary of English translations for the many Yiddish words and phrases sprinkled throughout the book…. Newman writes with relentless candor about sexual abuse and eating disorders, about the pervasiveness of violence against women. Some or the angrier poems and there are quite a few of those here read like transcripts of therapy sessions, but others like Solstice Song, possess a grace that seems rooted in a hard-won place of great peace… The power of Signs of Love lies in its refusal to back off, ease up, or chill out. Leslea Newman writes with the volume on her original, memorable voice pumped all the way up. –Kevin Riordan, Philadelphia Gay News, April 6, 2001
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Details
| ISBN | 1886383456 |
| Genre | Award Winner; Poetry |
| Publication Date | Apr-00 |
| Publisher | Windstorm Creative |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 220 |
| Notes | Signs of Love by Leslea Newman was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist –Lambda Literary Award |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Good |
| BookID | 11792 |
