Korri Palmer
Hey everyone, this week’s review is a little different. As the year winds down and pop culture only trades holiday memes and welcomes a random Mac Miller (R.I.P. a true legend) bashing from Goldlink (sorry to this man), I was left with little to review. So, this week I will review Scott Laudati’s poetry book Camp Winapooka and no, I have no idea how that should be pronounced.
Scott has two other poetry books and three Pushcart Prize nominations. He is a well- rounded writer of short stories, essays and poetry, and he makes it a huge point for us to know he lives in New York City with his boxer, Satine. So how did his book get from the Big Apple to good ol’ Wooster, Ohio? Well, I bet you all didn’t know that The Voice had such a far reach! Just far enough for the book to land in my inbox in need of a review.
The book consists of 43 poems separated into the follow- ing seven sections: “Lapsarian Fatigue,” “Hollywood Hell,” “Contributions to Delinquency,” “Shaman Haman,” “Bite the Dirt,” “Yeti Funeral” and “Boondocked in Perico.” Although the names are a little peculiar to say the least, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the poems. I chose to focus on the following three for my review: “my bluest valentine,” “goodnight moon” and “beautiful things.”
First, “my bluest valentine” reflects on the teenage love that we all admired yet get a little heartbroken over when we think about it. With memories of unkept promises, “my bluest valentine” ends on a bittersweet note that makes my frozen ice- box of a heart just a little warm.
However, the next poem, “goodnight moon,” led to a complete fire as Scott talks about the battles mothers face when it comes to fulfilling their dreams, once they have children. Though I cannot relate to this experience, “goodnight moon” oddly resembles the Langston Hughes poem, “A Dream Deferred,” in the way that it shows a brutally honest example of what happens when you suppress your passions to the point of liter- ally setting yourself on fire.
On another note, Stuart finishes his book with a somber ending through “mercy me” as he describes his death in a very confusing way that somehow is connected to a dog he misses and a sick pony. Maybe because of my horrible annotation skills I cannot understand this one, but I truly did enjoy the twists and turns of this novel.
In order to get access to this book, feel free to email me for the copy. College is all about free things so if you need some free poems to read that will shock you and make you a little warm during this dreary winter season, send me an email. Overall, Scott shares his stories with us, and I was more than happy to listen to them. This book was quirky, sophisticated and very millennial-like.