Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : New Directions Publishing, 2012.
Description
Part of our revived "Poetry Pamphlet Series",All the Helens of Troy is Bernadette Mayers's profile of all of the Helens living in Troy, New York, done with poems and images, mixing the classical with the ordinary and delightful intelligence with irreverence. An excerpt: everybody died there's nothing more to say my hair's braided like a family i took off, it was fun, i loved it if you did something wrong, they punished you one helen is enough, trust me
User reviews
LibraryThing member JimmyChanga
A charming chapbook and a charming concept. Bernadette Mayer writes a poem for each one of the Helens who live in the town of Troy, NY. The poems range from formal whimsy to experimental. Each poem is accompanied by a photo of said Helen in her natural environment. This book made me smile. I loved
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the poems where she uses the voice of the Helen she is portraying, you really get a sense of these women and the little town they live in. Playfulness abounds. Show Less
LibraryThing member stillatim
Whimsical, and obviously great fun for Mayer herself, but not much here for me, I'm afraid. No doubt the Helens of Troy, NY are all very nice, but either not much has happened to them or Mayer doesn't manage to explain what's happened to them. At the same time, you do get a good picture of the town
In short, ideal chapbook material.
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itself, which at least hints at the general condition of post-industrial American life outside major urban centers, as well as a bit of a feeling for how we got here.In short, ideal chapbook material.
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LibraryThing member eloavox
Touching and down to earth.
Language
Local notes
New Directions Poetry Pamphlet #3. Non-circulating