Synopses & Reviews
“Barter exchanges history for myth, direct speech for epistles, activity for observation . . . breathtaking.” —Claudia RankineFelix the Rats hind feet
could be Barbie hands—
same pink, same
injection-molded seaming.
—from “Electronica”
The poems in Barter, Monica Youns exciting first collection, negotiate transactions between scarcity and excess, pornography and abstraction, the thing and the thing seen. Rendered with a dazzling array of structures and allusions, these poems describe—and become—a strange gallery of paintings and portraits. She offers a Polaroid left on a windshield, step-by-step instructions for “Drawing for Absolute Beginners,” a stereoscope with a box of slides. Both an homage to and a warning against nonexistent things, Barter introduces a vibrant new voice and a new way of seeing.
Review
“[These poems] are disturbing because of the insidious links they find between seemingly disparate things. Youns gaze plays stereoscopically over the field of such cultural artifacts (often lifted from the horror-show of feminine conditioning). The result is sly, deft, spooky, intriguing.” —Rae Armantrout
Synopsis
"Barter exchanges history for myth, direct speech for epistles, activity for observation . . . breathtaking." --Claudia Rankine
Felix the Rat's hind feet
could be Barbie hands--
same pink, same
injection-molded seaming.--from "Electronica"
The poems in Barter, Monica Youn's exciting first collection, negotiate transactions between scarcity and excess, pornography and abstraction, the thing and the thing seen. Rendered with a dazzling array of structures and allusions, these poems describe--and become--a strange gallery of paintings and portraits. She offers a Polaroid left on a windshield, step-by-step instructions for "Drawing for Absolute Beginners," a stereoscope with a box of slides. Both an homage to and a warning against nonexistent things, Barter introduces a vibrant new voice and a new way of seeing.
Synopsis
"Barter exchanges history for myth, direct speech for epistles, activity for observation . . . breathtaking." --Claudia Rankine
"Felix the Rat's hind feet"
"could be Barbie hands--"
"same pink, same "
"injection-molded seaming."
--from "Electronica"
The poems in "Barter," Monica Youn's exciting first collection, negotiate transactions between scarcity and excess, pornography and abstraction, the thing and the thing seen. Rendered with a dazzling array of structures and allusions, these poems describe--and become--a strange gallery of paintings and portraits. She offers a Polaroid left on a windshield, step-by-step instructions for "Drawing for Absolute Beginners," a stereoscope with a box of slides. Both an homage to and a warning against nonexistent things, Barter introduces a vibrant new voice and a new way of seeing.
"Barter exchanges history for myth, direct speech for epistles, activity for observation . . . breathtaking." --Claudia Rankine
"Felix the Rat's hind feet"
"could be Barbie hands--"
"same pink, same "
"injection-molded seaming."
--from "Electronica"
The poems in "Barter," Monica Youn's exciting first collection, negotiate transactions between scarcity and excess, pornography and abstraction, the thing and the thing seen. Rendered with a dazzling array of structures and allusions, these poems describe--and become--a strange gallery of paintings and portraits. She offers a Polaroid left on a windshield, step-by-step instructions for "Drawing for Absolute Beginners," a stereoscope with a box of slides. Both an homage to and a warning against nonexistent things, Barter introduces a vibrant new voice and a new way of seeing.
About the Author
Monica Youn was raised in Houston, Texas. A former Stegner Fellow, she has published poems in numerous anthologies and journals, including Agni, Fence, and Poetry. She currently lives in Manhattan, where she is an intellectual property lawyer.