Alice Pero |
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ReviewsGlowing January 2014 review by Yvonne de la Vega of LA Poetry Examiner of Thawed Stars and Pero's flute playing.An oddity of relevance between the symphony and the spoken word is the deliverance of each. However practiced or improvised, the creation of an artist's individual rendition is one that is created by a moment in time and also creates those moments in time when shared with others and become powerful memories for those gathered for such events as a memorial for a loved one. Poetry is the master of defining those moments. Symphony and music is the same as poetry. Here are reviews of Thawed Stars from Amazon.com"Lyrical, playful, eccentric, refreshing poetryAlice Pero writes lean, twisty, surprising lines. She's not afraid of abstractions or even of old-fashioned soaring, but even her flightiest poems ambush us with bits of kitchenware and other earthly trinkets, always, somehow, appropriate. Her ability to move like lightning between familiar and esoteric reminds me of Emily Dickinson, except that in Alice's poems, death is no masterful gentleman, just a bratty kid throwing a tantrum because no one in Alice's world quite believes in him. She's often funny and occasionally (e.g., in her poem "With Very Good Reason", dedicated to the New Yorker) gloriously snide (and spot-on). I found that the book improved as I read, and even on rereading (which the book demanded), I found the first section less compelling than what followed, so I urge browsing readers to sample the later chapters as well as Chapter 1 before making up their minds. I think if you do, you'll find she'd speaking to you and that she speaks VERY well." -- Dean Blehert, Author "Clean, crisp writing and an eye for everyday wonders. Her work is highly readable,simple in its rhythms, wonderfully rich in its content. She has obviously put in the hours and effort to hone each of these poems to completeness. Even poems tinged with loss are kept from becoming maudlin or overly wrought. Everything is clean as can be." -- John McGinley, Poetry Now "These are very moving poems, in the guise of playful jaunts to another realm." -- Reviewer, Amazon.com "Thawed Stars" by Alice Pero is terrific! "Thawed Stars, poems by Alice Pero, is full of energy, delight and exhilaration. Poems leap into your mind and become three dimensional experiences. The deceptive innocence, the light-heartedness, rides over a profound wisdom. This is a being, a viewpoint, at play who makes worlds. And the worlds are worth visiting. Some are worth living in. Great art lets you live in it and lives in you. Like a favorite song or painting, some of these poems continue to resonate, and one returns to them as to friends for friendly company. At a time when "serious art" must bow to pain and loss, these poems operate out of a lightness of being so pure that one is in danger of disappearing into a dance. I have read every word of this book and thoroughly recommend it." -- Russell Salamon, Editor More Reviews . . ."The perfect blend of humor and insight, fine imagery and universality." Mike Cluff, The Column "Her verses explode, the word-music and word-harmonies echo and flow, image after image, poem after poem." -- Bruce Silton, artist "The poems are highly expressive, romantic, passionate, lively, concerned and readable. They go around corners of thought with surprises waiting on the other side…The only thing as good as owning this book is hearing Alice Pero read her own works." -- Ursula Gibson, Poetic Voices Review of Thawed Stars in the Spring/Summer 2000 issue of The Book Reader:"What we cannot do is our evolution; what we cannot be is our true destiny. Alice Pero's superb poems link us with the glorious unknown whose lessons are more vivid than our knowledge. poems ambush us with bits of kitchenware and other earthly trinkets, always, somehow, appropriate. Her ability to move like lightning between familiar and esoteric reminds me of Emily Dickinson, except that in Alice's poems, death is no masterful gentleman, just a bratty kid throwing a tantrum because no one in Alice's world quite believes in him. She's often funny and occasionally (e.g., in her poem "With Very Good Reason", dedicated to the New Yorker) gloriously snide (and spot-on). I found that the book improved as I read, and even on rereading (which the book demanded), I found the first section less compelling than what followed, so I urge browsing readers to sample the later chapters as well as Chapter 1 before making up their minds. I think if you do, you'll find she'd speaking to you and that she speaks VERY well." -- Dean Blehert, Author "Clean, crisp writing and an eye for everyday wonders. Her work is highly readable,simple in its rhythms, wonderfully rich in its content. She has obviously put in the hours and effort to hone each of these poems to completeness. Even poems tinged with loss are kept from becoming maudlin or overly wrought. Everything is clean as can be." -- John McGinley, Poetry Now "These are very moving poems, in the guise of playful jaunts to another realm." -- Reviewer, Amazon.com "Thawed Stars" by Alice Pero is terrific! "Thawed Stars, poems by Alice Pero, is full of energy, delight and exhilaration. Poems leap into your mind and become three dimensional experiences. The deceptive innocence, the light-heartedness, rides over a profound wisdom. This is a being, a viewpoint, at play who makes worlds. And the worlds are worth visiting. Some are worth living in. Great art lets you live in it and lives in you. Like a favorite song or painting, some of these poems continue to resonate, and one returns to them as to friends for friendly company. At a time when "serious art" must bow to pain and loss, these poems operate out of a lightness of being so pure that one is in danger of disappearing into a dance. I have read every word of this book and thoroughly recommend it." -- Russell Salamon, Editor More Reviews . . ."The perfect blend of humor and insight, fine imagery and universality." Mike Cluff, The Column "Her verses explode, the word-music and word-harmonies echo and flow, image after image, poem after poem." -- Bruce Silton, artist "The poems are highly expressive, romantic, passionate, lively, concerned and readable. They go around corners of thought with surprises waiting on the other side…The only thing as good as owning this book is hearing Alice Pero read her own works." -- Ursula Gibson, Poetic Voices |
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Last updated: February 11, 2014 |