Photo de l'auteur

Jan Beatty

Auteur de Mad river

13+ oeuvres 151 utilisateurs 3 critiques 1 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Jan beatty's fourth full-length collection, The Switching/Yard, was named one of "30 New Books That Will Help You Rediscover Poetry" by Library Journal. The Huffing ton Post named her as one of ten women writers for "required reading." Her other books include Red Sugar, Boneshaker, and Mad River, afficher plus winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. Beatty is host and producer of Prosody on NPR affiliate WESA-FM, featuring the work of national writers. She is director of Creative Writing at Carlow University, where she runs the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops and teaches in the MFA program. afficher moins

Comprend les noms: Jan Beatty

Œuvres de Jan Beatty

Mad river (1996) 38 exemplaires
Boneshaker (2002) 26 exemplaires
Red Sugar (2008) 23 exemplaires
The Switching/Yard (2013) 17 exemplaires
VOICES from the ATTIC (Volume XX) (2007) 9 exemplaires
American Bastard (2021) 7 exemplaires
Ravenous (1995) 3 exemplaires
Ravage 1 exemplaire
Skydog 1 exemplaire

Oeuvres associées

The Best American Poetry 2013 (2013) — Contributeur — 82 exemplaires
Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism (2018) — Contributeur — 69 exemplaires
Pittsburgh Revealed: Photographs Since 1850 (1997) — Introduction, quelques éditions17 exemplaires
The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop (2016) — Contributeur — 11 exemplaires
Poetry Magazine Vol. 208 No. 1, April 2016 (2016) — Contributeur — 9 exemplaires

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1952-11-27
Sexe
female
Nationalité
USA
Organisations
University of Pittsburgh
Carlow University

Membres

Critiques

American Bastard by Jan Beatty is a hybrid memoir that, while being fully a memoir, uses more than straightforward prose to express that narrative.

One of the differences between a memoir and a biography, besides the obvious one of authorship, is one of relaying facts versus relaying feelings. Good books of both genres do some of both but a biographer is by definition a step removed when conveying the subject's feelings while a memoirist is the subject and can tap into the emotions far better. Do memoirs sometimes play a little loose with strict facts? Yes, in much the same way all of our memories do the same. But when reading a memoir how events are perceived is at least as important as any "facts." Since those emotions that were experienced are also facts.

I admit to being fairly ignorant about the details, both administratively and personally for those involved, surrounding adoption. A couple of my close friends from years ago were adopted and their experiences, at least that they shared with me, were almost polar opposites. Both had what would be considered loving adoptive parents but while one person seemed to be fine with how it worked out the other was far closer to how Beatty felt. So while I knew there was a spectrum of emotional response this book gave insight to a large portion of that spectrum.

Some readers may be put off by this not being a simple prose memoir, but if you read memoirs to better understand another human being's story from their perspective, and they feel that poetry helps them to express their ideas and thoughts, then the mix of style should be something you would welcome. If you just read memoirs to say you now "understand" someone, well, never mind.

Recommended for readers who want to learn what adoption is like for what is likely a large percentage. Like any group, there is a wide range of feeling but this speaks to a good part of it.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
pomo58 | Dec 19, 2021 |
She is a poet and a bad-ass. If you've not read Beatty, but like Mary Karr and Kim Addonizio, you have to pick up a volume of Beatty's work.
 
Signalé
amyfaerie | Feb 8, 2007 |
Bad-ass poetry.
 
Signalé
amyfaerie | Feb 8, 2007 |

Prix et récompenses

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Statistiques

Œuvres
13
Aussi par
6
Membres
151
Popularité
#137,935
Évaluation
3.8
Critiques
3
ISBN
22
Langues
1
Favoris
1

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