Book Review:
some misplaced joan of arc by leah angstman
Propaganda Press, 2009
From the stack of books that I pulled from a large envelope, this one struck me instantly: the cover art, a painting by the author titled “summer dream,” is easily worth the price of the book. And then I happily discover, on page after page, that the poems contained within are worthy companions to the beauty of the cover.
One gets the sense that angstman is comfortable living among words and images, as if she’s playing with old friends within these pages, frolicking and reveling, even when their games turn gravely serious. There is a clever whimsy in these poems, house plants named “Spruce Springsteen” and “Elvis Parsley” that sets us up for painful surprises (these plants, now dead, likened to a stillborn baby).
As a whole, some misplaced joan of arc, is an endearing catalogue of the dreams and desires, pains and passions or a poet who has found her voice.
Marc is the author of The Moon Cracks Open: A Field Guide to the Birds and Other Poems and the poetry editor of CounterPunch. More information can be found at CrowVoice.com.
