John Gallaher wants to know what's so good if anything about Kim Addonizio's essay "How to Succeed in Po Biz," originally in New Letters and reprinted by Poetry Daily. He writes, "Will someone please explain this essay to me? I read it awhile back in New Letters, and wondered what they saw in it then, and now I see it’s been reprinted on Poetry Daily. So someone must like it. Probably many someones. And I really just plain don’t get it."
I found the essay weird and uneven as well. I saw it quoted somewhere and assumed from the quote ("It is crucial not to win the major award, because then you might feel too great a sense of achievement. Be a finalist, but not a winner. This will keep you forever unsure of the scope of your talent, and you will be able to continue the habits of excruciating self-doubt and misery that stood you in such good stead during the many years you received no recognition at all.") that the essay would consist of genuine, if hard-bitten, advice for beginning writers. But I ended up abandoning it the first time when it seemed to vacillate between mean-spirited satire and self-flagellation (like the bits about drinking vodka in the middle of the day ... that reads like memoir; it's not a poet stereotype). So I'm with Gallaher here. Anyone who liked it care to chip in?
I have mixed feelings about Kim Addonizio in general. I read her book Tell Me for a class in college and found it pretty self-indulgent and sentimental. However, I really liked her poem "November 11" in a recent issue of Pleiades. A much more successful kind of dark humor going on there.
November 10, 2008
Cocktails and prostate jokes
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7 comments:
I thought it was hilarious!
It seems that there is a long tradition of "advice to a young writer" that is written in the second person but is actually satire (though I'm not going to remember examples).
I thought the point was that it was satire, and - while some of the "advice" actually is good advice (be runner up, though you'd never take it willingly) - it wasn't supposed to be taken that seriously.
Tamara
I don't know, I thought it was pretty funny, in a sad runner-up sort of way. It certainly doesn't appeal to poets' "better angels." But not everything has to.
I get that it's supposed to be satire, but it fails as satire (for me) because the poet-life depicted doesn't even seem like an exaggerated version of the truth--it almost seems like it wasn't written by a poet. For semi-hateful poetry satire, my heart remains true to Jim Behrle.
sigh. I love Kim Addonizio. I don't know how she does it, but she manages to be a well-known poet in this day and age. I even recognize her picture, which I don't think could be said for too many other poets. I just think she has that magic rock star stuff, no matter if she has talent or not. The question I wonder is, how did she become a rock star poet? But I guess I can't ask that question because I'm the only one that thinks this.
Casey, couldn't agree more. I love her work, and having met her a few times, I can say she's a truly interesting and magnetic person, as well.
It was supposed to be satire? I've been following it to the letter! Damn.
Addonizio used to have a pretty entertaining blog a while back.
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