Loose Woman

From Publishers Weekly The three parts of this spirited collection address the heart, "spangled again and lopsided." In her second book of poems, Cisneros ( My Wicked Wicked Ways ) presents a street-smart, fearlessly liberated persona who raves, sometimes haphazardly, always with abandon, about the real thing: "I am . . . / The lust goddess without guilt. / The delicious debauchery. You bring out / the primordial exquisiteness in me." As if breaking all the rules ("Because someone once / said Don't / do that! / you like to do it"), she delves with urgency into things carnal--sequins, cigars, black lace bras and menstrual blood. Readers of Cisneros's coming-of-age novel The House on Mango Street (which Knopf is reissuing in hardcover) will recognize the almost mythic undertow of her voice; it never weakens. We meet again a powerful, fiercely independent woman of Mexican heritage, though this time innocence has long been lost. For her the worlds of language and life are one and the same: "Lorenzo, I forget what's real. / I mix up the details of what happened / with what I witnessed inside my / universe." These poems--short-lined, chantlike, biting--insistently rework the same themes to tap them. In the end, however, despite the accessible boldness of the writing, the poems lack the depth, the complexity and the lyrical magic of the author's fiction. QPB alternate; first serial to the New Yorker. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal "You bring out the Mexican in me./The hunkered thick dark spiral./The core of a heart howl./The bitter bile./The tequila lagrimas on Saturday all/through next weekend Sunday." In this typically direct, sensual, and bitingly colloquial poem, Cisneros is addressing a lover, but she might as well be addressing the act of writing itself, which clearly brings out the best in her, along with the passion she associates with her Mexican roots. As in Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (LJ 4/1/91), one of LJ's Best Books of 1991, Cisneros deftly explores the consequences of being Hispanic and a woman-in particular, being the tough, independent free-spirited "loose woman" of her title. The poems that result are brilliant and shimmering and sharp-tongued and just occasionally a little too similar. Highly recommended where good poetry is read and essential for all Hispanic collections. Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal" Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Alegr{¡}ia is Spanish for joy, and joy is the prevailing emotion in these poems. Being a woman is better than being a man, and there's more to ponder in the relation between life and the task of living it--these themes run through Cisneros' fiery new poems. Cisneros basks in her womanhood, taking time to point out the delicate antique French lace on her bed, then exposing the grittier fabric of passion and the lust of wanting. The whole collection reflects a nervy turning of decorum's heavy stones exposing the rich soil of a woman's singular voice. These poems are not so much a self-discovery as they are a reaffirmation of the self. Cisneros teases the imagination, then leaves little for it to do; she lets loose with a punch, and then it's a cuff that makes you laugh with empathy more than pain. Ra{£}ul Ni{¤}no After Everything Amorcito Corazon Arturito The Amazing Baby Olmec Who Is Mine By Way Of Water Bay Poem From Berkeley Bienvenido Poem For Sophie Black Lace Bra Kind Of Woman Champagne Poem For La Josie Christ You Delight Me Cloud Down There Dulzura El Alacran Guero En Route To My Lover I Am Detained By Too Many Cities Extreme Unction Fan Of A Floating Woman A Few Items To Consider Full Moon And You're Not Here The Heart Rounds Up The Usual Suspects Heart, My Lovely Hobo I Am On My Way To Oklahoma To Bury The Man I Am So Depressed I Feel Like Jumping In The River I Am So In Love I Grow A New Hymen I Awake In The Middle Of The Night And Wonder I Don't Like Being In Love I Let Him Take Me I Want To Be A Father Like The Men Jumping Off Roofs Las Girlfriends Little Clown, My Heart A Little Grief Like Gouache Loose Woman Los Desnudos: A Triptych Love Poem For A Non-believer A Man In My Bed Like Cracker Crumbs Mexicans In France My Friend Turns Beautiful Before My Eyes My Nemesis Arrives After A Long Hiatus Night Madness Poem Old Maids Once Again I Prove The Theory Of Relativity Original Sin Perras Pumpkin Eater Small Madness Something Like Rivers Ran Still-life With Potatoes, Pearls, Raw Meat, Rhinestones... That Beautiful Boy Who Lives Across From The Handy Andy Thing In My Shoe Thing In My Shoe Tu Que Sabes De Amor Unos Cuantos Piquetitos Vino Tinto Waiting For A Lover Well, If You Insist Why I Didn't With Lorenzo At The Center Of The Universe, El Zocalo You Bring Out The Mexican In Me You Called Me Corazon You Like To Give And Watch Me My Pleasure You My Saltwater Pearl Your Name Is Mine -- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® From the Inside Flap A candid, sexy and wonderfully mood-strewn collection of poetry that celebrates the female aspects of love, from the reflective to the overtly erotic. "Poignant, sexy. . . lyrical, passionate. . . cool and delicate. . . hot as a chili pepper."--Boston Globe. From the Trade Paperback edition. Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954. Internationally acclaimed for her poetry and fiction, she has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award and the American Book Award, and of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. Cisneros is the author of the novels The House on Mango Street and Caramelo , a collection of short stories Woman Hollering Creek , a book of poetry Loose Woman , and a children's book Hairs/Pelitos . She lives in San Antonio, Texas. From the Trade Paperback edition. Read more