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Rating: 
Summary: Better than that Basquiat Mess!
Review: ... I liked JELLY ROLL, at least it's brief. Liked it way better than that Basquiat mess. Too long, too pretentious, though there were some gorgeous moments, too. But give me the art any day. After reading a few of the poems, you got the sense that the author was repeating himself just to hear himself. In JELLY ROLL, he seems to take his time, be more respectful with his art. And since when does a Harvard degree make you stepchild to the blues? Let a brother flex or something!
Rating: 
Summary: great collection
Review: another fine book by one of most talented poets
Rating:
Summary: Good but way too long
Review: I liked quite a few of the poems in this book. Unfortunately, it's way too long. The weak poems water down the strong ones. If the book's length had been shortened by 1/3 or 1/2, the whole would be stronger than the sum of its parts. What's with the fixation on an author's bio? Let it go.
Rating: 
Summary: Is this a parody?
Review: Painfully obvious blues imagery and tiresome similes wear the reader down quickly. The stereotypical "Jook Joint" language is practically offensive, coming from a Harvard educated writer. About as "bluesy" as an Eric Clapton imitator in a college sports bar. I had hoped for better.
Rating:
Summary: Good but way too long
Review: Please stop. To pass these couplets off as poems, as blues even! Read my lips: UGH! Jelly Roll, you ain't so good and if that's all the brothers have got, we in serious trouble. Out.
Rating:
Summary: Charlatan
Review: Please stop. To pass these couplets off as poems, as blues even! Read my lips: UGH! Jelly Roll, you ain't so good and if that's all the brothers have got, we in serious trouble. Out.
Rating: 
Summary: Keep It Rolling...
Review: Put this book next to his previous "To Repel Ghost" & readers have a solid sense of the aesthetic range Kevin Young aspires to. These poems sing, they signify, cry & dance with a Morrisonian spectrum of emotion, tuning into the full complexity of Blues. The book, its form, are as informed as they are playful & experimental--the voice confident yet not afraid to examine itself, and chuckle.
Rating:
Summary: if you know poetry, you'll love this
Review: Sorry one of the previous "reviewers" apparently hasn't ever read good poetry before, but Jelly Roll is the real deal: smart, savvy, really original yet totally accesible. Young here solidifies his reputation as one of America's hottest poets to check for. And it's a gorgeous, gorgeous book to boot!
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