Still Life in Milford: Poems

Rating:
Summary: Someone finally wrote a poem about outdoor urination
Review: I don't like much poetry. Even the word itself is insufferably prissy. But Thomas Lynch's stuff is one of the few exceptions. For one thing, his stuff doesn't rhyme. Which is a big relief. Unfortunately, Tom is also a living testament to that sinister Catholic-priest brag about the efficacy of their brainwashing. ("Give me a kid when he's 7 hours old and he's mine for life.") Tom spends too much time boring me to tears with Catholic subject-matter and consecration-mongering.

I love what Tom said about newlyweds: "They kiss in the backseat of the limousine. Black satin and white lace they wave and smile. We gawk from the sidewalks. They are strangers to us."

They sure are.

Rating:
Summary: Tingles and warm feelings, both up and down w/ this book!
Review: Mr. Lynch delivers the goods for this relic of 20th century Roman Catholicism. Expert at poetry, life & death; Mr. Lynch took me places that I sometimes did not want to go while reading this compilation. Enjoy this over & over!

Rating:
Summary: surprisingly great!
Review: Still Life in Milford is a book of poetry firmly planted in Catholic culture, firmly Midwestern, firmly small town. Yet Lynch writes poetry with universal meaning - accessible to those neither Catholic, Midwestern nor small town. Like many similar works, it plays off "Catholic guilt"; unlike some works it truly "plays" - it has a sense of humor regarding youthful understandings and preoccupations while recognizing that the youth is the basis for the adult understanding.

An especially touching piece is "The Moveen Notebook" - based on family history and the inheritence of the "home place" in Ireland. It begins: "When I first came, the old dog barked me back, / all fang and bristle and feigned attack." The strength of the poem is in it masterful use of the ordinary - but what an enjoyable "ordinary" to read.

Rating:
Summary: Quality in a low key
Review: Still Life in Milford is a book of poetry firmly planted in Catholic culture, firmly Midwestern, firmly small town. Yet Lynch writes poetry with universal meaning - accessible to those neither Catholic, Midwestern nor small town. Like many similar works, it plays off "Catholic guilt"; unlike some works it truly "plays" - it has a sense of humor regarding youthful understandings and preoccupations while recognizing that the youth is the basis for the adult understanding.

An especially touching piece is "The Moveen Notebook" - based on family history and the inheritence of the "home place" in Ireland. It begins: "When I first came, the old dog barked me back, / all fang and bristle and feigned attack." The strength of the poem is in it masterful use of the ordinary - but what an enjoyable "ordinary" to read.

Rating:
Summary: surprisingly great!
Review: What a great book of poems. Buy it, read it to laugh and even sympathise with the writers grief. a fresh out look from a unique man.