Men Holding Eggs

Rating:
Summary: The cracking of an egg
Review: Hughes truly cracks the proverbial eggshell of man with his poetry, we are able to witness the inner thoughts and feelings of men's lives with an incredible rawness which draws the reader in, begging for more....

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Poetry
Review: It is not often that I find myself reading poetry these days, especially since my mandated high school studies of Poe, Whitman and Frost. But I received a copy of this book from a friend and was immediately engrossed by the narrative clarity and vision. Hughes writes in a voice we recognize.

Being a native Long Islander I was especially drawn to poems such as "Captain Frank, "Old Field Point," "Working on the Cable Team," and "Music for the Shark." The thoughtful imagery easily brought me back to my childhood, sweaty summer jobs and those wonderful hours fishing, smelling the salt air of the marshes and bays of the north shore.

I was also intrigued by the title poem, "Men Holding Eggs," as it describes an older brother's sense of delicate wonder over the responsibility to protect the fragile people and objects in his life. "The Tree House" was a very moving ode to the speaker's mother who died young, and the realities of growing up.

This is an accessible book of poetry that both men and women alike can enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: a breath of fresh air. what a pleasant surprise!
Review: Men Holding Eggs is a good book. These poems tell stories in refined, musical language. And there's an honesty in this writing. I've lived several years in Japan, and a lot of "living abroad" literature ends up
being either exaggerated praise for or enthnocentric criticism against the host country. Hughes finds much beauty in Japan and China, but he also tells you straight when something is disturbing or ugly. I trust these poems.