CLIFTON THEN LEAPING INTO THE GRAY

Again: I don't assign myself poetry books to review.  I just try to read as widely as I can and then whichever poetry books compel Moi to review them end up being ... the poetry books I would have reviewed!  So here I was in the middle of my 4th review for the next issue of Galatea Resurrects -- a review of, wait for it, THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LUCILLE CLIFTON: 1965-2010, Edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glazer!  Book is wonderful--I confess to never having paid much attention to Clifton's poems before ... but this beautifully- and respectfully-designed edition is compelling!  Kudos to BOA Editions for puting it out.

Anyway, there I was in the middle of writing the review and I'm interrupted by a house visitor.  She wanted to know if I'd heard of this book Fifteen Shades of Grey because she saw the author's husband on Good Morning America and got curious....  So I explained 50 SHADES OF GRAY and, somehow, the conversation made a turn into...:

Eileen: Actually, there are studies that show that married people's sex lives improve after they read that book ...

Visitor: Well, then I'm not going to read it. I'm not married!

Uh. Somehow, that's not the result that is to be expected from this whole shady project.  Anyhoo: I just told the visitor to stick with my forthcoming 5 SHADES OF GRAY.  She nodded, Okay ... , but moithinks is looking at me differently after I told her about my own shady take ...

Anyway, as I was saying about Clifton--I'm writing a review!  I highly recommend the book!  And did you know she has something to do with the Carolingian Dynasty?  Only in Galatea Resurrects would you discover such nuggets! 

And for those who want to produce their own gems of wisdom, review copies are available HERE!