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Famous
By Kathleen Flenniken '83
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln, Nebraska, 2006
When it comes to fame and poetry, the locus classicus
surely must be this passage from Milton's °Lycidas°: °Fame is the
spur that the clear spirit doth raise / (That last infirmity of
noble mind) / To scorn delights, and live laborious days.° We
of the 21st century have not so far shown ourselves much disposed
to scorn any delights at all, most likely because we are not
inclined to accept Phoebus Apollo's sermon to the effect that °Fame
is no plant that grows on mortal soil.°
But the fame we encounter in the 51 generally short poems of
Famous, by Kathleen Flenniken '83, is firmly rooted in
°mortal soil.° Distributed rather evenly over three sections—°Minor
Characters,° °Minor Celebrities,° and °Fame°—the poems come across
as technically competent, readily accessible, and cleverly playful,
sometimes gemlike. °Nature abhors a vacuum,° begins one poem, °but
God loves a good vacuuming.° °Most of us,° Flenniken observes in
the lead poem, °The League of Minor Characters,° °decide to
remain minor characters° (italics mine). I find this premise to be
both perceptive and persuasive.
To read the
complete review, click here.
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