Chris Abani is that rare gift to the world -- someone who was born a writer and who suffered great atrocity. He has combined these two facts to bring back poetry from hell -- poetry that sings! that grieves! that laughs and rocks and wails! He breaks down walls and brings forth unimaginable pain only to lay it before you -- gracefilled and beating like an undeniable human heart. Here it is, he says, here is humanity in all its grand perversion and its unmistakable diginity and hope. I was lucky enough to see Abani read and he is someone who is in this closed off world who is out there sharing, must share, and he makes the world a better place by doing so. Let's only hope the world gives back to him now, finally, the rich fruits of kindness and love and understanding that he deserves! And he plays a mean sax too!!!

This book is a stunning achievement. I went from poem to poem in amazement at this writers ability to capture those moments of horror he endured as a political prisoner and transform them. Like Yeats said "a terrible beauty is born"

This is a splendid example of the poetry of witness and I think it belongs in the company of Akhmatova's Requiem. When she was asked "Can you describe all this/and I said I can".

That is what this writer did, with words of power and grace, that will linger in anyone's head. It is fortunate to come upon them.

The poems on London filled me with longing for that city one never tires of.

Buy this book. It will change your life.

Abani's book left me speechless. At the horror. The pain and the inhumanity of other people.

It also left me speechless with regard to myself. It reminded me of what is important in life and how important it is, at whatever level, to do the right thing, no matter how difficult.

The poet's tale of incaceration for his writing in Nigeria's old regimes is a humbling one. It is also an inspiring one. No other book in the last ten years has moved me as much.

The poems are beautifully balanced pieces with a clear narrative. The Language, while simple, achieves a complex poetic form - the rendering of life into words.

This book is a must read!!!!

This book is remarkable in a few ways. It's one of the few books on Bob Marley that is written by a Jamaican. It's one of the few books on Bob Marley that's written by a black person. And it's one of the few books that actually pushes the envelope of what we thought we knew about Bob Marley. I have a healthy appreciation for a 'home-grown' perspective and I'm grateful to read a black Jamaican's interpretation of Marley's art and life. There are contributing factors in Marley's world that are shared by others in similar conditions. These 'others' are best equipped to speak on the cause-effect relationship of life to expression. Unfortunately, the myth of "objectivism" lends more credence to a total outsider's perspective to the detriment of a more intimate account. This author lays that to waste. He doesn't shy away from discussing Marley as a black man, as a member of a global black identity, as a Jamaican, as a musician, as a Rasta, etc.

Kwame Dawes is an excellent writer and he strikes me as someone I'd enjoy sitting down to talk with. This is dense subject matter and it easily could have turned into an encyclopedia. He condenses a lot of background and tangential relationships into this examination of Marley's poetry, and he does so skillfully. I did feel that the book was a bit rushed near the end, and the last chapter seemed a bit unfinished, but other than that, I have no complaints.

I consider myself a fairly good student of The Wailers, and I feel capable of exploring the references and cross-references with others. But I have to submit to Mr. Dawes' superior insight. There were cases where I disagreed with his lyrical interpretation on minor points, or his overlooking of "Bend Down Low" and "Bad Card" (one of my favorite Wailers songs) but for the most part I found myself paying closer attention to ostensibly small nuances of the lyrics. I even found myself digging back into my long-forgotten copy of Kaya to re-evaluate my relationship with that album.

The most valuable aspect of this book, for me, is it's ability to extract even more mileage from Marley's legacy. The arrangement of the book into Marley's musical "periods" while associated with Island Records is quite interesting. I didn't buy it at first, but the author presents a strong case. His analysis of Confrontation was equally compelling. His ability to reposition 'posthumous' releases into earlier periods gave me a lot to think about and reconsider.

We need more books like this. One exploring Peter Tosh would be nice.

If you are a Marley fan, do yourself a favor and buy this book, read it cover to cover. Write in it. Mark it up. Disagree with it. Keep it for reference. Then read it again. The only thing that would have improved this book would be an accompanying website for public discussion of the material.

Dawes takes his readers on a journey which becomes personal from page one to the end. Lyrical, seductive, mesmerizing we follow and find at the end--ourselves.

Kwame Dawes takes us down, down into that vast darkness that history binds to our backs....You cannot read this work without tears of shame, cheers for courage, and a heart-wrenching shout of "never again!" My particular favorites are "Swamp Poem," "Cave,""Family Tree," "Hate," and "Shame." Dawes' language seduces, mesmerizes, intrigues, and shakes us up in this magnificent book!

This book won the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize in 2000. Dawes was born in Ghanda but grew up and was educated in Jamaica and New Brunswick, Canada. This collection speaks to the landscape and the authors experience in South Carolina where he teaches English at the University of South Carolina. It also deals with the poet as an artist and has been hailed as "a powerful testament of the complexity, pain, and enrichment of inheritance." My favorite poem is "Love Oil" which deals with the meaning of home for the poet. This is first class poetry.

In Midland, Kwame Dawes describes journeys (geographical, spiritual and aesthetic) which ultimately leave us in state of grace contained in the title poem.
Dawes moves us easily between London, Jamaica, Africa and South Carolina as only someone of his intelligence, humour and talent could and creates a poetic tapestry as a true inheritor of the burden/glory of the African diaspora. Yet despite the shame of racism/slavery/alienation, Dawes keeps on moving with the music, "the reggae aesthetic" that buoys up even his most gut wrenching poems.
If you doubt me, read "Sun Strokes" and then tell me if this man is not a poet!

Simply - one of the best poetry books I have ever read. Wonderful, deep, brilliant craftsmanship - stunning imagery. A great new poetic voice.

I'm afraid that this is a very silly book. The idea is a good one - Lily Davis, of New York City, wants her teen-age son to leave "bad influences" behind, so the two move to a small town on Long Island for the "good life." After this interesting beginning, the book deteriorates rapidly. It becomes an inane, boring narrative by Lily, who becomes not ditsy (that's at least amusing) but downright idiotic. The situations in which she finds herself, and with whom, form the basis of an increasingly dull book. The title, which is the most perceptive part of the book, refers to the column the protagonist writes for the local paper. I loved HANGING UP, Ephron's other novel - a witty, sharp sensitive work. Because of it, I looked forward to BIG CITY EYES. Sad to say, I was sorely disappointed.

Well, I am going to disagree with the other 3 reviews I've just read. Perhaps I was too in love with Hanging Up and Delia Ephron's writing in that novel. I read this book in 2 days and it really entertained me - the main character is totally stressed and out of her element - that's for sure - but come on - you have to laugh that her son's new girlfriend will only speak to her in Klingon! I guess that I also wanted to keep reading to see if the woman in the bedroom that the main character saw was really dead or not. I would love to be in Delia Ephron's head for just one day - I think that her writing is never boring and I'm always entertained. I would suggest this if you want some light reading that will make you laugh.

I would not consider "Big City Eyes" a literary master piece but most of the enjoyable light weight stuff we get everyday, like TV shows we watch religiously each week, are none the less essential to our good times. I do believe that the reviews of this book are accurate and provide the potential reader that this is one for a long plane ride. Lily is a character not far from everyone of us that mentally experiences life. We plug in background music to situations, think about the good old times, and wish life were bigger than it really is. I enjoyed this book because of its difference. At first I was annoyed that it was a simple read but I found myself laughing and having a good time reading it. My next book is "White Teeth" a Zadie Smith novel of a more grandious literary style. I look forward to every new style of writing I encounter. Hope you enjoy "Big City Eyes".