A War of Eyes: and Other Stories - Softcover

Coleman, Wanda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0876857357 ISBN 13: 9780876857359

Publisher: Black Sparrow Press, 1988

Synopsis

The lives of the urban desperate in their unending struggle to keep afloat in an always dangerous environment circumscribed by racism and poverty. “Extraordinary stories, told in a powerful voice.”―Los Angeles Times Book Review

Wanda Coleman wrote as a witness, whether as a poet, in fiction, or journalism. She captured her world and its truths, of life with the constants of race, fear, poverty, gender, inequality, oppression. Through it all, there is passionate love and sexuality, humor and drama ― her work is full of startling confession and breathtaking power.

Terrance Hayes wrote, “Wanda Coleman was a great poet, a real in-the-flesh, flesh-eating poet who also happened to be a real black woman. Amid a life of single motherhood, multiple marriages, and multiple jobs that included waitress, medical file clerk, and screenwriter, she made poems. She denounced boredom, cowardice, the status quo. Few poets of any stripe write with as much forthrightness about poverty, about literary ambition, about depression, about our violent, fragile passions.”

War of Eyes is for anyone who loves powerful fiction.

About this title

About the Author

Wanda Coleman―poet, storyteller and journalist―was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Coleman was awarded the prestigious 1999 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for Bathwater Wine from the American Academy of Poets, becoming the first African-American woman to ever win the prize, and was a bronze-medal finalist for the 2001 National Book Award for Poetry for Mercurochrome. In 2020, poet Terrance Hayes edited and introduced a selection of her work, Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems, the first new collection of her work since her death in 2013.

Reviews

Coleman ( Heavy Daughter Blues, etc.) pens knowing tales of the black urban poor, describing hardworking waitresses looking for a way out, a man who literally starves himself to death supporting a luxury car, and a future world where the lower classes must pay the government or be executed. Her best pieces, such as "Dream 5281," about a group of women accosted by toughs, and "The Big Little Gang," concerning underage criminals, are distinguished by smooth plotting, effective suspense and deft characterization. The title story, a psychological fantasy, is both striking and elegant, while the delightful "Take It Up at the Bridge" succeeds as a jazz riff in words. All too often, however, the narration waxes amateurish and stilted, the action is jarring and the principals fail to ring true. An egregious example is "Reba," in which the heroine's odd behavior is explained by the revelation that she has eaten her baby. A more restrained editorial focus would have resulted in a slimmer volume and a better showcase for Coleman's talents.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Black Sparrow Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0876857357
• ISBN 13: 9780876857359
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 242