Viper Rum
Viper Rum by Mary Karr is a reissue published by Penguin on September 1, 2001, featuring 96 pages in English. In this third collection of poetry, Karr explores autobiographical themes, weaving together poignant reflections on love, loss, and the complexities of family life. The collection includes vivid imagery and emotional depth, with some poems addressing the challenges associated with drink, as suggested by the title.
Readers will find a range of lyrical expressions that confront fate and grief, showcasing Karr’s distinctive voice. The collection also features her essay “Against Decoration,” where she critiques the superficial embellishments often found in contemporary poetry. This edition offers an insightful look into the struggles and triumphs of personal experience, making it a significant contribution to the realm of American poetry, particularly from a woman’s perspective.
Official synopsis Publisher
In her third collection of poetry, Viper Rum, Mary Karr delves into autobiographical subject matter; various beloveds are birthed and buried in these touching lyrics, some of which, as the title suggests, deal with drink:
I cast back to those last years
I drank, alone nights at the kitchen sink,
bathrobed, my head hatching snakes,
while my baby slept in his upstairs cage
and my marriage choked to death
Precise and surprising, Karr’s poems “take on the bedevilments of fate and grief with a diabolical edge of their own” (Poetry).
Also included is Karr’s controversial and prize-winning essay “Against Decoration,” in which she took aim against the verbal ornaments that too often pass for poetry these days-the “new formalism” that elevates form to an end itself.
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