Nicole Blackman

If you enjoy slam or nontraditional poetry, this is the best anthology I've found. Filled to the brim with poets you've never heard of as well as some familiar names, there's no deadspace here. The only downside is that some of the included writing is heads and tails above other poems in the anthology, but I'd be willing to bet that part of that is just an attempt (and likely success) at appealing to all different readers. If you can take each poem by itself as a single voice, you'll enjoy show more this more. Highly recommended. show less

I longed to be part of this world when I was a wee 14 year old. That's why part of me will love this book forever even though I have now determined that most slam poets & cafe poets are, well, not good. I guess the cream of the crop rose to the pages of this book though so it's mostly tolerable and often delightful.

While some of these stand out, there are others that you feel could have used a bit more time. Still, this is an original anthology with quite a bit of work that will leave you thoughtful and wanting more. As a whole, I'd recommend it. The work here is thoughtful and engaging as a whole, and the poems are not so risque or graphic as the title suggests, by a long shot, which serves as reassurance or warning as your tastes might go.

I assumed this was on the S&M side when I bought it, which is why I picked it up. It still has interesting stuff in it, just not what I thought it was.