One Stick Song

Sherman Alexie

I like Sherman Alexie. I think he is frequently brilliant. I also think he's a big asshole. Sometimes he is a wretched poet and sometimes he's so perfect he pisses me off. Mostly, though, I am amazed at the way the guy can write something that leaves you with such an immediate, visceral reaction. You can't read his stuff without responding in some way.

Mostly I responded positively to One Stick Song -- it's good poems! It's bad poems! It's obnoxious poems that make me want to slap him! It's good and obnoxious poems that make me want to slap him for very complex reasons!

There is something really interesting, though, about the way this book of poems tells a story – I haven't seen that in a poetry collection before. It gave the thing momentum, propelled me through to the end in the way a novel usually does. I did not need to put it down occasionally, as I do when I generally read poetry collections. Because I am so cool and intellectual that I generally read poetry collections, generally and in general. Except for not.