A consistently rich and rewarding poetry collection about being true to oneself.
Spang delves into his tormented past, sexual identity, and lifelong search for authenticity in this emotionally layered poetry collection.
Initially, the poems in this collection focus on the author’s coming of age. In “The Child of Frankenstein,” Spang describes himself as a third grade boy with “buckteeth, / a crewcut, and a body mom / called ‘husky.’” In “Tutorial,” he experiences his first French kiss with a friend named Michael. When a friend shares a Playboy magazine with him in “Unbecoming a Man,” Spang is indifferent, sensing that “a riptide had already dragged / me far out to sea, in a rudderless / skiff, in another direction.” Childhood trauma is also a prominent theme here, as explored in “Spanking,” where the poet recalls his father’s belt “unloosened / like a slick tongue” before it hit him. Spang also analyzes a “Photo of My Father as a Boy,” pondering how his father’s obsession with physical appearance mirrored Spang’s attempts to “look right” by marrying, having children, working hard, and dressing professionally. The poet describes the apprehension of revisiting his childhood home as an adult, where the current owner insists on taking him “deep / into the vault of yesterday,” which prompts some heavy soul-searching on the author’s part. Eventually we find the author learning to accept and even appreciate his journey, which led to marrying his husband and building a peaceful, loving domestic life.
Spang lays bare not just intimate moments but also painful and pivotal events, from the end of his 25-year first marriage due to his wife’s affair to how “pleasure erupted out of me” with his first boyfriend after coming out at 48. The author’s family memories recounted in verse will surely resonate with readers, whether it’s a scene where Spang’s father tenderly carries him to bed and kisses him goodnight, or when Spang and his 3-year-old daughter search for their stolen “Mr. Pumpkin” the morning after Halloween. The scenes of Spang’s parents are intricate and evocative; he describes his father napping, limbs “spread out / as if he’d fallen from / an enormous height,” and his mother ice-skating, “whipping around in a spin, / her arms folded across her chest, / whirling, her body a blur.” Nature descriptions are equally crisp, from the way “wind leans against the window” to the “fierce caresses” of the sea. Spang’s similes are also distinctive and deftly crafted: At a high-school dance, he notices, “Some couples seemed to be grooving, really hummin’ / in their own galaxy, while others like my friend / and me circulated like planets through the dark / immensity of the gym.” Readers will no doubt root for Spang, who ultimately arrives at some hard-won truths about his life, in which he knows “what matters are those breathing / here beside me, this world / I never want to leave.” The book’s only weakness is its excessive length; though Spang’s writing is riveting throughout, more thorough editorial pruning would have increased the power of these poems.
A consistently rich and rewarding poetry collection about being true to oneself.Pub Date: June 17, 2025
ISBN: 9781966343370
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Warren Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.
An author’s trip to Venice takes a distinctly Borgesian turn.
In November 2020, soccer club Venizia F.C. offered Nigerian American author Madu a writing residency as part of its plan “to turn the team into a global entity of fashion, culture, and sports.” Flying to Venice for the fellowship, he felt guilty about leaving his immigrant parents, who were shocked to learn upon moving to the U.S. years earlier that their Nigerian teaching certifications were invalid, forcing his father to work as a stocking clerk at Rite Aid to support the family. Madu’s experiences in Venice are incidental to what is primarily a story about his family, especially his strained relationship with his father, who was disappointed with many of his son’s choices. Unfortunately, the author’s seeming disinterest in Venice renders much of the narrative colorless. He says the trip across the Ponte della Libertà bridge was “magical,” but nothing he describes—the “endless water on both sides,” the nearby seagulls—is particularly remarkable. Little in the text conveys a sense of place or the unique character of his surroundings. Madu is at his best when he focuses on family dynamics and his observations that, in the largely deserted city, “I was one of the few Black people around.” He cites Borges, giving special note to the author’s “The House of Asterion,” in which the minotaur “explains his situation as a creature and as a creature within the labyrinth” of multiple mirrors. This notion leads to the Borgesian turn in the book’s second half, when, in an extended sequence, Madu imagines himself transformed into a minotaur, with “the head of a bull” and his body “larger, thicker, powerful but also cumbersome.” It’s an engaging passage, although stylistically out of keeping with much of what has come before.
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781953368669
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Belt Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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