Nobody's Hell

by Douglas Goetsch and Diana Goetsch

Book Overview

Poetry. "What draws me to Dough Goetsch's poems is his fine eye for detail, but what keeps me in his ear and voice; tender yet aware, ironic, but open. No one, poet included, is left off the hook, sitll nothing human is turned away"--Cornelius Eady.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188241361X
• ISBN13: 9781882413614
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Hanging Loose Press
• Length: 74 Pages

Customer Reviews

Poetry for those who don't think they'd like poetry

Douglas Goetsch gave a reading from this book at my college, and it changed my entire view of poetry. Goetsch is one of the most talented authors we have around today. The poems here are very personal, but tailored to a universal audience--offering the world a wise glimpse into that politics of love and family without ever becoming pretentious. Goetsch exercises great restraint in not elevating himself, and the humility is beneficial to setting the somber, degraded mood of most of the poems in this book.The wit displayed is also incredible. Not one of these poems can't be considered sad, but Goetsch keeps a remarkable balance between philosophy and entertainment. I can not wait for his next collection.

Superb

Doug Goetsch's poems are superb--I know this because after reading many, I wished I had written them myself.

Strong, Remarkable Poems I Read Over and Over

NOBODY'S HELL by Douglas Goetsch is filled with the kind ofpoetry I feel comfortable recommending to anyone. High school kids whowould never consider reading a poem are invited in by the every day language, the sense of humor and the way Goetsch accurately portrays the childhood of a brainy, never too cool kid living through his family's disintegration. Fellow poets will be drawn in by the subtle rhythms, the strong, logical narratives that move the reader through each poem naturally, without wasted motion or words, and Goetsch's uncanny eye that always seems to pick precise, perfect details that get to the heart of matters we all recognize but rarely take the time to examine.I go for the poems that are much more than a poet who likes to hear the sound of his own voice. In the opening piece, "Counting," a boy is walking along side a building, running his finger "in the grout/ till it grew hot and numb" counting bricks, floors, buildings, city blocks. We learn he comes from a family of counters: his brother counts cavities, his grandfather compounds daily interest and his father uses "numbers to predict/ when men are going to die." The poem gracefully turns at the start of its close with the unexpected yet inevitable line, "That's all any child wants: to count," and you sense that this boy hasn't felt like he's counted too often and you suspect that a number of the poems in this collection will watch this boy learning what counts and how he can matter in the world.In "Dark Morning" there's a power shortage and the boy's mother hands him a flashlight, tells him to help his father shave. The language is taut and simple like directions that even I can follow. The tension simmers as the boy shines this small spotlight on his father's face and comes to a boil with the penultimate line, "A face I can't ever remember touching." "Walking Wounded" made me remember how much trouble, how laugh out loud funny and how incredibly significant a b**er could be in high school. In the prose poem "Lawyer," despite the divorce lawyer's hesitancy, the narrator's mother brings him into the office and the boy hears things that can only be called cruel. The effect is like a good, clean hit in football that comes out of nowhere and leaves you on the ground stunned. When you go back to read it over again it is still hard to believe that the tiniest of movements, the briefest bits of conversation and a few choice details could add up to so much force.An adolescent is self immersed and tends to paint the world in broad black and white, instantly shifting, stripes. Goetsch gets the details, the feel of childhood and high school so dead on right that I'm fairly certain that things like balance and overview would spoil it. (And the Kirkus reviewer certainly didn't go to my school. No one bragged about high grades. Ever. Even now, I would rather have been, if not "the girl who f***ed " in "Northport," one of the guys who was lucky enough to hang out with her, or the younger du

This is real.

Douglas Goetsch isn't hiding anything. It all comes out when you enter Nobody's Hell - his mother's moustache, his flailing love life - he doesn't leave anything out. This book offers an extremely intimate look into the life of a wonderfully complicated and frighteningly honest individual.

Douglas Goetsch combines imagery and language beautifully

Douglas Goetsch's first book, Nobody's Hell is a wonderful combination of all the important parts of poetry. He has amazing emotional perception and describes them precisely. Two of my favorites are "Three Blind Dates" and "Such A Good Dancer" Anyone who decides to pass this book up is making a terrible mistake.