The Magic Whip

by Wang Ping

This melodic, visceral collection -juxtaposes the author's unbridled joy in motherhood with the complex and brutal practice of footbinding in China, the plight of Tibet, and the remarkable endurance... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566891477
• ISBN13: 9781566891479
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Coffee House Press
• Length: 90 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Engaging Poems With Enduring Imagery

The weight of these poems is subtle. Ping interweaves her historical experiences with words that attempt to bisect her "foreign" and "native" selves. Metaphors emerge whose intricacies seem key to understanding the dual worlds contained in these poems. She uses the liminal space between prose and poetry to try to reach out and create a new form that can encompass the many things she needs to say. Very beautiful and honest work.

hot writing

I am blown away by how great these poems are. They're really cutting-edge and clean. Extremely well-written.

Went to buy Billy Collins and walked out with this instead.

I am an American woman living in the Republic of China. Wang Ping is a Chinese woman living in New York. This book builds a paradoxal bridge between the two cultures. It's painfully insightful and factual. The subject matter ranges from personal accounts of struggling in a new country to footbinding from the perspective of a young girl in China, to the the reality of war in a modern world. There are many different stories and concepts delivered through this book. I haven't found one yet of which I haven't devoured every word.If you study poetry and want to read some really well-written stuff, or are interested in women's rights, China, or have ever immigrated to a new country, I think you'll benefit widely from this read.