Title: Imperfect Echoes

Subtitle: Writing Truth and Justice with Capital Letters, lie and oppression with Smal
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing

Artwork by Richard Conway Jackson
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com
9781515232490, $9.95, 148pp,

Buy at Amazon, http://bit.ly/ImperfectEchoes

Reviewed by Jim Cox, editor-in-chief of Midwest Book Review for the poetry shelf of his Small Press Bookwatch

Synopsis: "Imperfect Echoes: l" is a work that was inspired by Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz's poem "Incantation" that lauds the power of human reason over the reoccurring and seemingly insane political realities. In "Imperfect Echoes", author Carolyn Howard-Johnson holds out hope but is not persuaded by trends that seem worse now than they were in Milosz's time. A student of Suzanne Lummis, UCLA poetry instructor and the Fresno School of Poetry fronted by US poet laureate Philip Levine, Carolyn touches on the isms of the world--racism, ageism, even what might be termed "wallism" but was once referred to as xenophobia. In her poem "Crying Walls," she sounds a low warning reminiscent of Robert Frost: "Chains linked. Wire barbed,/ Krylon smeared. Feeble,/ useless, unholy billboards,/ anything but mending walls."

Critique: Carolyn Howard-Johnson is articulate, gifted, insightful, iconoclastic, and a truly impressive literary talent. "Imperfect Echoes: Writing Truth and Justice with Capital Letters, lie and oppression with Small" is an inherently fascinating, thoughtful, and thought-provoking read that is very highly recommended for community and academic library Contemporary Poetry collections. For personal reading lists it should be noted that "Imperfect Echoes" is also available in a Kindle edition ($2.99).

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Learn more about the author at http://howtodoitfrugally.com.

She blogs at http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com and http://SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com.

Network with her at

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/carolynhowardjohnson
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Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/chowardjohnson

LinkedIn: http://LinkedIn.com/carolynhowardjohnson

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Eleanor Gamarsh: Poet Speaks for Everyman

Title: Imperfect Echoes

Subtitle: Writing Truth and Justice with Capital Letters, lie and oppression with Small

Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 148

Available as paperback and e-book on Amazon

Published by HowToDoItFrugally, LA

Reviewed by Eleanor F. J. Gamarsh

I read poetry occasionally. I have written a few poems spontaneously. As I have begun to write regularly, I thought I ought to learn more about that genre. I believed I could do that by reading current poets’ writing. I chose to read the collections recently published by Carolyn Howard-Johnson title Imperfect Echoes.

By the time I had read less than half the pages, I felt that Carolyn had spoken for Everyman. Sometimes subtle, sometimes brutal imagery and metaphor brought truth to light. Every word on page after page disrupted my thoughts and tugged at my heart. It appeared to me that she laid the thoughts of anyone and everyone who cares about our human condition on each page. Thoughts that either we don’t want to speak or can’t because they are unspeakable for most.

Her recollections may tear at your heart and mind until you come upon a poem about the improbabilities and uniqueness of America. When I read “The Story of My Missed Connection in Minneola,” I burst out laughing. This was pure comic relief amidst pathos.

I read one poem after another because I could not do otherwise. If nothing else, it was my curiosity about what would be next stirring my emotions but being enlightened, also. Up? Down? All around and back again? Then, turning the next page, my funny bone was tickled once more.

As for learning about writing poetry, Imperfect Echoes gave me more than I was looking for.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

After a lifetime of creative work including designing and handcrafting greeting cards and needlework of all kinds, Eleanor Gamarsh recently took up writing in several genres, primarily memoir.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Accepted for inclusion in Poets & Writers prestigious list of published poets, multi award-winning novelist and poet Carolyn Howard-Johnson is widely published in journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. One of her poems won the Franklin Christoph poetry prize. She was an instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program for nearly a decade. She has written six poetry chapbook in the Celebration Series  with Magdalena Ball, several of them award-winners. Learn more about all her books at http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile or http://howtodoitfrugally.com.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.