The Bad Wife Handbook

 

The Bad Wife Handbook

Poems by Rachel Zucker

I'm not sure where to begin. You see, I felt a connection to the poetry, and yet a disconnection as well. I was moved literally, forced to go in many directions. Wit is required to read this poetry. There were things that went over my head. Which makes me determined to go back and read it again, and I'm sure again after that. If I had to describe this poetry in minimal words... disorienting, scattered, conflicted, pressured, angered, lustful and ambiguous. She shares life as a poet, wife, and mother. Two out of three have consumed most of my adult life and enabled me to read in between the lines, not a requirement to enjoy. Lots of innuendos, contradictions, observations, and shared experiences were cleverly written. She made it simple yet complex, made it subjective, made me feel, made me think, and see outside my normal view (whatever that is); I'm trying to figure out my own gift wrapped box, that is my life. I'm just beginning to live in the world of poetry, as my first contemporary read it offers something very personal and something very global in which women can relate. It clarified the importance of "element of surprise". I don't know why I chose this book first, actually I do. The title chose me because of the energy flowing in my life. No one's perfect. Aren't we all at times, a bad wife?

-Liz