Had a brain-frying day at work yesterday and wanted to plunge into reading just to take my mind off everything but didn’t feel like returning to my ‘currently reading’ list. Actually, the old Covid conundrum. So, idly browsing through Scribd, I found this long poem by Deborah Levy, whose ‘Hot Milk’ and ‘The Man Who Saw Everything’ I loved. In terms of eclecticism and originality, she is up there with the likes of Kathryn Davis and Nell Zink.The following synopsis is bound to catch the attention

The narrative backbone contrasting the anthropomorphic angelic with a suburban man provides all of the poem's intriguing novelty as well as its smattering of much praised wit, although I was never surprised into laughter by any of these vaunted witticisms. The two characters are imbued with interiority through dialogic exchange alone, which is impressive, but the work as a whole fell flat for me. It never bristled with angry energy or shimmering linguistic constructions, as it seems to have done...

Gorgeous, funny and deep:'You hurt me With your desireFor other. I amWho I am and IAm fond of myself.'

This short story was light, intricate, and fun. It is a perfect demonstration of the command Deborah Levy has over English. I really enjoyed reading this love story told through verse.

I bought this book from a second-hand store and it turned out to be the best 2 dollars I ever spent. I love both the angel looking for a reckless, passionate love and the humble suburban man looking for a simpler woman to share his life with.

A book that’s over as quick as it begins. Always a shame when the illustrations make more of an impact than the words they’re meant to represent. If anything i want to see more of Borkowski than Levy after reading it

She is the angel descended in the suburbs to save the He who feels ok with his suburban life. She promises him wonders. He tells her to go. And isn't it like it is? Deborah Levy, with her exceptional humor and wit, is in her best here. Bravo, bravo, bravo!

dnf at 50%

A really gorgeous edition from And Other Stories, I found this to be more cute than edgy. Is it supposed to be either? I don't know. It's my first foray into Levy (I have more on the TBR pile), and it's just kind of....cute. Cool-cute. The poems aren't terribly complex, which is fine in a volume where the story/characters are designed to carry it. A one-sitting read, a back-and-forth between a man and an angel, kind of lusty, an allure of escape from suburbia and its trappings.Also, I am still w...

Not a great fan of poetry, but the title intrigued me!! A strange but interesting read.The story of a melancholy angel who has flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. you seemed like a goodsort of manan accountantwith culinary tendenciestho’ lacking in charismaHe is an accountant dreaming of the good life: a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love.You’re just a totalitarian angelFull of self-raptureI thought you were a divine messengerIn fact you’re a gluttonWith w...

At least Stanley was mentioned.This could be very funny if read by a talented comic actor. Stanley,the power tool is always good for a laugh.

Levy remains one of my favorite novelists and short story writers, though I have found her plays to be well-nigh incomprehensible. This short poem in dialogue form falls somewhere between the two ... it's short, and I read it twice in less than an hour - it contains some lovely passages, and though I get the gist of it, am not quite sure what to make of it as a whole.PS it is really beautifully bound, but $12,95 for such a short work is rather dear!

An angel and an accountant, 'suburbia’s satisfied son', tackle suburban malaise, romantic relationships, gender roles and varying pursuits of happiness in Levy's dryly humorous and often evocative poem.the two great themes of classical science chaosand order undressing and dressing and cross dressing and overdressing and addressing envelopes

I’ve quite liked Levy’s other work I’ve read so far, but am less certain how to feel about this very short poem I read in maybe twenty minutes. The language isn’t disgracefully unpoetic, the way contemporary free verse can rankle at me, but it’s not very memorable in that as far as I understand the narrative, there isn’t much to this at all. Man as boring normie, woman as psychedelic angel crazy bitch. Blah, what do I know, maybe that is all love is. Doubt it.

“I need a womanTo live forPlay the piano toCook and have babies withShare a bedAn addressTo measure the sum of my self against”

Deborah Levy was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize for her work “Swimming Home” her bleak work visiting depression, mental illness and broken relationships. Her independently published work, “Black Vodka” a collection of ten short stories addressing the usual human fears as well as…broken relationships.Her latest publication “An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell” is short, running to only 72 pages of poetry, and given some pages contain three lines of poetry, it is one you can eas...

I usually struggle to connect with poetry, but I’m having a bit of a love affair with Levy at the moment and this poem has such a spectacular title that I had to give it a go. She is an angel yearning for the heights of euphoric love, He is an accountant pining for simple pleasures. Can either achieve their desires with compromise? Are they just fundamentally incompatible despite however much they want to make it work with the other?This really crept up on me, about halfway through I was hit wit...

“An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell” is an enjoyable quick read, but it’s not something that’s going to stay with me forever. It sits somewhere in the middle of my varying opinions of Deborah Levy’s work so far – 3 stars.My full review: https://whatrebeccasread.wordpress.co...

A funny, strange, dark and sensual quick read.

While not particularly revolutionary, this is an enjoyable and quick read with a few gut-punches of lines sprinkled throughout.