Glass Hammer CL

Hudgins is a great poet, and this is a great example of good metrical poetry (or good poetry of any kind) as well as a great example of a poetic memoir (or a memoir of any kind). Hudgins is a dark, elegant poet haunted by his past and his religion. I highly recommend this book.

I picked up Andrew Hudgins' "Glass Hammer" some years ago in a used book store, and since then, it's been one book of poetry I've returned to again and again and again. So much colorful memoir neatly packed into a scant 100 pages of gritty, downscale family history. To some extent, it reminds me of Joe Brainard's skeletal, "I Remember," but with a satisfying amount meat and potatoes on its bones. Though I wasn't raised in the South, Hudgin's childhood experiences are reminiscent of my own in a non-specific, indirect way. In addition to being a wonderful, compelling, return-to read on its own terms, I see it also as a valuable resource for those who want to write memoir. I heartily recommend this rich but spare book.