The Sugar Mile

Full disclosure: I took a workshop with Glyn Maxwell and found him to be a thoroughly pleasant and extremely interesting, surprising person. So I was predisposed to enjoy this book, and I did. This book is challenging. I've read it twice so far and will probably read it again. The beginning in the New York Irish bar (bartender named Raul) is subtly hilarious. Guess who "Clint" and "Glenn" is, and what he's doing. There's delicious lack of precision in the words of Raul and the habitue' Joey who, it turns out, is also English, as is Clint/Glenn, and the survivor of the Blitz. Read this book slowly, and work it out as best you can. The greatest part of the book is in the sections set during the Blitz. The takeaway for me was what it's like to be immersed in the devastation of attack; there are marvelous descriptions of behaviors of many different types of people. The book is free of the author's telling what is happening; his characters show. Without saying so, Maxwell points out that the Blitz of 1941 wasn't the last. This book is not to be missed.

Full disclosure: I took a workshop with Glyn Maxwell and found him to be a thoroughly pleasant and extremely interesting, surprising person. So I was predisposed to enjoy this book, and I did. This book is surprising and challenging. I've read it twice so far and will probably read it again. The beginning in the New York Irish bar (bartender named Raul) is subtly hilarious. Guess who "Clint" and "Glenn" is, and what he's doing. There's delicious lack of precision in the words of Raul and the habitue' Joey who, it turns out, is also English, as is Clint/Glenn, and the survivor of the Blitz. Read this book slowly, and work it out as best you can. The greatest part of the book is in the sections set during the Blitz. The takeaway for me was what it's like to be immersed in the devastation of attack; there are marvelous descriptions of behaviors of many different types of people. The book is free of the author's telling what is happening; his characters show. Without saying so, Maxwell points out that the Blitz of 1941 wasn't the last. This book is not to be missed.

It's a poem. It's a play. It's a novel. It's all three! The Sugar Mile is a story of a man in a Manhattan bar following 9/11 who reminisces about being a child during the London Blitz in WWII. The story is told in a series of individual poems by individual characters. Each character's story is told in a different style and meter. I bought this book based on an interview I heard with the author. Having the background insight that the interview provided made for a more enjoyable read than if I'd just picked it up cold. One of the most original modern poetic works I've read in a while.