Book picks similar to
Love is an Empty Barstool by Pooja Nansi


poetry
singapore-literature
singapore
singlit

A Certain Exposure


Jolene Tan - 2014
    A classic coming-of-age tale doubled across two vividly individual brothers, who struggle to navigate a complex tangle of relationships and coercive forces, cinematically interwoven with the yearnings and fears of an ensemble of mothers, fathers, cousins, friends and lovers both false and true. This wide-ranging debut beautifully presents the resonances and the ghosts of lost possibilities, as well as a gripping story of hope and betrayal.Praise:"I very much enjoyed A Certain Exposure. An immense achievement, with absolutely beautiful passages of description."— Sarah Howe, T.S. Eliot Prize-winning author of Loop of Jade"A Certain Exposure is a quiet, powerful tale about the dangers of unthinking conformity…[It is rare] in Singapore that we are made to face recognisable portraits of our society and acknowledge the distortions.”—Akshita Nanda, The Straits Times  “One of the best debuts of 2014, this sometimes strident but largely effective novel begins with the suicide of a government scholar and proceeds to dissect elitism, racism, homophobia and other taboo topics in Singapore.”—Helmi Yusof,  The Business Times “One of the best novels I’ve read recently…a haunting story about elitism and prejudice in a society which recites daily pledges to maintain equality for all.”—Balli Kaur Jaswal, author of Inheritance“A Certain Exposure is an intimately layered story about twin brothers forging different paths through the intricacies and prejudices of Singapore society, but will strike a chord wherever the struggle between personal values and social pressures is experienced.”—Ovidia Yu, author of Aunty Lee’s Delights“[A]n exciting debut novel that delves beneath the surface of Singapore society, questioning the dominant value systems and asking if there’s a better way for us to live.”—Jeremy Tiang, writer and translator of  Durians Are Not the Only Fruit: Notes from the Tropics , in “My Book of the Year”,  Singapore Poetry About the Author:Jolene Tan is a writer and activist who lives in Singapore. She has also lived in the UK, the US and Germany. A Certain Exposure is her first novel.

The World's Wife


Carol Ann Duffy - 1999
     It's you I love, perfect man, Greek God, my own; but I know you'll go, betray me, strayfrom home.So better by far for me if you were stone.—from "Medusa"Stunningly original and haunting, the voices of Mrs. Midas, Queen Kong, and Frau Freud, to say nothing of the Devil's Wife herself, startle us with their wit, imagination, and incisiveness in this collection of poems written from the perspectives of the wives, sisters, or girlfriends of famous—and infamous—male personages. Carol Ann Duffy is a master at drawing on myth and history, then subverting them in a vivid and surprising way to create poems that have the pull of the past and the crack of the contemporary.

The Space Between Us: Poetry and Prose


Courtney Peppernell - 2020
    Ideal for those “whose love knows no bounds," The Space Between Us is full of profound anecdotes and messages, illustrating the courage and heartache of enduring physical distance.The Space Between Us explores the trials of love and what it's like to live a life separated by distance from someone you care about. Its content is thoughtfully divided into five chapters, or phases, of the long-distance experience:At First GlanceLiving for TomorrowLonely NightsGrow Together/Grow ApartWhen I See You.A combination of poems and prose are sporadically connected with small graphics and maps to visualize the journey of physical distance. These poems serve as an adhesive between the reader and the ones they miss, the longing, the anticipation, and the eventual relief. Though both authors bring with them a unique perspective, the lens is singular; each is attuned to navigating this complex terrain.

Ariel


Sylvia Plath - 1965
    Her husband, Ted Hughes, brought the collection to life in 1966, and its publication garnered worldwide acclaim. This collection showcases the beloved poet’s brilliant, provoking, and always moving poems, including "Ariel" and once again shows why readers have fallen in love with her work throughout the generations.

Crush


Richard Siken - 2005
    Siken writes with ferocity, and his reader hurtles unstoppably with him. His poetry is confessional, gay, savage, and charged with violent eroticism. In the world of American poetry, Siken's voice is striking. In her introduction to the book, competition judge Louise Glück hails the “cumulative, driving, apocalyptic power, [and] purgatorial recklessness” of Siken’s poems. She notes, “Books of this kind dream big. . . . They restore to poetry that sense of crucial moment and crucial utterance which may indeed be the great genius of the form.”

Smokes and Whiskey


Tejaswini Divya Naik - 2018
    I hope that this book makes everyone feel what I felt while writing it, and that love is a universal thing, and my story is not unique. And I hope that this makes them see that there is a beyond and that they can come out happy and clean. And, that this makes them braver than they already are, and gives them that little extra push and strength that they probably need

Fear of Dreaming: The Selected Poems


Jim Carroll - 1993
    Carroll initially made his reputation as a poet, and has won acclaim and comparisons to everyone from Rimbaud to Frank O'Hara for his delicate yet hallucinatory imagery.This volume of poetry collects selections from Jim Carroll's Living at the Movies, which was published in 1973 when he was twenty-two, and The Book of Nods, released in 1986. Fear of Dreaming also includes pieces previously unpublished in book form, including "Curtis's Charm," a vignette set in New York City's Central Park about a man convinced he is a victim of black magic, and poetic tributes to Robert Mapplethorpe and Ted Berrigan."His poems' urgent, obsessive metaphors pose tensely against their cool, streetwise surface voice, charging them with an electricity that's at once disturbing, sexual, religious, and psychological."--Tom Clark, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

Vera & Linus


Jesse Ball - 2006
    VERA & LINUS is a series of short sketches. The book's theme is the love between the two protagonists, Vera and Linus. They are mischief makers and tricksters of the most daring sort, and they are constantly up to no good, but the language holds them with a clear restraint, a restraint born perhaps out of the peculiar nature of their love, a love both for each other and the things of the world. Their mastery, and shifting natures allow them to compel the workaday world as they see it, but not to rule over each other, and so their game begins, as Vera struggles to outwit Linus, and Linus to outwit Vera.

I Want To Go Home


Wesley Leon Aroozoo - 2017
    Since that fateful day, he has been diving in the sea every week in search for her.Compelled and inspired to share his story, I Want To Go Home is a journey from Singapore to Onagawa through the lens of the intrigued to meet him. Of unlikely friendships across borders and languages; to share a man’s loss, recovery and determination to reunite with his wife.The novel's feature film (also titled I Want To Go Home) has also been selected for the 2017 부산국제영화제 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). This book also includes a Japanese translation by Miki Hawkinson.

Dirty Pretty Things


Michael Faudet - 2014
    His whimsical and often erotic writing has already captured the hearts and minds of literally thousands of readers from around the world. He paints vivid pictures with intricate words and explores the compelling themes of love, loss, relationships and sex. All beautifully captured in poetry, prose, quotes and little short stories.

We Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough


Mike Young - 2010
    From maple ice cream to Z-shaped fire escapes, these poems carry a flashlight you'll want to follow: unexpected as night swimming, entertaining as a music video in sign language.

Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke


Rainer Maria Rilke - 1962
    Herter Norton offer Rilke's work to the English-speaking world in an accurate, sensitive, modern version.

Brand New Ancients


Kate Tempest - 2013
    Here, Tempest shows how the old myths still live on in our everyday acts of violence, bravery, sacrifice and love – and that our lives make tales no less dramatic and powerful than those of the old gods.

A Few Figs from Thistles


Edna St. Vincent Millay - 1920
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The Teenage Workbook, or, The Passing of an April Shower


Adrian Tan - 1989
    People like Mills & Boon, Bikini Nikki and a hunky Dream Guy named Daniel. People like our old friends Chung Kai, Mui Ee, Kok Sean and Sissy.Theirs is a story of loony turns and unexpected twists, as crazy and unpredictable as the April weather. It is a story about wild cars and mad wives, hot foods and piercing screams. It's a story that's shamelessly frank.Read it to believe it.