By Amber Tamblyn
114 pages
I’d like to start by saying that I stumbled across this book entirely by accident. I wandered into Barnes and Nobel not really looking for anything specific and was drawn towards this book because of its cover. The cover reminded me of the cover of a Chuck Palahniuk book I read (or at least started to read) many years ago. There are a few Palahniuk books that I really enjoyed, even though I consider him an acquired taste, but this one I didn’t even finish. Perhaps the only book I have ever not finished reading. That being said, it is weird that I picked up Dark Sparkler because it reminded me of the book I never finished. I did like that it is written by a familiar name. Amber Tamblyn, while not really known for her writing, is an actress who I particularly enjoyed in the TV series, House. She’s been in other things that you might know, 127 Hours, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Joan of Arcadia, and the list goes on.
The forward of this book begins, “Warning: the book you are holding in your hands will break your heart.” Each poem in the book tells a story of a different actress who started out young and ended life tragically. The poems are titled with the name of the star they pay tribute too. We have stories of Brittany Murphy, Sharon Tate, Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Dominique Dunne, and so on. Some of the poems focus on the lives of these women, some focus on their deaths. The Tate poem is told from the perspective of the baby she was pregnant with at the time of her murder. Needless to say, this is not your traditional book of tribute poetry. However, each poem definitely has an impact.
I’ll admit, I tore through the entire book in about an hour one night last week. I was attempting to find some pieces for a student to compete with for UIL (yes, very last-minute) and remembered that I had purchased this book a few days before. The student ended up using a few selections from this book, and guess what, she’s going to Regionals! Haha. Anyway, I read through the book very quickly the first time, but as I go back and reread individual poems, they become even more striking.
While not every poem will be enjoyed by all, I would recommend this book to you if you have an open-mind and aren’t too traditional.
Now I will leave you with one of my favorite poems from the book, just so you can get a taste for it:
Taruni Sachdev
Pit the stars against her seizing heart;
Let the best explosion win,
Pull the worst man apart.
Not down for the count.
She’s the punch that knocked the count out.
Loved beyond a reasonable doubt.
She’s a tidal wave from a tiny spout,
A shutter speed on the lens
Of an apparition’s eye,
Lil bullied butterfly,
Back into her cocoon,
Relearning to fly.
3.5 Stars