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 Reviewed by: The Rev 26th Jul 2005 
 


My Noiseless Entourage

Charles Simic
Purchase this title at B&N

Simic continues to astound readers with thin, gorgeous books of poetry every few years. It's been a while, though (this is his first book of completely new work since 1999's *Jackstraws*), and one has to wonder-- why the six-year gap? Is The man losing a step? Not at all, cholly. *My Noiseless Entourage*, from its opening words, transports the reader to that same weird and wonderful place that all of Simic's books do. (And, with him having recently garnered a quick mention in a Lemony Snicket book, perhaps his star will be rising to where it rightfully belongs in the near future.)

I had originally started off thinking I was going to quote specific passages from the book in testament to how great it is, but I ended up with so many I just opened the book and random and came across:

"America, I shouted at the radio,

Even at 2AM you are a loony bin!

No, I take it back!

You are a stone angel in the cemetery

Listening to blind geese in the sky

Your eyes blinded by snow."

(--"Talk Radio")

As always, there's not a word out of place, no fat to be trimmed from these wonderful, dadaesque ramblings. It's, perhaps, not quite as powerful as Simic's finest moments (*The World Doesn't End* or *Return to a Place Lit by a Glass of Milk*, for example), but you're talking about the difference between a 20 megaton bomb and a 19 megaton bomb; you're still going to come out of the experience having been blown away.



See also
A Fly in the Soup by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
A Wedding in Hell by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Another Republic by Charles Simic & Mark Strand reviewed by The Rev
Charon's Cosmology by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Classic Ballroom Dances by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Jackstraws by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Nine Poems by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Return to a Place Lit by a Glass of Milk by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
The Horse Has Six Legs by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
The Voice at 3:00 A.M. by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
The World Doesn't End by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Unending Blues by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Walking the Black Cat by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
Weather Forecast for Utopia and Vicinity by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev
White by Charles Simic reviewed by The Rev