Anne Marie Levine's Bus Ride to a Blue Movie embodies candid
verse full of offbeat wisdom and wit. She writes like a refined
Charles Bukowski. This book contains honest poems that indicate
this poet's ability to perceive with an inquisitive mind the
peculiarity of everyday life.
The subject matter of this book is not elevated ideas or words,
but rather an observable glimpse into the life of unconventional
characters such as her nudist roommate in "Upstairs,
Downstairs." Levine pulls us into her world that switches easily
from the personal details of doctor appointments to love
triangles to drinking wine with friends in Malibu.
There are 29 poems divided into four sections, each nicely
intertwined with the next. Her poems include "Sex, Death and Bad
Taste in London", in which she writes both about a bladder
infection and a dinner conversation with a Russian pianist. "Out
of a Stamp Roll and 400 Eggs", discusses, among other things,
erectile dysfunction and how to tell if it is psychological or
physiological. "You Won't Like This Poem" is about the struggle
of a woman artist who goes against what is generally expected of
her. "Mournful Nutrients" deals with the safety issues involved
with swallowing semen and whether or not it has nutritional
value.
In Bus Ride to a Blue Movie, Anne Marie Levine successfully
utilizes humor, refined raunchiness, honesty, observations of
interesting people and her relationships with them, to create
entertaining and thought provoking poems. The reader has a
unique opportunity to adopt her perspective as a
pianist/scholar/poet. Themes of sex, love, art, disease, mental
illness and death are all written about in a curious and
surprisingly un-gloomy manner. This book of free-verse poems can
be read again and again. With each new reading, new revelations
and straightforward insights can be found. Bus Ride to a Blue
Movie holds passion, brilliance and a touch of madness within
its pages.