The Oracle of Hollywood Boulevard Paperback by Dana Goodyear

Product Details

• Publisher: WW Norton (2014-07-15)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 80 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780393349498
• Item Weight: 108.86 grams
• Dimensions: 8.0 x 5.15 x 0.25 cm

Poems about sex, marriage, and the desire for a child from a “scary-cool and edgy-smart” poet (J. D. McClatchy).

The frank, raw lyrics of Dana Goodyear’s second collection draw on the scenery of Los Angeles—the teenagers, vagrants, pornographers—and the beautiful decay that serves as an insistent reminder to them all. The poems are unsparing but tender, candid but sly, and open to the force of nature on an individual human life.

from “Wildfire”

We want this.
The end to sleeping, the bittersweet
arousal, the peeling back, the soft bath
in resin, the release. It can’t come quick
enough, the hot touch that breaks the crust
and lets us go. Hear it now: a crackling,
as the woods begin to sing alongside the birds.

About the Author

Dana Goodyear’s poetry has appeared in several journals, including the Paris Review and The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer. She lives in Los Angeles, California.