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 The Laundromat Girl
By Lee Kitzis
The Puddin'head Press, 2005
Reviewed by C. J. Laity
Lee Kitzis' book The Laundromat Girl is fun to read. If it were a rock album, there would be several singles (his performance pieces), such as "It's Hard to Write a Political Poem" or any number of others that Kitzis has read around town at the local venues. Basically, the theme of the book is "some poor sclub" getting drunk and trying to get laid. It is done in an honest way that is felt from the heart, each poem part of an American time capsule:
It's the night of the eclipse and the Red Sox are gonna sweep
(from "Allison")
The time capsule contains pieces of Chicago, such as el stops or waitresses. Together these pieces shatter all illusions, with glimpses of life that contain some adult language and moments that Bukowski would be proud of.
cus this world's cruel
and cus soon we'll be old and . . .
(from "The Real Sounds of Lovers")
and
. . . screwing and
of a fat guy walking
are two distinctly
different sounds
(from "Love Poem for Kristi")
Just as the reader is hoodwinked into thinking Kitzis is being as sentimental as Neruda, the author throws us for a loop and makes us guffaw into this book.
me? I'm a poet . . . oh you wanna be alone . . .
(from "That Lonely Older Woman I See Around")
Kitzis also has the keen ability, through a confident voice, to bring us right into the scene; for example, I felt like I was right there at the table in the "Cuban restaurant on North Avenue" while reading Kitzis' "My Family". This confidence of voice is what carries this book and makes it much more than a college student's diary:
I told you to close your eyes
and since I couldn't say
"I love you"
I tried as hard as I could to sound like it
when I read the poem
(from "My Little Neruda Girl")
This confidence of voice is also what makes the punch lines to some of these quips so startling, such as the one line following this:
I was a kid
until I picked up "HOWL"
and that made me want to be a poet
So this bowl of Ramen's for you
Ginsberg
(from "On Being a Poet")
or the great pick-up line:
"You're the fabric of my life"
(from "The Laundromat Girl")
This is an exciting new title from a grassroots publishing house that is an intricate part of Chicago literature. Lee Kitzis is a young poet who has done more with his work that most middle-age poets have, and who has a bright future in the American literary circuit. Laundromat Girl is a delight to read because it is funny in its candidness and the voice of the author talks to the reader as if he wants to be your good drinking buddy.
--C. J. Laity
For information about how you can obtain a copy of "The Laundromat Girl" check out Puddin'head Press.
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Note: Here is a review of Lee Kitzis' "The Laundromat Girl".
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