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| Dear Anais: My Life in Poems For You | 
 enlarge | Author: Diana M. Raab
Publisher: Plain View Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $7.76
You Save: $7.19 (48%)
New (15) Used (4) from $7.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 637743
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 100
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 1891386417
EAN: 9781891386411
ASIN: 1891386417
Publication Date: August 31, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Diana M. Raab's Dear Anais: My Life in Poems for You is not only a tribute to the late diarist, but also a tribute to diaries themselves. Each of the book's poems, culled from Raab's own journal, offers intimate portraitures, tiny memoirs in verse. Raab's poetry is seductive in its earnestness, appealing in its vulnerability, mystery, and enchantment.
Denise Duhamel, poet, author of Two and Two and Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems
Raab's skill is as a poet, but her passages are as intimate as a diary. She reconstructs her past mirroring Nin's emotional honesty. The reader never feels voyeuristic reading the intimate passages, but feels like a confidant, friend and maybe even a lover.
Steve Reigns, Nin scholar, poet, and editor of My Life is Poetry
In Diana Raab's "imaginary world.people drip with stories / and linger in bookstores and cafes / slurping foamy cappuccinos / and nibbling chocolate cake." And the poems in Dear Anais are, indeed, rife with both stories and the extravagantly various things of this world: Laundromats and writers' conferences, steel-tipped boots and champagne, patched jeans and paramedics, blueberries and autographed photos of Paul Newman. While the book does pay homage to Anais Nin-to her eroticism and wry humor and exquisite journals-it also vividly evoke's Raab's own life, particularly her family memories. Like Nin, Raab is indefatigable in her desire to commit one woman's life to paper.
David Starkey, author of Ways of Being Dead
Praise for Diana Raab's memoir Regina's Closet:
" Raab makes Regina's Closet a walk-in book, complete with recovered documents and packed with the sumptuous, minute, domestic, tormented and romantic details of one fully-lived life and another plucky life lived in answer to it."
Molly Peacock, poet, author of Cornucopia: New & Selected Poems
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| Customer Reviews:
 Delightful November 13, 2008
Anas Nin is perhaps the intended audience for Diana Raab's work, but her poetry can easily be slipped on to any reader like a much beloved cashmere sweater. In the beginning of Dear Anas: My Life in Poems for You, the author writes a letter to the famous diarist. She explains her admirations this way, "for years, whenever I have been stuck or my pen negotiated its flow, I've turned to your diaries for inspiration." The letter ends with heartfelt appreciation: "You've taught me the intrinsic value of the written word, how to dig deeper into my emotional truth, and the importance of having love in my life. And for all these gifts, I thank you." As emotionally clear as this letter is, it is Raab's poems which are the real tribute.
The first chapter of Dear Anas:, "Each Winter Sunday" contains the poems of childhood. Fond yet raw memories in works such "Rockefeller," and "Figure Skating," show us the poet's years as a young girl learning how to skate on ice. This subject reappears several times in the book, a wonderful parallel to the thought of navigating the realities of life.
Between the poems "Love Chains" and "Those Times" there is a dramatic change of tone from childhood to young adult. Dreamy thoughts of youth and talking about crushes on boys and gum wrappers are replaced with drugs and the avoidance of pain. Both of the poems are tied together with the mention of silver ID bracelets, a reminder that childhood is never really bar behind the arrogance of adolescence.
"Those Times" ends with a reminder of the present in the line "acne stricken face, like my daughter's now." The poem smiles upon the recklessness of the past but manages to ground itself into the adult world with simply that sentence, and with it, the reader is carefully directed to the next chapter.
The poem "To Dettner" (My Grandmother) talks of suicide, "I wonder why you left in such a way, as the depression gnawed at your gentle heart, which cared for me." But while the poem could take on the darkest of tones, it instead embraces the goodness of life. It ends with the sentiment of metaphorically living forever through poetry, and writing, and perhaps through the memory of someone who loved you so deeply.
Such is the case with "My Navigator," which the author dedicates to her Aunt Lilly. In six stanzas a complete characterization is told. We get a sense of the smells from a busy kitchen, the spark of spirit despite life's tragedies and hardship, and the willingness to move on without dwelling on whatever might have happened in the past.
The author shows her affection and admiration combined when she says, "I knew I wanted to grow old like you, proud shoulders pulled back, despite years in concentration camp and the loss of two adoring husbands."
The Chapter "Those Fine Strings" speaks from the experience of a first crush to the disappointment of a failed romance. From the buildup of expected sensual moments and the bust in not following through to the end. Rather than dive too deeply into introspection, the poet pulls herself out to a moment when she is shaken from the unchanged world of a steady relationship to the outward sexuality of a stranger who reminds her the she is a sexual person, and alive.
The poem "A Dictionary of Secret Lovers" is a lovely take on a relationship. Clever, from start to finish.
In "A Woman's Life" the poet uses a simple string of terms to describe women from baby to older adult to death. The list is not a smattering of random words, however, but rather a free form expression that picks up speed gradually, until before you know it, it is over. The perfect representation of how quickly our lives move and change.
One of the things I enjoyed about Dear Anas: My Life in Poems for You was that it was not overly sentimental, but shared life's beauty in the simplest of moments. Even the poems about family members are not filled with grand gestures, but the unique and odd characteristics that make us feel affection toward our loved ones.
Reading Raab's work is like walking past a happy home on a summer evening. You can hear the sounds of life and see glimpses of a family that is like any other, and yet at the same time is delightfully unique.
 An enjoyable collection of present-day poetry November 7, 2008
Writer Diana Raab takes a brave step to publish a journal of her own dedicated to famed diarist Anais Nin. Essentially Ms. Raab has compiled a collection of poems spanning stages of her life, which shares a satisfying taste of her personal story. The collection reads like a comfortable letter to a friend, it flows smoothly and often invokes smiles and sympathy as a reader.
In fact, the collection includes a preface penned by Tristine Rainer, a personal friend of Anais Nin, which seems endorsement enough to justify a title dedication to such an ecrivain celebre. Having never met Ms. Nin, Ms. Raab has derived inspiration from and has felt an alliance with the writer through reading and relating to her extensive journals. Like Ms. Nin, Ms. Raab is talented in articulating an independent woman's perspective.
Each poem commemorates scenes of Ms. Raab's life, organized into chronological snapshots that contribute dimension to her personal story. She is able to clearly paint scenarios of moments and recreate emotions and perspectives from far back to her childhood. For instance, in Figure Skating she examines her relationship with her father, frankly observing the skating lessons he taught her that were supposedly to bring them closer, but deciding to quit "after losing too many competitions/and discovering boys were more fun." Amidst the minimalist writing style, there are also beautifully spun moments, like when she reflects on the man who left her,
wondering what happened
to the good times we spent
evaporated like the steam
of my kettle
getting ready to pour
my morning coffee
which lifts my head up
from the hole where it's buried
because you left me.
A constant throughout the collection is the humor she can bring to tragedy, and her keen sense of observation, noting and relishing what would generally be considered simple moments in life, or at least what would seem so at first glance. Ms. Raab makes witty parallels across life experiences, such as in Nirvana Dreams, as she compares a headshop of her youth in the 70's, promising
a safe haven, offering
a calm transcending my fifteen-year-old psyche
...
I wish there was a store like it here
in my neighborhood now.
I'll settle for the natural health
food store, which offers the same sort of claim.
Ms. Raab's collection is easy to relate to, and her maturation is clearly traced through her writing. She can bring alive an adolescence through a decade of peace and love, as well as depict more trying times of adultery and depression. Despite a depth she achieves, it is easy to be left wanting a bit more of her unique expression; however, it is a pleasant book to travel through if you are looking for a little something you can put down and pick up without missing a beat.
Quill Says: An enjoyable collection of present-day poetry, easily digested as you curl up with a cup of tea.
Poignant November 3, 2008
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (10/08)
Diana M. Raab is an artist with words as she creates a tribute to late diarist Anais Nin, whose journals span several decades and profoundly explore insight into her personal life and relationships. Although Raab had never met her, she admires her work and offers a tribute, not only to the diaries but to Anais Nin herself.
Paralleling lives, Nin and Raab both started journaling at a young age as a healing process for losses in their lives. Now Raab shares her writing with readers, not only to express her own thoughts and feelings but to encourage the reader to look within themselves and find comfort and peace.
I found every poem of great meaning to me and resonated with much of Raab's writing. I particularly liked "Luggage":
From our past
We carry
Rusty cars
Holey socks
Leaky pens...
Caked soap dishes...
Scratched sunglasses...
TV dinners with uneaten vegetables...
And dreams of unknown futures.
I smiled as I read this piece and read it again. How true. We carry many memories of things like leaky pens and probably remember how many times the ink was smeared on our clothes or hands because we didn't notice the pen was leaking - such mundane memories yet those we remember with significance. And, we always hang on to "the dreams of unknown futures" putting as much time and energy into the thoughts, dreaming of experiences we are to have, as we did with the leaky pen.
Diana M. Raab is a miracle worker with words. Every piece she's sharing with us reflects intimacy and her personal memories. "Dear Anais" is not only her life in poems for herself, but for us, the reader, to put our lives into her words and reflect. Poignant.
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