{"id":205,"date":"2024-08-29T12:43:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T12:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=205"},"modified":"2024-08-29T12:43:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T12:43:00","slug":"book-review-invitations-by-bruce-ballard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=205","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Invitations by Bruce Ballard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Invitations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Bruce Ballard<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Short Fiction \/ Poetry<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798891323285<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 148 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Atmosphere Press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Jadidsa Perez<\/em><\/p>\n

A hybrid collection filled with sublime prose about life, pain, and love<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bruce Ballard\u2019s Invitations <\/em>is a culmination of poetry and short stories, some focused on Parkinson\u2019s while others are a window to a fictional world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The poetry tends to center around Parkinson\u2019s and brings knowledge of the disease to the foreground. One poem, named \u201cThe Guest,\u201d thoroughly examines life with Parkinson\u2019s and the desire to hold onto hope. The short stories have distinct protagonists with a focal point on sexuality and romance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Invitations <\/em>is a special kind of reading experience from beginning to end. The mixing of settings, formats, and fictions make for a constantly surprising collection, each with its own flare. While the stories are often fantastical and dramatic, the poetry interrupts with a dose of realism\u2014a wonderful dynamic.<\/p>\n

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The poetry takes on a variety of forms, including haikus and sonnets. The sonnets are particularly memorable, the rigid style working well with the subject matter of health. The word usage and rhyme are also quite clever, especially when you consider how difficult it has to be to rhyme with Parkinson\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One noteworthy poem, \u201cThe Turkey,\u201d felt out of place at first. It follows a similar rhythm to Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s \u201cThe Raven,\u201d but \u201cThe Turkey\u201d follows a group of farm animals in their uprising against the farmer and his family. They are led by Tom Turkey, who warns them of the farmer\u2019s intention to kill the livestock for Thanksgiving. The poem ends on a more existential note, asking what the meaning of life is amidst all the carnage. This allegory for war ends as my favorite piece of the collection. There\u2019s no logic in creating suffering: a theme that continues to arise in the text.<\/p>\n

Invitations <\/em>has so many intimate, frank, important moments. In a section titled \u201cThe Last Call,\u201d the narrator has a conversation with his doctor about potentially contracting an STD. Rather than dulcifying the experience, Ballard shares a forthright dialogue on the topic in a successful, immediate second person. The HIV epidemic of the 1980s is delved into with care, a subject personal and global to the narrator. I really enjoyed the subtle inclusions of religion, too, as Ballard intersects race, religion, gender, and even class in a way that always feels authentic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Invitations <\/em>would be a great fit for all source of readers\u2014fiction, memoir, poetry.\u00a0 It platforms crucial issues like Parkinson\u2019s, health, religion, and beyond in thoughtful, insightful ways. Although it can be quite vivid, especially with intimacy, it\u2019s done in a way that is necessary to the conversation. Readers will step away from this collection with gratitude for having discovered it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Jadidsa Perez\u2019s book review of Invitations <\/em>by Bruce Ballard! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: Invitations by Bruce Ballard<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Invitations by Bruce Ballard Genre: Short Fiction \/ Poetry ISBN: 9798891323285 Print Length: 148 pages Publisher: Atmosphere Press Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Jadidsa Perez A hybrid collection filled with sublime prose about life, pain, and love Bruce Ballard\u2019s Invitations is a culmination of poetry and short stories, some focused on Parkinson\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}