guys named Bill
by Leslie Greentree
guys named Bill traces a journey from childhood to adulthood, through a marriage and beyond. The various characters named Bill are a thread running throughout the book, appearing as turning points in the narrator’s life. Ranging from darkly cynical to intimate, to humorous and blunt, the poems are ultimately optimistic, as the resilient narrator creates a new life from the remnants of the old.
$14.95 CAD
Additional information
| Weight | .122 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 8.5 × 5.5 × .25 in |
| Page Count | 80 |
| Binding | Soft Cover |
| Year Published | 2002 |
Leslie Greentree
Leslie Greentree was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and has lived in various parts of BC and Alberta, including Salmon Arm, McBride, Dawson Creek, Crowsnest Pass, Calgary, and Lethbridge. She works at the Red Deer Public Library as the Marketing Assistant and as an Information Services Assistant, which means her mind is filled with useless bits of trivia she pulls out as her only party trick. Her first book, guys named Bill, was published by Frontenac House as part of their poetry series Quartet 2002. Her second book, go-go dancing for Elvis was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Leslie Greentree was the winner of the Howard O’Hagan Award for Short fiction.
Leslie Greentree is a conversational poet whose artful talk is not afraid to engage any subject head-on. Her unpretentious, sometimes comic, lower-case poems have an irresistible charm. They pull us into the funk and drama of her everyday experience and, further, into the center of her interior life.
~The Griffin Prize Jury, 2004
Greentree’s careful attention to language, the confidence of her execution, and above all her wry and gentle humour keep go-go dancing fresh and interesting throughout.
~Ian Samuels, The Calgary Herald
Leslie Greentree’s highly readable go-go dancing for Elvis achieves immediate intimacy with a dishy, kitchen-chair voice… The book pleases honestly, in the way of a cotton dress that clings in all the right places.
~Sonnet l’Abbe, The Globe and Mail
go-go dancing for Elvis is as fun as the title suggests the book will be… The book is an easy, quick read, and … repays several readings and has an accumulative punch, rather in the way a good collection of linked stories or rites-of-passage or Roman à Clef novel does.
~Richard Stevenson, The Lethbridge Insider
Like Greentree’s first book, guys named Bill, go-go dancing for Elvis, is a rollicking read and a book to savour.
~Barbara Curry Mulcahy, Alberta Views
Leslie Greentree … takes us through a linear and hilarious story… She employs a clever, tongue-in-cheek tone as she tells of her narrator’s everyday existence.
~Diane Dechief, FFWD
With incredible insight, Leslie Greentree explores the dance of human relationships, the nuances of communication, and the intricacies of daily life. go-go dancing for Elvis performs with skill, humour, and tenderness; but be warned: Greentree is a scorpion-poet and her words always deliver a sting.
~Joan Crate
What a read! Greentree’s poems crackle with humour, self-deprecation, celebration and woe. The book is a domestic extravaganza of being single and female: the fear of inadequacy, the sense that others are having a much better time, the loneliness of love gone wrong, the carnival of house renovations and lust. This book is like a best friend who invites you over for a glass of wine and a gab session. Say yes, I’ll be right over! Cancel everything, grab the car keys, and crack open this book.
~Nancy Holmes