“Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass” hardcover Poetry Book Pre-Release Thread

[Ryusei 5,071]

Nope. She doesn't know how to release it.

 

This is so ridiculous like... what does she have 2 managers for? Couldnt they handle that? Ugh

[bluefiona 8,050]

This is so ridiculous like... what does she have 2 managers for? Couldnt they handle that? Ugh

 

 

 

I know! Why bother having managers if they don't help with this.

 

I'm sure many book publishers would have love to published Lana's poetry book, but under contract she would have to do interviews and promote it. Like Florence did for her book. Lana is too lazy for any of that shit. That's why I think she wanted to go indie but she doesn't know how to go about it. That's why she should have done it with Lulu.com 

[poetic jess 2,340]

She posted so much about it (compared to NFR), but I completely forgot this was a thing. lol

[bluefiona 8,050]

She posted so much about it (compared to NFR), but I completely forgot this was a thing. lol

 

 

She promoted this poetry book more then the actual album. 

 

Sometimes I think she purposely does things like this to aggravate her fans. 

[Rorman Nockwell 56,719]

She was so obsessed with it and now it's figuratively (and probably literally) thrown in the corner.

[Amadeus 11,334]

She was so obsessed with it and now it's figuratively (and probably literally) thrown in the corner.

 

just like most of the things she obsesses over for some months nnn.. 

 

"wtf was i thinking" kinda tea

[mkultraviolence 5,832]

I'm so excited this is still happening

 

[ChaoticLipster 24,618]

just like most of the things she obsesses over for some months nnn.. 

 

"wtf was i thinking" kinda tea

She’s clearly now off the drugs her instabaddies were pushing on her

[bummersummer 2,218]

i don't think she's abandoning the idea for good tbh. she clearly considers herself a poet, jim morrison style, and prob wants to legitimize that by actually publishing a book. maybe it won't be the self-published $1 violet etc. one she announced, but i'm p convinced she's gonna drop a poetry book sooner than later.

[urgirl 5,748]

i don't think she's abandoning the idea for good tbh. she clearly considers herself a poet, jim morrison style, and prob wants to legitimize that by actually publishing a book. maybe it won't be the self-published $1 violet etc. one she announced, but i'm p convinced she's gonna drop a poetry book sooner than later.

 

 

i think the critical acclaim of nfr and her new status as a joni kinda songwriter would make her nervous to release it.... if critics don't like it and find it stupid, she will lose some of the credibility she has built as a "serious" artist

[bummersummer 2,218]

i think the critical acclaim of nfr and her new status as a joni kinda songwriter would make her nervous to release it.... if critics don't like it and find it stupid, she will lose some of the credibility she has built as a "serious" artist

 

agreed. she's riding a good wave of critical consensus & releasing a book that the lit world could ridicule would def be a big blow. i also don't think self-publishing is a good idea; i mean, i can see why she'd want to do it all on her own terms, but if she's in any way concerned about how it will be received (and imo she def is), self-publishing is a huuuge gamble & p much guarantees that at least some people will call it ~the self-indulgent endeavor of a bored pop star~ or something similar. she should get a mentor (if she hasn't already) and an editor, like, bad.

[sjatib 5,172]

i think the critical acclaim of nfr and her new status as a joni kinda songwriter would make her nervous to release it.... if critics don't like it and find it stupid, she will lose some of the credibility she has built as a "serious" artist

Ironically, I think that after what NFR was lyric-wise, if the critics called her "the best next American songwriter" regarding her writing on the album, a poetry book wouldn't make any damage to her artistic image. Even I, that found her poems cringy and weak, think that they are miles better than anything that she wrote for NFR (except maybe Hope).

[slang 1,532]

i think the critical acclaim of nfr and her new status as a joni kinda songwriter would make her nervous to release it.... if critics don't like it and find it stupid, she will lose some of the credibility she has built as a "serious" artist

 

 

A critic should only be able to ding her if they can show her redundant with another established poet that does her exact poetry thing better. That is, critical response depends on what you expect to get out of the poem in the first place, e.g., some kind of a surpassing descriptive statement about the human condition -- relative to what's come before -- or just get closer to her mind.  Any critic who decides to criticize her on the former might have to work really hard, if, in fact, LDR's poetic goal were to get her fans a closer and clearer view of her mind. Of course, critiques can always be of the "fake-orgasm" variety, where negative (and totally uninteresting) subjective reactions to the work are described. I really hope LDR is immune to that kind of criticism by now.

 

So in the interest of discussion who (in terms of an established poet) would one propose for criticizing just how good (aka redundant) a poet LDR is? Alternatively, if we want to limit discussion of poetry to among her peers, the comparison with Halsey could be interesting (in the mind-comparison sense), if that ever occurs. I'm also curious as to what people think of Florence's poetry in relation to LDR's. I don't know Florence's work, did she ever self-publish--e.g. instagram-- like LDR did?

[bummersummer 2,218]

the issue is, we're talking about music critics when validation re: a poetry book would need to come from literary peers, not the pitchforks of the world - otherwise she could just release a glorified lyric book and call it a day. i mean, sure, she's primarily a musician so of course the music press would have something to say, but literary review mags (the paris review actually published a review of NFR, btw) & influential writers and poets would be the ones to ultimately make or break her book & basically her legitimacy as a poet. i don't think hypothetical comparisons would reference halsey & other contemporary musical peers, but people like joni, dylan, cohen aka other established musician/poets that she associates herself with - and even in the context of her universally acclaimed album, we know how unflattering those comparisons can turn out to be (ann powers comes to mind).

[mkultraviolence 5,832]

 

A critic should only be able to ding her if they can show her redundant with another established poet that does her exact poetry thing better. That is, critical response depends on what you expect to get out of the poem in the first place, e.g., some kind of a surpassing descriptive statement about the human condition -- relative to what's come before -- or just get closer to her mind.  Any critic who decides to criticize her on the former might have to work really hard, if, in fact, LDR's poetic goal were to get her fans a closer and clearer view of her mind. Of course, critiques can always be of the "fake-orgasm" variety, where negative (and totally uninteresting) subjective reactions to the work are described. I really hope LDR is immune to that kind of criticism by now.

 

So in the interest of discussion who (in terms of an established poet) would one propose for criticizing just how good (aka redundant) a poet LDR is? Alternatively, if we want to limit discussion of poetry to among her peers, the comparison with Halsey could be interesting (in the mind-comparison sense), if that ever occurs. I'm also curious as to what people think of Florence's poetry in relation to LDR's. I don't know Florence's work, did she ever self-publish--e.g. instagram-- like LDR did?

 

 

She reads Whitman and has mentioned that Rupi Kaur inspires her. I think she probably looks to Woolf and Plath as inspiration, as well. I haven't read much of her insta poetry so idk

[Amadeus 11,334]

there is no “need for a better version of whatever you’re reviewing” to exist for u to think something is bad. there’s a lot of things i dislike and would consider “bad” without them having a good counterpart

[necessary sacrifice 8,865]

I don’t think the delay has anything to do with how the literary community will critique it. Leonard Cohen has tons of poetry books and they've always gotten praise, no matter how simple and silly lots of the poems inside are. Even the poems of Joni Mitchell’s that have been floating around are pretty goofy and juvenile compared to her lyrics. Lana has proved herself as a writer and poet already through her music like both of them had, but strangely her actual poems are mostly more substantial and, well, poetic than lots of theirs were. I’m sure her goal to self-publish the book is all that’s causing a delay. Who knows if she’ll stubbornly keep trying to self-publish it or if she’ll eventually make a deal with a publishing company. Maybe with all the praise NFR is getting, especially for the lyrics, publishers might be lining up to put her book out. Possibly she’s waiting now for the right deal to come to her. Or she could even be waiting til after her album tour so she can tour bookstores to do some intimate readings and signings (even if she’s not interested, her label will want something like that)

[Veinsineon 76,885]

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[PARADIXO 32,943]

[Paris Hilton 9,873]

RIP, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass! We miss you, queen