Author: Don Gutteridge
Title: Out of the Blue
ISBN: 978-1-927725-70-2 = 9781927725702
Trade Paperback: 105 pages – 6 X 9
Suggested Retail (Paperback): $19.95
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Don Gutteridge’s book, Out of the Blue, is a collection of poetry that was written between the years 1982—2011, selected by James Spence. While the poetry does not rhyme, it has a special rhythm all on its own that travels in through your eyes and floods the rest of your body. The poems create such a vivid narrative that you feel compelled to read the entire book in one sitting. There is much to appreciate about these individual poems, but one of the pieces I enjoyed best was the line: “We do not ask to/be at any age.” It’s only a handful of words but I felt this inside of me as though it were an epiphany of sorts. There is a classical instrumental quality to every poem in this collection, which is true to his style.
Out of the Blue, by wordsmith Don Gutteridge, reminded me particularly of the work by the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. I have never been able to compare a person’s writing style to that of any artist, but it is impossible for me not to. And I do mean this comparison as the highest praise I could possibly give to another writer. Particularly the poem, “Necessities”: “Like some freak-/show pitchman…or epicene Gabriel/…or a raging New Age Cassandra in drag—” As soon as I read this, I was reminded of Dali’s The Persistence of Memory, the canvas of the beach with the melting clocks, and the ocean beyond. Such unique objects and places, and yet they worked beautifully, just as they worked perfectly in Gutteridge’s poem. These odd comparisons strike the mind to wake up to more. If you appreciate art on canvas and the art that is in our souls, you will have to read this book. Don Gutteridge’s soul is on every page.
Erin Nicole Cochran
for Readers’ Favorite
