The Magical Breasts of Britney Spears
Publishing House: Red Hen Press
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Magical Breasts of Britney Spears, The
Those curious about the verbal flare-ups from the intellectual wounds inflicted by the rise and fall of all things Federline will relish this. Van Cleave’s collection of poetry isn’t so much about Britney-the-person as it is about the Britney factor, the hidden Britney in all that is wrong with the world today.
‘Britney’s a perfect example of a distinctly American mentality, the poster child of hard bodies and soft music. She’s the pop icon extension of Whitman, but also the antithesis of him, inevitably,â?� he writes in the voice of a female student (Van Cleave is a teacher of creative writing and literature at Clemson University). Although Ms. Spears is a recurring theme (‘Benevolence: A Love Story Between Britney Spears and Animal From The Muppetsâ?� comes up later), Van Cleave’s net reaches far enough to catch Blue Man Group and Tiger Woods with a similarly forked tongue. But his vendetta remains strongest with the perky blonde that learning left behind: ‘Dear Mrs. Federline,â?� he writes in ‘Dear Britney: An Epithalamium for Marriage,â?� ‘You know the answer to your own heart ‘ whether you’re Cézanne speaking of Pissarro or Bobby Fischer hiding away in Iceland, 1 + 1 in your weightless world always = 1.â?� Math, indeed, is hard.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2006.