Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell

by Deborah Lewy

Paperback in very good condition. Illustrated by Andrzej Borkowski. Front cover corners are slightly creased. Page block and page edges are lightly tanned and foxed. Binding is sound and pages are otherwise clear. LW

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Romance, 20th Century, British Literature, Feminism, Fantasy

78 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a brain-frying day at work yesterday and wanted to plunge into reading just to take my mind off everything but didn’t feel like returning to my ‘currently reading’ list. Actually, the old Covid conundrum. So, idly browsing through Scribd, I found this long poem by Deborah Levy, whose ‘Hot Milk’ and ‘The Man Who Saw Everything’ I loved. In terms of eclecticism and originality, she is up there with the likes of Kathryn Davis and Nell Zink.

The following synopsis is bound to catch the attention of any curious reader:

She is a shimmering, tattooed, and acerbic angel, flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. He, an accountant worn down by the day-to-day struggles of the nine to five, is dreaming of a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love. She attempts, with scornful wit, to shock him out of his commuter's habits and into an experience of ecstasy.

The poem is 60-odd (very odd on occasion) pages of to-and-fro banter and dialogue between the two, switching from intense lyricism to banal mundanity. I was utterly captivated and hung on Levy’s every word, which she strings across her pages like stars across the night sky.

Like the stars, her words might seem random, but then a deeper meaning and form coalesces out of the randomness, and the reader is awestruck at the immensity of the universe and the special privilege we have as humans to briefly witness its mute glory.

That is why I read poetry.

[Vartika · Rating 4 out of 5]

He (staid dude Stanley, an accountant), lives in the suburbs of hell (north Ilford), where She ("wonderful and winged and leaking," manic-pixie fallen angel) descends to change his life. No can do: He needs a woman

To live for
Play the piano to
Cook and have babies with
Share a bed
An address
To measure the sum of my self against

but She doesn't like the laundry and taxes lifestyle, and thinks He will

die die die of safety
your failing pension plan
a shroud of blind snails
searching for the last green leaf in eden

To be fair, there's not much interesting about the guy:

yes you can speak french
you read recipe books
as if they were sonnets

And though She tries to introduce him to the way she sees things

That sort of dimwitted answer
Infuriates the logic
That makes me employable

So He asks her to fuck off, and She does.

We've all seen this story play out before, at the movies or wherever, An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell injects it with humour and gives it a realistic ending. If He is a sort of Promethean figure, it is less (like, not at all) as a bringer of fire and more as someone who upholds the mundanity of civilisation and its whole eagle-eat-liver, liver-grow-back shebang. She may be momentarily charmed, but that's not gonna last, what with those tattoos, "those moods," and dreams of travelling. She's

got all plump
from lack of euphoria.

and gots to leave. And so erotic possibility is off with the wind blowing, and the humdrum can go on humdrumming (i.e., staring at his phone, dreaming of a white Christmas, etc.).

Unsurprisingly, this was an absolute treat, short but sweet. Trust Deborah Levy to deconstruct a trope to high heavens, to use poetry to do it, and to make it delightfully funny and poignant all the same.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really gorgeous edition from And Other Stories, I found this to be more cute than edgy. Is it supposed to be either? I don't know. It's my first foray into Levy (I have more on the TBR pile), and it's just kind of....cute. Cool-cute. The poems aren't terribly complex, which is fine in a volume where the story/characters are designed to carry it. A one-sitting read, a back-and-forth between a man and an angel, kind of lusty, an allure of escape from suburbia and its trappings.

Also, I am still watching Supernatural, so maybe I'm just more down for some angel romance than I'd normally be.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Levy remains one of my favorite novelists and short story writers, though I have found her plays to be well-nigh incomprehensible. This short poem in dialogue form falls somewhere between the two ... it's short, and I read it twice in less than an hour - it contains some lovely passages, and though I get the gist of it, am not quite sure what to make of it as a whole.

PS it is really beautifully bound, but $12,95 for such a short work is rather dear!

[Jovana Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was funnier than I thought it would be.

[Stiene Thillmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has such a hold on me!!! This woman could write the word “electricity” and I’d think she discovered it. Five stars to you Benjamin Franklin

[LeastTorque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun duel between staid dude and manic pixie. The earliest of Levy works I’ve read and first poetry. With some of her usual wordplay and plenty of wit. It strikes close to home both inside my own slightly bipolar mind and between my staid husband and my manic side, and the forever search for that elusive happy medium with just enough highs and lows to stave off boredom.

A nice companion read is the also very short Comfort Me With Apples by Valente.

[Gol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous, funny and deep:

'You hurt me
With your desire
For other. I am
Who I am and I
Am fond of myself.'

[Rogue Male · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story was light, intricate, and fun. It is a perfect demonstration of the command Deborah Levy has over English. I really enjoyed reading this love story told through verse.

[Maxim Shanahan]

professional services poetry

[Elina · Rating 4 out of 5]

fry me a sardine
the wind is blowing
i’ll be off !

[shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The angel is a manic pixie dream girl and the guy is just a normal guy. You’ve seen it before but it was fun in this style!

[fantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"today i will dive under the high-res screen of your
smart phone
float in the galaxy of samsung
swim through blue tooth and back to ask you
what in essence is an angel?"

An angel falls to earth but what is an angel to do upon discovering that earth is full of suburbs and accountants?

A lil dialogue poem that had me tee heeing and hee heeing and then going aw :/

I only wish there was more, more time for fleshing and stretching as it felt a little too sparse and when I finally seemed to find my footing it was over...

hey deb what are you doing on Friday do you want to hang out on Friday deb on Friday with me deb the two of us on friday

[Jess Elvira]

the great thing about this book is that you realize anything will get published

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually struggle to connect with poetry, but I’m having a bit of a love affair with Levy at the moment and this poem has such a spectacular title that I had to give it a go. She is an angel yearning for the heights of euphoric love, He is an accountant pining for simple pleasures. Can either achieve their desires with compromise? Are they just fundamentally incompatible despite however much they want to make it work with the other?

This really crept up on me, about halfway through I was hit with an uncomfortable feeling of recognition which was quite confronting. I generally think the purpose of poems should be to illicit emotion and feeling, so I’ve based my star rating on that measure.

[Márcio · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is the angel descended in the suburbs to save the He who feels ok with his suburban life. She promises him wonders. He tells her to go. And isn't it like it is? Deborah Levy, with her exceptional humor and wit, is in her best here. Bravo, bravo, bravo!

[theresa ᯓ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟 // poetry poetry poetry! ich bin irgendwie blind reingegangen und war einfach nur überwältigt von konzept und sprache und allgemeinem geschehen. wundervoll geschrieben, ab da war ich deborah levy STAN

[Angharad Logue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun poetry book! Structured as a conversation between a man named Stanley and a fallen angel. The poetry isn’t very complex as He and She carry the story along, that being said there a moments where Levy’s writing is lyrical and shocking, others where you’ll be laughing loud (a personal favourite being “I came to you / naked / flew through a Chernobyl storm / to find your microwave dreaming of you”). I’ve never read any Deborah Levy before but it goes without saying more of her work will be added to my ever growing TBR

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An angel and an accountant, 'suburbia’s satisfied son', tackle suburban malaise, romantic relationships, gender roles and varying pursuits of happiness in Levy's dryly humorous and often evocative poem.

the two great themes
of classical science

chaos
and
order

undressing and
dressing and
cross dressing and
overdressing and
addressing envelopes

[Anetq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious conversation / argument / love affair between HE: Mr. Boring - Stanley of the Suburbs of Hell and SHE: An adventurous alian / Angel who has come to save him from the suburbs of hell. But he does not want to be saved, he just wants a wife to complete his boring life.
Levy is on funny and on point - I think it's the third book of her's that I've gotten my hands on and I really enjoy all of them - even if they are in many ways not alike at all.

[Mirjana (Mirjana_bere) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pesniška zbirka je pogovor med njo in njim.
Ona je zanimiva, mlada, radovedna, iskriva, spogledljiva, očarljiva, odprta, iskrena, provocirajoča. Išče ljubezen, a izven nekih vnaprejšnjih meja. Angel, poslan iz nebes.
On je dolgočasen, človek navad, predvidljiv, ustaljen. Moški iz predmestja, ki išče ženo.
A se bo to lahko srečno končalo? Jaz nisem bila v dvomu o koncu.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always feel like I’m not quite smart enough for poetry. This was really good but I can’t quite tell you why. I loved the concept, the writing was great - I’ll probably have to reread it a few times to get more meaning but overall it was a great palette cleanser.

[Ellie]

Ah the ideal of the ‘good life’. Two POV’s, one a bored accountant who wants a wife and what some may call a mundane life and the angel who always craves more. And finally us, who hopes for some sort of happy medium. Really cool little piece of work!

[lil · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 piece of punctuation every three poems is uhhhhh annoying.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
This was fun

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

ugh she’s just so good!

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is just me and my inner monologue at least once a week

[senseijutsu · Rating 1 out of 5]

para los fans de rupi kaur jshsj

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise poetry pick up. Thought it was a novella. Loved it.