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Charm School
— Five Women of the Odyssey
Homer's Odyssey springs to life in comically witty, psychologically rich poetry full of epic resonance in Randall J. VanderMey's Charm School: Five Women of the Odyssey. In dramatic monologues and dialogues, the drama of Odysseus's long-delayed homecoming from the Trojan War is told as a series of encounters with five strong women: Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Athena, and Penelope. The famed encounters are there – the Cyclops, the Lotus Eaters, the Clashing Rocks, the descent into the Underworld — but the real story here is one of seduction, faithfulness, devotion to duty, and the ultimate testing of love. Who is the greater hero in the end: tardy Odysseus or long-suffering Penelope? Though full of contemporary references, Charm School is true to its Homeric source; it will make a thought-provoking addition to any course in Greek mythology. REVIEW 12-07-06 Santa Barbara Independent The Poets of Artamo Press (excerpt) by Barry Spacks
Randall J. VanderMey, an English teacher at Westmont College displays another sort of transcendence in his witty playlet Charm School. Here five women central to the trials of Odysseus — most touchingly, his patient wife Penelope — engage with the hero in searching repartee that conflates the Homeric source with current slang and contemporary reference. The book brings us back to “Poet’s Theatre,” a hybrid form too little encountered these days. Here’s VanderMey’s wanderer fending off the complaints of his dazzlingly attractive, long-deserted wife:
A uniquely entertaining study, VanderMey’s five poetry-scenes evoke the ancient poem while displaying its relevance to male/female encounters, demands, and justifications in our own day. |
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FROM ARTAMO PRESS