Bad Neighborhood (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798901467275)

Cindy Frenkel is one of Detroit's top poets. In Bad Neighborhood, she uses beautiful narrative poems to explore themes of life, death, tragedy, and hope. This reflective compilation transports readers to Detroit in the mid-to-late 20th century with heartfelt poems about her parents' lives and passing, her brother's tragic death, and more. The poems feature original imagery that reveals the mysteries of the soul. Widely praised and published, this exceptional poet is a must-read for anyone who appreciates beautifully crafted poetry.

-M.L. Liebler

Even with the topics of suicide and death, these are poems I could read over and over . . . and before bed no less!

-Blair Carleton

In Bad Neighborhood, Cindy Frenkel displays a remarkable range of artistic approaches to surviving trauma. During her mother's demise, a sibling dies by suicide. In "Broken Promises," she writes, "When I was with my mother / my father made me promise / not to cry. He worried / it would feed her cancer. / I complied. Or tried." Wrenching poems address mental illness, addiction, or war. Others focus on delights, from her love of people to flora and fauna. Frenkel's collection, layered with paradoxical insight, richly serves us all, offering stunning realization, comforting empathy, and intelligent strength.

-Jack Ridl

With her alchemy of plain-spoken, suddenly perfect metaphors, and explosive, morally anchored last lines, Cindy Frenkel portrays a family . . . the marvels of this collection are the sassy buoyant poems of love for a daughter and unexpected love after divorce . . . Frenkel uses memory, the dynamics of ageing parents, and the legacy of the Holocaust to pierce use with her bullseye one-liners.

-Molly Peacock