Kilcher, Jewel

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I'm the exception to the rule.
poetry?
what the hell
Another side to an interesting artist!
A Breath of Fresh Air

A Night Without Armor : Poems
Jewel
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Chasing Down the Dawn: Life Stories
Jewel - A Life Uncommon
Jewel - Live at Humphrey's by the Bay
Spirit
0304

ASIN: 0061073628
Release Date: 1999-08-03

Amazon.com

Jewel Kilcher was the first to admit that this book of 100 or so of her poems would not have been published if her dazzling debut album, Pieces of You, hadn't sold 10 million copies. And granted, Jewel is not going to replace Deborah Garrison's A Working Girl Can't Win on anybody's hit parade of serious poets who write for regular people.

But--shockingly!--Jewel's book of poetry is solid by celeb-poet standards, and a fair bit of it is actually sort of readable in its own right. Maybe it's not a bad idea to raise your kids on an 80-acre Alaskan farm with plenty of chores and no TV, as Mr. Kilcher did. Unlike most young people, let alone overnight stars, Jewel has led a life of some intrinsic interest. While they're often prosaically straightforward, her poems about rescuing a newborn calf in the midnight snow, listening to wolves howl in a canyon storm, and racing naked out of a sauna of a winter evening bring us more useful experience than kid poets usually have to share. Some of Jewel's homesteading verse is no worse than some of Gary Snyder's late nature poems; though she'll never write nature poems remotely as good as his early work Riprap, neither will he, probably. Preachiness is the enemy of both poets' deep religious impulses.

Jewel's poems about dumping a lover or thrilling to parking-lot sex "between the moon and a Chevrolet" are perceptive, at points even evocative. Her ode to her own breasts as a nest for her beloved is no good, but it's an honest failure. Her dress at the Oscars was more embarrassing.

The music critics contend that Jewel's music is influenced by Joni Mitchell, though Jewel claims she didn't listen to her until lately. In comparing Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics with Jewel's book, we find that both use the image of the cactus for a heart that resists a restricting embrace, but that Mitchell is cleverer with language. When Joni's lover is away, "Me and them lonesome blues collide / The bed's too big, / The frying pan's too wide." Meanwhile, Jewel baldly observes, "I miss you miserably, dear / and I can't quite manage / to face this unbearably / large bed / alone."

On the other hand, Jewel does conclude with a nice image for toughing it out with a sentimental gesture--she shaves her armpits with his razor and cheap hotel soap. Ow! We feel her pain. Also, Jewel's "Underage" holds its own against Mitchell's "Raised on Robbery," while demonstrating the influence that probably outweighed Mitchell in Jewel's artistic development: her dad, with whom she played gigs as a child in Alaska.

<blockquote> I hung out once in the bathroom of Trade Winds Harley bar in Anchorage
With several biker chicks for company until the cops had left.
They had pale skin and thick black eye makeup
And they asked me to sing at their weddings.
I said I'd ask my dad.

We all sat on the counter and waited for the pigs to leave.
Some guy OD'd and was outside foaming at the mouth.

I remember looking in the mirror
And seeing this white face,
My shirt all buttoned up.
The women were nice to me
And looked like dark angels
Beside me. I liked them,
And together we waited
Patiently for the cops to leave
So I could go back out
And join my dad up
On stage. </blockquote>

The great peril for Jewel, as for most poets when very young, is artless sincerity. Her poem about her dad's Vietnam War trauma is dead sentiment, but she does far better in "Grimshaw," about a Vietvet who came to watch the Kilchers play, perpetually requesting "Ain't Goin' to Study War No More" and drinking four quarts of beer a night until the day he shot his face off. Which made little Jewel vow to deal with her own emotions sooner rather than too late.

Careless editing permitted Jewel to misspell the names of Tom Waits and Charles Bukowski and the word "peek." Most young fans won't notice, and the very poems about love troubles that older readers will find gratingly obvious will strike them as headline news to be taken to heart. --Tim Appelo

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Singer/songwriter Jewel Kilcher has been writing since she was a child. In this 87-poem collection, she reveals herself as an accomplished free-verse poet, alternately witty and serious, writing about true love, second thoughts, and broken relationships. Some of her poems are postcards from her travels, describing scenes and the people she meets in Las Vegas; Seattle; Taipei, Taiwan; and Hawaii. She also writes about Alaska, and it's evident in her voice that she misses the place where she was raised. The most poignant pieces are the ones about personal loneliness in the midst of popular acclaim, as in "Taipei 2": "I am told I am adored by millions--but no one calls." A must for every Jewel fan, this collection is especially rich in what Jewel calls "songs for love lost and love yet to come." Listen to Jewel read "As a Child I Walked." Visit our audio help page for more information. (Running time: 70 minutes, 1 CD) --C.B. Delaney

Book Description

One of the most respected artists in popular music today, Jewel is much more than a music industry success with her debut album selling more than 10 million copies.

Before her gifted songwriting comes an even more individual art: Poetry.

Now available in paperback, A Night without Armor highlights the poetry of Jewel taken from her journals which are both intimate and inspiring, to be embraced and enjoyed.

Writing poems and keeping journals since childhood, Jewel has been searching for truth and meaning, turning to her words to record, to discover, and to reflect.

In A Night Without Armor, her first collection of poetry, Jewel explores the fire of first love, the lessons of betrayal, and the healing of intimacy. She delves into matters of the home, the comfort of family, the beauty of Alaska, and the dislocation of divorce.

Frank and honest, serious and suddenly playful, A Night Without Armor is a talented artist's intimate portrait of what makes us uniquely human.

Customer Reviews:

I'm the exception to the rule........2007-04-30

I found THAT book brilliant? Eye-opening? Of course I did, once upon a time. I am usually the exception to the rule. I like people who are usually reviled and I am drawn to other things that can be otherwise shunned or whatever else...maybe because I feel like I too am shunned or reviled.

Poetry can take on so many forms, so many incarnations. What one person finds incoherant, another might find powerful. There really are no limits to the styles of verse or subject matter, and not everybody has to understand or approve of it. While I might not get the same momentum that I found when I first began reading this book...the poems here are rather simple and sparse, with not much rhythm at all in the lines if any, I am still proud to have it in my library because it is a very personal body of work which is unique only to Jewel Kilcher's life experiences. She may not be up to par with the writing abilities of Emily Dickinson, Dylan Thomas or Sylvia Plath, but not many writers are.

Poetry, above any other form of writing, is an individual experience. Different people will have different reactions to it. I suggest you read it for yourself first before you decide to form an opinion of it.

poetry?.......2007-04-19

This is poetry? I know she calls it free verse or some nonsense but I don't agree that she can call this poetry. She should just call it a book of song lyrics that never made it into any songs. She could've called it a diary and it would have been fine. Poetry? I'm not so sure. Some of the poems don't make any sense. Some of them are boring. And none of them have any rhythm. I'd call this a collection of witty anecdotes or something, but not poetry. It just isn't poetry. I can't stress that enough. How does reading Bukowski give her a license to suck?

what the hell.......2007-04-10

JEWEL IS ON CRACK. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?
"Women who suck
their cigarettes
as though they were
giving their
hatred head"

WHAT....?!

Another side to an interesting artist!.......2006-01-03

I was glad to read such touching poetry. The poems inside reflect a complicated person. Maby the poetry does not suite other's lives or taste. Although I do beleive it reflects personality and the struggle's of growing up. I beleive she is brave to put it all on the table to let others read her private thoughts. Bravo!

A Breath of Fresh Air.......2005-10-24

This book is truly touching. I admire the fact that someone can make such personal thoughts and feelings so public. I am upset that some people can talk so badly of another's true expressions. Art is always going to be different and controversial. It is silly to say that any art is "bad". Who classifies "bad"? There will always be a different perspective. Jewel's words are wonderful and honest. They are color to this gray world. A breath of fresh air in a world that cherishes Walt Whitman. Jewel's writing is reminiscent of the writings of Octavio Paz, Charles Bukowski and Pablo Neruda. She is the perfect feminine counterpart to modern poetry.

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Brutal Candor
An Intimate and Enchanting Mosaic
Jewel Fans Will Enjoy This Book
Jewel's Life and World
Chasing Down The Dawn

Chasing Down the Dawn
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

A Night Without Armor
Jewel - A Life Uncommon
Jewel - Live at Humphrey's by the Bay
0304
This Way

ASIN: 0060192003
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Book Description

Stockholm, The Grand HotelOutside the canals are weeping, rising silentlybeyond their cement banks. Soundlessly, theyspill onto the sidewalk, like a frayed edge. Theground will freeze soon. The night is cold. I canfeel it reach my skin through the glass of mywindow. My pane. My lamp. My towels.Funny how every hotel room becomes my own.My home. If only for one night.

Welcome to a world set to the ever-changing rhythms of an artist's life.

Since childhood, Jewel has turned to her own short stories, vivid narratives, and starkly honest writings to revisit the past, chronicle the many characters she's encountered, and trace the intricate, unpredictable patterns of her days. In Chasing Down the Dawn, recording artist, actress, and bestselling author Jewel opens her intimate journals to create a vivid montage of the people, places, relationships, and passages that colored the life she came from and marked the last magical, turbulent, and ultimately transformational year.

Drawn from her remarkable chronicle of life on the road during the Spirit World Tour, this unforgettable collection of freeze-frames captures unusual images from Jewel's childhood in Alaska, her beginnings as a struggling artist, and her challenges as a daughter, sister, and woman. Jewel paints an unblinkingly honest picture of the exceptional journey that carried her to the world's stage.

Here, as if pulled from a stack of snapshots, are Jewel's moment-by-moment observations on life as she now lives it: the pleasure of sold-out performances and the pressures of her industry .. the sweetness of love and bitterness of loss ... friendship, freedom, and the small miracles we ourselves create. And herein a book that allows the reader a rare glimpse of life's turning points as if viewed from over the author's shoulder -- are Jewel's deeply personal insights on the events that shaped her understanding: her parents' divorce, her experience of poverty, the healing of her difficult relationship with her father, and the development of her unique talent.

With the publication of her bestselling collection of poetry, A Night Without Armor, Jewel established herself as a light on the literary horizon. With acutely observed, elegantly written depictions of the musicians, lovers, bikers, strangers, celebrities, and characters that inhabit the singer/songwriter's world, illustrated with Jewel's own drawings and never-before-seen photographs from her family archives, Chasing Down the Dawn is more than a collection of vignettes, observations, and stories. It is a finely wrought mosaic in prose and poetry, set to the rhythms of life.

Customer Reviews:

Brutal Candor.......2005-08-23

When I think of how Jewel has slipped in the public's perception from a fresh, innovative voice on the neo-alternative music scene to something of a joke only a decade later, it makes the '90's seem very far away. Back when this book was written she was still taken seriously and the confidence widespread acclaim gave her shows. I'm not sure she would or even could produce this work today.

I admire Jewel for writing this book. It isn't an exercise in self-flattery, nor is it a place-by-place memoir of her life. What Jewel created is almost more a confession than an autobiography. She tells of what it was like to grow up in rural poverty in Alaska, the only girl in a family of boys, and describes the hardships she faced in that life. A gifted performer and musically talented from a young age onward, Jewel and her family would perform concerts at bars and on stages through her home state. She tells of this part of her life, and moves forward into an adolescence spent homeless and living in a car. She talks about relationships and friendships, loss and the influences behind many of of her most personal songs, including the real life story behind her sad ballad Adrian. This is not only a book for fans of Jewel, it also works for anyone interested in reading a frank, unpretentious life story.

An Intimate and Enchanting Mosaic.......2005-06-07

My best friend Jacque, used to say, "Sleep beneath the stars and you will wake with more answers than you have questions to." ~Jewel

From the first page, you enter Jewel's magical world of snow and ice in Alaska. Jewel is on a private jet, writing about her life.

Jewel's "Chasing Down the Dawn" is an intimate, timeless and enchanting mosaic. Jewel creates a world where the main elements of life and the magical experiences are woven into her daily existence. Her experiences are processed through her self-analysis and then woven into words.

While not organized in a chronological order, memories dance playfully with stark reality, unique vignettes give insight into the inexorable connection between Jewel's music and the way she views life. She becomes the guitar, her music is her gift, she is grounded in purpose, yet living in the stars with dreams she eventually manifests into reality.

The story of her life is temporarily tragic and eternally beautiful. We read about the tragic loss of her mother as a child (the divorce), how she struggled to live in a world of men (no privacy), her childhood in Alaska and the sharp contrast between frontier life and traveling on a private jet. It is as if Jewel has lived two lives, one in the distant past and one in the dreamy future. Her vivid recollections are especially beautiful to read and there is a sacred side to her writing. She is not just experiencing her dream, she is creating each moment through conscious decisions.

Jewel is a multitalented artist. She excels as a musician, poet and skilled writer and then her artistic nature also comes out in her photography. I loved the three pictures of the grain barn with the horse and rider shadows. She also shows us her honest comedic side in stories of how she "borrowed" a few items from a friend. She then concludes that stealing was a "manifestation of my lack of faith in myself."

Chasing Down the Dawn gives insight into Jewel's songs and what inspired her to write "Who Will Save Your Soul?" Her songs then reveal their history in her childhood memories, ideas about love, love of horses and nature, memories of people she has loved and lost and her world travels and life experience. Throughout this book Jewel and her father are on a journey to accept each other as souls and when her father sings her a sweet sixteen lullaby the circle is complete.

To me, Jewel is a magical angelic singer who was sent to our earth to remind us of the magnificent creations we are, to remind us to love and to contemplate our deeper existence. The existence of our souls, how we can change the world for the better through our lives and how we can survive this earthly and temporary solitude within a physical body subject to emotional pain and ethical conflicts.

Reading Jewel's short stories, vivid recollections and songs make the world seem a little less lonely. Her writing draws us into her magical world of experience and leaves us wanting to read more.

If you love Jewel's poetic writing style, then I think you will love her poems.

~TheRebeccaReview.com
Listening to Pieces of You and Spirit

Jewel Fans Will Enjoy This Book.......2004-08-24

This books is a compilation of experiences and stories from Jewel's childhood up through adulthood, as well as experiences from the road. I find her childhood and upbringing in Alaska fascinating so I had a hard time putting the book down. She shares with the reader bits about her relationship with her family and friends, the glamour and gloom of being on tour, and how she became the artist she is today. As you'll read from the book you'll see her talent was in her genes. There are wonderful photographs from her childhood up through adulthood and her writing seems to come right from her heart. I really enjoyed the book and insight into her life and recommend the book to fans who enjoy Jewel's music.

Jewel's Life and World.......2004-07-14

This is a sort of autobiographical journal by Jewel. She talks about growing up in Alaska, her early beginnigs as a singer, songwriter and musician, and her life on the road on tour. Many personal anecdotes in here which Jewel fans will find interesting. You'll get a good sense of how Jewel thinks and feels about her rise to fame, and just about things in general, including past events and memories which she recounts from her life. And yes, she's very intuitive and thinks a lot. The book is illustrated throughtout with Jewel's simple and delightful little drawings. There are also lots of beautiful photos in this book.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Chasing Down The Dawn.......2004-03-01

Chasing Down The Dawn (by Jewel Kilcher) Reader Review
Harper Entertainment, 2000
Reviewer: Karen Unglaub from Noble High School, North Berwick, Maine.
The autobiography Chasing Down the Dawn, by Jewel Kilcher, is notes and paragraphs about Jewel's life from when she was 10 until she was 18. It tells about her parent's divorce and how it was a total shock. How she and her 2 older brothers and her dad moved far away, leaving there mother standing sobbing. All to start a new life, and get on with the old one. She and her father would go into clubs and sing together a few times a week. Jewel met a few, lot of unusual people, but they helped open her eyes to the variety of life. She would talk amongst the men and women, and they gave her respect, because she was a very mature young lady. She writes a lot of short poems that are separate from the usual text; she includes a lot of her own drawings in the autobiography too.
She encounters first love, and leaves him. She always needed more than just a boyfriend to pretend to love her. She thought she was in love with him. She was only in love with the idea of being in love, and had to leave him to find her real prince in shinning Armour. (She has also a book of poems, A Night Without Armour) Her father began going to bars quite frequently to sing and meet ladies. She would accompany him and sing by his side on stage. Her father protected her from ridicule.
Not until she was sixteen, that she ventures out into bars all alone to sing and earn her way out of poverty, for just one day. She made just enough money to cover her bus tickets food and then she kept the left over few dollars, and used it for what she had to. Her father trusted her and knew that she was very mature, and allowed her to go out on her own and experience club life of her own. She got gigs, because she was cute, refreshing and had a folk style that was different than the grunge that was in that era. Her name finally was spreading around the cities, and she was signed to a label to make an album, and go on tour. She now was getting noticed in the street, while she was trying to write in peace and quite. It would frustrate her; she had pressure from the label to keep writing all of her new songs. She liked to write about people, so she would watch people on the street, and jot down poems and phrases. It got so hard once she was getting recognized, because she lived to stay in the hidden and watch from the sides. Now she couldn't look at them secretly, because they were already looking at her!
She would go back home to Alaska, and feel very uncomfortable; her father would want her to join the village's hot shower outside. That was held at her house. They made a shower. She would not join. She would go after. They also had to share a phone line too. She would share it with 7 different families, and she felt that they were always eavesdropping. Also of the other hand, she felt most relaxed at home after she felt the most relaxed at home, in her fathers many acres. She was free to write and not be noticed by anyone at all, except the cattle. She got accustomed to famous life, and was thankful. The autobiography leaves off with her talking about life. "Life is all about rhythm... And Time is not a line, it's a loop."
Strengths
This autobiography is very detailed and had many poems that provide a deeper insight about her life. The book does what it should; it invites you into her life, shows you around and lets you out with a goodbye. This book has many photographs. It shows the good and the bad. Life on the road without makeup after being awake for 20 hours. And her in a field laying in the grass with one of her many horses. She shows pictures of life in the city, and life in the country. It shows random people, and her most loved ones. She includes a lot of her own art in the book too. She draws pictures of naked women, that are bearing their souls, nothing to hide and completely honest and pure.
Weaknesses
The autobiography is not in chronological order. It bounces from thought to thought, as her mind does. She questions herself, and contradicts herself quite often, and left me still to wonder how she is feeling. The only feeling I can conclude is confusion, much like I was when I read the book. She touches on subjects that she never went back to, but it kept you wondering, much like life does. Aside from the normal text, I liked the format of the book. The font was big enough to read, and wasn't boring. It had a different look to it; you didn't feel like you were reading a "boring book for English class". But the format was also mixed up; it would jump from a chapter to a whole bunch of pictures in the middle of nowhere, but an interesting experience. Looking at the experience of reading this, I think that it mad me look more at the world and what feelings that I am going through, and that everyone is different, but more the same.

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A Night Without Armor
Jewel Jewel; Kilcher
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0439109884

Product Description

Book of poetry inspired from the author's childhood in Alaska.

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A NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR: POEMS
Jewel Kilcher:
Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LY2F7G

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Chasing Down the Dawn
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OENU8G

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A Night Without Armor - Poems
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: Harper-collins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RIYW04

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A NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR: POEMS
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3R8VW

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A NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR: POEMS
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3SLH2

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Foolish Games
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: WB Music Corp. ; Wiggly Tooth Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ICUM8A

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A Night Without Armor : Poems
Jewel Kilcher
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OENTZU

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