Autodidactic

Description

63 pages
$11.95
ISBN 0-919626-94-7
DDC C811'.54

Author

Publisher

Year

1997

Contributor

Reviewed by Bert Almon

Bert Almon is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and a
poet. He is the author of Calling Texas, Earth Prime, and Mind the Gap.

Review

Don Kerr, a veteran prairie poet, writes poems that build like a quiet
jazz solo, in short wistful phrases. In Autodidactic, the experience of
riding in a car as a passenger is used as a unifying device for
reflections on family, place, and time. Kerr says in the final piece,
“Autodidactic,” that his muse is “Hermes god of Exxon.” Hermes
is not only a traveler and a messenger but also a keeper of boundaries
and therefore an interpreter: the term “hermeneutic” is derived from
his name. Kerr interprets the small epiphanies (and some of the large
ones) that punctuate our lives. He shows compassion and insight,
qualities that go well with his poetry’s somewhat melancholy tone.

The limitation of his book lies in its muted quality. These are good
poems, but they are trapped in their modesty. It is easy for the eye to
slide right over some of the poet’s understated verbal felicities.
There seems to be a governor on the gas pedal; Kerr needs to take the
wheel and burn rubber once in a while.

Citation

Kerr, Don., “Autodidactic,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed January 28, 2025, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/2979.