• Title: Monkey Ranch
• Author: Julie Bruck
• ISBN: 1-926829-74-3
• ISBN-13: 978-1-926829-74-6
• Pages: 85
• Year: 2012
• Size: 6" × 9"
• Price: $19.00

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Listen to Poems from Monkey Ranch

• Listen to individual poems on AudioBoo
• Listen to a grouping of poems on YouTube

Winner of the 2012 Governor General's Award for Poetry

Globe 100 Book for 2012

Comic and sober by turns, these poems ask us
what is sufficient, what will suffice?

… a mandrill, a middle-aged woman, a shattered Baghdad neighbourhood, a long marriage, even a spoon, grapple with this unanswerable conundrum—sometimes with rage, or plain persistence, sometimes with the furious joy of a dog who gets to ride with his head through a truck’s passenger window. Julie Bruck’s third book of poetry is a brilliant and unusual blend of pathos and play, of deep seriousness and wildly veering humour. Though Bruck “does not stammer when it's time to speak up,” and “will not blink when it's time to stare directly at the uncomfortable,” as Cornelius Eady says in his blurb for the book, “in Monkey Ranch she celebrates more than she sighs, and she smartly avoids the shallow trap of mere indignation by infusing her lines with bright, nimble turns, the small, yet indelible detail. Bruck sees everything we do; she just seems to see it wiser. Her poems sing and roil with everything complicated and joyous we human monkeys are.”

“Monkey Ranch has all the antic sensuality and thrilling precision we’ve come to expect from Julie Bruck’s work. This volume has a pitch-perfect elegance that calms the ruckus just long enough for us to glimpse the vulnerability of everyone involved.  Monkey Ranch is like the best sort of letter from a friend—full of gossip, lively observation, and serious wit.” – Sharon Thesen 

Julie Bruck and Monkey Ranch - Winner of the 2012 Governor General's Award for Poetry - here is the Judges' Citation - "Monkey Ranch by Julie Bruck leaps about the ordinary world with a deft detachment and flexible artistry – guiding us with its offbeat, caring and companionable sensibility. “There’s enough light to see by,” says Julie Bruck, even though the children turn their eyes away. This humane voice, quirky and patient, will see you through a world stripped of miracles."

A watchful eye, a caring heart - interview in the Montreal Gazette

Julie Bruck - Monkey Ranch (Governor General's Award nominee in Poetry 2012) – 3 poems and an interview 

In a recent interview, Rhea Tregebov recommends Monkey Ranch by Julie Bruck - In an interview with Open Book Toronto - Poets in Profile, Open Book Toronto asks: "What was the last book of poetry that really knocked your socks off?

Rhea replies: "Oh, again, so many good books to choose from. I have to say I adore Julie Bruck’s Monkey Ranch, which just won the GG. I’ve been reading her work for decades and was so glad that a new book came out after such a long wait. The level of craft is very high in her poetry, but she’s also very engaged with the world, thoughtful, compassionate, the things that tend to mean the most to me in poetry." Here's the full interview.

Julie Bruck on Undiluted Canine Joy  

12 or 20 questions with Julie Bruck – Monkey Ranch is now in print!! 

At The Desk: Julie Bruck 

The Proust Questionnaire: Julie Bruck 

Poetry Month 2012: Julie Bruck - Missing Jerry Tang 

Stalk a Poet – Sarah Tsiang admires Julie Bruck’s writing… 

For a sneak peek, here are a few of Julie’s poems on-line

“Monkey Ranch” and “Common Goods” at Eleven Eleven 

“Snapshot” at Valparaiso Poetry Review 

“Goodwill” at 99 Poems for the 99 Percent 

"The Trick" at The Walrus magazine