Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros
Knopf Publishing Group, September 2022, $27.00
During my seventeen years as a Chicagoan, Sandra Cisneros was a household name. Her first novel, The House on Mango Street, was a litmus test of sorts—those who have read it, passed. Its poetic and perceptive account of a young girl’s experiences in a lower-class Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago was skillfully crafted in vignettes, sold over six million copies, and won the American Book Award. Let us not only sing the praises of a top hit—a rock star’s number one complaint. She is a poet: a chapbook, Bad Boys (Mango Press); two full-length collections, My Wicked Wicked Ways (Third Woman Press and Random House) and Loose Woman (Alfred A. Knopf)—and now Women Without Shame. Like many poets, publication doesn’t seem to be the main goal. That is evident in this new, frank, nothing-held-back collection.
I was briefly inclined to say blunt, but her work is direct. It succinctly shows readers internal, private thoughts that some would probably like kept quiet. Each line directs you to the next, directs you to some truth, personal or universal. “Charred breast from chemo” being one of those poignant lines. Women Without Shame provides a great opportunity to walk in the shoes of a woman who is a masterful observer of her own body and feelings and those who cross her path.
She often mixes Spanish and English in her work, also not uncommon to hear a mixture in Chicago and San Miguel, Mexico, her two primary locations, so it is fitting to see her new book of poems is multilingual. A mind twister of sorts for those of us who do not speak both English and Spanish. Or a speedy lookup on Google Translate to see how well she has blended multinational metaphors.
“Women Seeks Her Own Company,” a poem that strips down what one “should” or might say on a dating app template, is extremely relatable for the 2.1 billion “single” individuals worldwide. And the final poem, “When in Doubt” is a mantra of sorts for flowing more smoothly through the difficult situations that pop up on large and small scales in our individual and collective lives.
Cisneros’s collection is one to go back to repeatedly, finding new nuances for paths to personal and global acceptance.
