Book Review: In Spite of Everything (Curtis Robbins)Reviewed by Linda A. CroninIn Spite of Everything is the first collection of poetry by Curtis Robbins, a Deaf poet who indicates in the Introduction that he intends for his poetry to reveal his love of life and his similarities and differences with people who are and aren't deaf. In the poems that follow reveal Robbins' facility with words and clearly demonstrate that just because the poet is deaf this does not mean he isn't aware of the rhythms and music that language creates. While throughout the collection the quality of the poems varies widely, In Spite of Everything plays a clear role in the literature that makes up deaf poetry and serves as an introduction to a poet many in and out of the deaf community may not be familiar with. Overall, I believe the book is positive contribution and addition to the body of disability poetry. In the Introduction, Robbins gives the readers his idea of what it means to be Deaf while also providing an introduction into Deaf poetry which has existed for a long time although few outside the Deaf community have known of its existence. Robbins states clearly that his work is "an attempt to show that being deaf does not make that much of a difference on how one enjoys life" (1). Time and again, he shows his ability to laugh at life and to retain his sense of humor despite trying encounters with people who can hear. Robbins believes that poetry does not require the ears but his mind and soul and that we all live by the comedy of errors. He talks about American Sign Language (ASL) as a language in and of itself that for some "defines and dignifies" their deafness, "it's their own means of survival." In his poems, Robbins demonstrates how relying on sign language can separate and segregate Deaf people from the hearing community. "To the hearing audience of Deaf poetry, here is the gist of the matter. It is never the intent of the Deaf poetry movement to seek sympathy; rather, it sings, it dances, and it pictorializes the percepts of being human—it seeks an understanding of the bigger picture—our own senses and sensibilities. That is, it is about reaching out for such an understanding as to who we deaf people are, what we're like, how we go about, or how we deal with situations so differently than those of hearing people." Nevertheless, Robbins does not shy away from pointing out his frustration with how Deaf people are treated in society. His poem "They Call Me By My Labels" begins:
Hearing people have Then in an interesting move he address the reader who he assumes (probably correctly) is a hearing person.
I'll bet
you've a preconceived notion It's a valid point. As readers make their way through the book, it is likely that they will find themselves guilty of many of the accusations Robbins lays on them. One experience common to almost everyone with a disability is being subjected to "the stare." Restaurants are a particularly popular place for this to occur. In his poem "Gawk," Robbins makes use of the technique popularized by Kenny Fries book title - "Staring Back."
It was a particularly uncomfortable Another common and more hurtful experience is related in the poem "Shticks":
Even the girls in high school wouldn't let me date them. Among the most interesting experiences of discriminatory treatment is described in the poets "Unintentional Differential Treatment" where as a volunteer in an ASL class, he is snubbed. Those familiar with other Deaf or blind writers know that much of their work is informed by their earlier experiences in special schools or classes. In contrast to those writers who sometimes found themselves in remote educational environments, many of Robbins experiences were received in the "school or hard knocks."
I was up from PS 40 Perhaps it was just this sort of experience of feeling he had to fight for whatever ground he could gain that helps to explain the didactic approach that characterizes most of his poems. For the most part, Robbin's poems are straightforward expressions of his feelings with no hidden agendas. He characterizes his style as the product of one who is a signing Deaf man who can speak understandably. …the poems were written in a homogenized process through two modes of communications strongly adhered to ASL and the spoken word as enumerated—with every effort to minimize the nuances of the grammatical structures of the English language postulated with ASL. In other words, English and ASL are written as if they interdepend. He is also found of beginning his poetry with quotes from recognized literary authors. In addition to those influenced by ASL, the poems most likely to present the reader with something new are those about Deaf Australian Henry Lawson. Curtis Robbins would probably be the first to say that his experiences do not represent those of every person who is Deaf. Nevertheless, In Spite of Everything, does introduce uninitiated readers to a world that may be very different from what they are used to, incorporating the multiple aspects of both its joys and frustrations. Hitherto, Robbins work has appeared in such important anthologies as Deaf American Poetry and Deaf Lit Extravaganza. This is his first attempt to fly solo. At the very beginning of the book, the poet says that he wishes to share his love of life and to show that being Deaf does not make that much of a difference in how one enjoys life. It will be up to each individual reader to judge to what extent he succeeds.
Title: In Spite of Everything
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