This was not for me. I've read epics and poetry novels before, but I couldn't string the individual chapters of this into an actual story. The description sounded so interesting, but the museum stuff wasn't a big enough part of these to hold my interest. DNF

Gonna be honest: I struggled to find my footing in this one. Moments were beautiful, and I liked the overall idea of what Schiff is up to, but it never quite clicked for me.

WEDNESDAYS WITH DENISE: August 16, 2023 with graphic


Robyn Schiff’s Information Desk: An Epic was published yesterday by Penguin. The book-length poem is broken up into three sections, with the speaker telling us “I used to man the Information/Desk in the center of the Great Hall of that Metropolitan Museum of Art.” While the book is a fascinating look at the MoMA’s collections and previous exhibits, it is also about the self at that desk, her desires beyond art. Her introductory “Invocation” sets up the themes explored in the next three sections, the “information” readers will be given. When a memory of her betrayal to a friend enters her poem “To the Jewel Wasp,” Schiff writes “…Well, that// was unexpected…Poems/are as a good a place for the past as the grass/is for the wasp…”. Schiff’s mundane duties—like handing out maps and accepting packages from bicycle messengers—are infused by and rub up against great works of art—Steichen and Rodin’s studies of Balzac; the Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt exhibit; and Louis XV’s desk. Questions like “What time is it?” (asked by John Kennedy Jr.) and “Where’s the bathroom?” (asked by pretty much everyone, it seems) jut up against the harassment of “Are those your real breasts?” or a boss who pulls “Betsy’s skirt down inside the Desk// on the other side of which visitors were grabbing our brochures…” This speaks to women in a workplace, even a workplace as refined as the MoMA. This speaks to the artworld. Beauty, forgery, men (artists and patrons) behaving badly. Schiff asks her readers “What is your desk//made of? I’m just writing on my lap right/now, upon which I once rocked my son.” Information Desk: An Epic is a powerful meditation on art as the poet continues to make it.

Congratulations, Robyn!

I unfortunately had a really hard time getting into this one and wasn't able to really get traction in understanding it. Loved the idea behind it though!

Robyn Schiff’s epic poem Information Desk is a work of art. This was a beautiful mash up of art history, personal history, and three invocations featuring wasps. I definitely did get a bit lost at times which detracted a bit from my enjoyment but I feel that has more to do with my lack of knowledge about art history than the poem itself.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This so beautifully combines personal history and art history within the walls of these pages and the walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was so visceral and moving. I will absolutely be seeking out more from Robyn Schiff in the future.

Robyn Schiff's Information Desk is a really incredible and unique story presentation, highlighting the injustice intrinsic to the existence and continued operation of museums around the western world.

The format of this book was an epic poem, set within the MET. It was certainly interesting, and well done. I don't know if the format of it quite worked for me though? I'd still recommend it as it's so unique and intentional with what it's doing.