Depression & Other Magic Tricks (Button Poetry) Paperback – August 22, 2017

I have read my fair share of nineteenth and twentieth century poetry. I love Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Edgar Allan Poe and Maya Angelou. But with that being said, for whatever reason, it’s just extremely rare that I ever read modern poetry by current authors. Maybe I just don’t want to take the risk. But I made an exception this time after seeing an extraordinary video of the author performing her poem “Explaining My Depression to My Mother.” I immediately came to Amazon to buy the book, and I even paid extra for same-day delivery. Somehow in my rush, I even managed to accidentally order two copies.I would say that the tone of the book is kind of like a day in the life of a twenty-something millennial. She laments lost loves, the unreliability of her father, and the would-be helpful codependence of her mother.I don’t know enough about the author to have any sense of how much of the book is autobiographical and how much of it is fiction, but it felt like there was a ring of personal truth in Benaim’s writing. I could personally relate to many of the themes in the book, especially those related to body issues and eating/weight, as well as anxiety issues. Benaim tackles other difficult topics such as the divorce of her parents and, of course, depression.One of the first things you might notice is the lack of capitalization and frequent lack of any punctuation whatever. I’m a bit of a grammar stickler, so I wasn’t sure how that was going to work for me, but soon enough I completely forgot about it.There were a few lines in particular that stood out to me as particularly shattering.From nature versus nurture:…when my father tells me i am beautiful,i always hope it’s because i remind him of my mother.From follow up a prayer / a spell:when i look in the mirror i see a reflectionof the gifts i withhold from myself.Final say: 5/5 stars, and I didn’t even have to think about it. I’m a fan. I’m sure I’ll come back to it many times. The content is good and the poetry itself is sharp. I really enjoyed living in her world for an hour or two, and I’ll buy her next book. And one final thing: I feel like I have to say kudos to whoever made that cover. It’s perfect.

Loved this book

❤️

I fell in love with Sabrina Benaim’s poetry when I stumbled upon a video of her performing Explaining My Depression to My Mother. It was the first video of spoken word poetry I’d seen, and I went down the rabbit hole. I listened to this book of poetry on Audible, as I feel it’s the only way to fully understand the poet.I wish that it sounded more like she was performing, rather than just reading it, but I still love all the works in this audiobook. Her poetry is very relatable to me personally, and I need more of her poetry in my life.

It took a few extra days to get here. I ordered on a Friday night and this showed up on Thurs, but no big deal. The only real dissatisfaction I have is that the plastic they wrapped it in was so tight it damages the cover. It’s not a huge deal, but I love that perfect new book look that I usually get to wreck as I read it.Otherwise, the content is great. This book is like a comforting friend when I feel like nobody understands my depression. Love it.

I honestly love this. I'm just going through my own depression and I just need something to read and inspire me and just to help me through my time and this book help me through a lot and it definitely inspire me to write my own poetry because I know it will help.

Sabrina is real,anyone who has experienced mental health difficulties will enjoy this.Good for the young and grown.All genders

First off I should tell you that I fell upon Sabrina Benaim through Youtube. This is when the love started. As for the book she opens it with my favorite poem and the first I heard her read on Youtube. This made me very excited to read the rest. You will not be disappointed. She has such a beautiful way of conveying her thoughts and her feelings. Which I found myself saying " I have felt that way before" or "Thank God I am not alone!" This book would be perfect for a gift to someone or to keep for your own collection. Better yet buy one for yourself and your friend. I am probably going to purchase more copies for gifts. Thank you Sabrina Benaim for being open and sharing this with us.