Dark Sparkler

February 16, 2015
This third book of poems from actress Tamblyn (Bang Ditto) could be a large-scale media event, but it’s also a good read. Prominent since her teens in film and especially TV, Tamblyn has long been serious about poetry. Here her poetic avocation takes on the perils of her primary career: the actress has created an energetic and formally varied collection focused on ill-fated starlets, dead actresses, and child stars. Some lines misfire, or sound garish, but many hit their mark. Though Tamblyn covers the obvious (Lupe Velez, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Dana Plato), she makes room for lesser-known figures, such as Laurel Gene, “an innocent with apple juice eyes and a/ brain full of famished birds,” and Bollywood star Taruni Sachdev, who was killed in a plane crash at 14. Verse and prose sections at the back of the volume include fictional emails that describe the construction of the book and include first-person verse meditations on an audition; David Lynch, Marilyn Manson, and other well-known figures contribute original illustrations. Reviewers may compare Tamblyn to James Franco, who also wrote poems about his own celebrity, but the two cases aren’t really alike: Tamblyn’s work seems less slick, and it’s more playful and far more personal, with highs and lows that stick around after the cameras are off.

March 15, 2015
It seems anyone with a platform (often stardom or even simple notoriety) can publish a book these days. Successful actress Tamblyn certainly has a fan base, but that in no way diminishes her obvious poetic chops and distinctive aesthetic vision. Dark Sparkler is a thoughtful tribute to child and adult actresses who, like Tamblyn, experienced being female in an industry that often objectifies and discriminates against girls and women while condoning self-abuse, such as drug use and extreme dieting. Many of these actresses committed suicide; others died young or violently. But Tamblyn also mines personal experience, connecting the dots between her own insecurities and destructive habits, with the path behind her strewn with the casualties of not just fame but also the pursuit of the superficial. Commissioned illustrations by David Lynch, Marilyn Manson, and others help accentuate and elucidate the poems' layered meanings. With frank observations and blunt commentary, Tamblyn has created a smartly crafted collection, proving that she is a savvy and fierce woman and poet who knows that behind every spotlight is shadow.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)