The Other Man Was Me: A Voyage to the New World

Winner of the National Poetry Series 1993 Open Competition, Campo's first book is firmly topical: Latino ethnicity, gay identity, the responsibilities of doctors in the age of AIDS, and the meaning of family are all under question as the writer, a San Francisco doctor, writes with a sturdily imaginative vigor in compact, accessible poems. ``The narcissism universally / Attributed to infants once belonged / To me,'' observes a speaker in ``Song for My Lover''; Campo's voice is characteristically forthright, realistic and impassioned. His interests include, conspicuously, narrative--not just the story of one person's experience (``Pretending fatherhood was simply sperm''), but a clan's (``Our Country of Origin'') over generations, or a people's. The poet's assertive exploration of personal and political material is always engaging. However, his language can be both trite and awkward, a willed wrestle with experience that neglects the writer's medium. This is not to miss Campo's talent, which is clear and persistent. (July)