The Autobiography of Nancy Drew - a collection of poems by R.J. Ingram

When I happened across this on Amazon, I did not hesitate to buy it, simply because it has Nancy Drew in the title.  After all, it must have some connection to everyone's favorite teen sleuth, right?  Amazon describes the book as "an unexpected and unique perspective on the profound impact of pop culture icons" where "you'll encounter a blend of melancholy, mystery, and sensuality - a tantalizing exploration of Nancy Drew's ilk."  That certainly sounded intriguing, so I was curious to know what I would find within the pages of this book when it finally arrived on my doorstep.  Well, I can honestly say that this book was nothing at all what I was expecting, and the title ... well, the title is extremely misleading, to say the least.

The Autobiography of Nancy Drew is a collection of poems of all type, written by R.J. Ingram.  The cover art, by Casey Hannan, is not really indicative of what's inside - honestly, I can't make heads or tails of the what purpose the cover art serves, other than perhaps as a way to entice people to pick up the book based solely on the drawing of a man in his underwear on the cover.  As far as the title to this collection of poetry goes - well, it is actually the title to one of the poems inside (p. 3).  I had thought that based on the title, the majority, if not the entire, book would somehow be connected with Nancy Drew, whether the books, the television shows, the movies, the collectibles, or even simply the pop culture status of the character.  Sadly, I was extremely disappointed to find that only the one poem directly addressed our favorite teen sleuth.  "Tell the school your Aunt Carolyn writes / The Nancy Drew books about you..." starts the poem, basically placing the reader in a position of pretending that the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories were written about them.  However, the poem quickly changes gear, revealing the author's own (real? pretend?) relationship with his grandmother.  Which begs the question - how is this poem, let alone the book, an autobiography of Nancy Drew?

That being said, there are some Nancy Drew references throughout the book.  Page 21 offers up a poem titled "The Bungalow Mystery Book," dedicated to Grandma Harriett, which one might assume is the author's grandmother (although is it merely a coincidence that Grandma shares the same name with Edward Stratemeyer's daughter, albeit with an extra "t"?).  The poem, however, has absolutely no connection to the Nancy Drew mystery by the same name.  There's also the poem titled "The Secret of the Wooden Lady" on page 24.   Again, this is not in any way connected with the Nancy Drew book that shares that same name, but rather, appears to pay respect to the loss of a mother's apartment to a fire.  Then there is "The Secret of the Old Clock," named after the very first Nancy Drew mystery; again, no connection to the book, but dedicated to Grandma Joyce with memories of a hospital visit following an accident not described.  Three pages later, on page 51, we get "The Sign of the Twisted Candles," dedicated to Grandma Mable.  Unlike the book, the poem deals with death, memories, and imagined "pseudoccult" and dark magic candles.  The final Nancy Drew reference is only a partial one, "The Password to Shadylake Drive" on page 72, which perhaps pays homage to a home left long ago, or perhaps one the author never wanted to enter as a youth.  No bluebells or old spinsters held by unscrupulous men in this one!

The remaining poems make reference to other pop culture icons, such as Mary Poppins, Padme Amidala (from the Star Wars saga, for those who don't know), Rhiannon, Jurassic Park, Barbie, Carrie, Princess Leia Organa, Margaritaville, Miss Piggy, Sam and Diane (which, I assume, are from Cheers), and others.  I skimmed through some of those, and find little connection to the titles within the actual poems.  Now, I will readily admit, I'm not a big fan of poetry, and I don't pretend to understand poets' intent when they write what I consider abstract poetry (poems that do not have readily understood context from the words and lines themselves), so I cannot make any observations as to whether the poetry in this book would be considered "good" or "great" or "bad" or any other adjective.  Rather, I can only comment on the fact that I find the title to the book and the poems which use Nancy Drew books as their titles to be misleading and a misrepresentation of the content.  I see absolutely no connection whatsoever to those titles (other than, perhaps, the first one, which does actually reference "Nancy Drew" and "Carolyn" - Keene, the named author of the Nancy Drew series).  As such, for me, this book proved to be a huge disappointment and will simply go on my shelf as another Nancy Drew collectible in name only.   Fans of poetry, however, may find this book to be something entirely different, and for the author's benefit, I certainly hope that is the case!

 

Would I recommend this book?  Only if you like poetry and are willing to take a chance on a new author. Otherwise, for Nancy Drew fans, be warned - this is a Nancy Drew collectible in name only.

 

RATING:  3 Willie Nelson concerts out of 10 for simply taking advantage of the Nancy Drew icon status to attract buyers and readers and giving Nancy Drew fans an extremely unusual collectible (to say the least!).