"Nick Demske writes from culture like the Hollywood version of a rebellious slave, the role shredding off him, culture's synthetic exemplary tales ...
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May 07, 2011
Below is the Poets & Writers profile that compelled me to purchase this book (copied from this blog; thanks for typing it out, Sandra Beasley) immediately. I am glad I did, and I especially love his advice:
NICK DEMSKE
Book: NICK DEMSKE
Time Spent Writing the Book: Two Years.
Number of Contests Entered: "About ten. I feel lucky the number is so small."
Sample: "In every sumo, there's a little bulimic awaiting a glorious purge." (" More...
NICK DEMSKE
Book: NICK DEMSKE
Time Spent Writing the Book: Two Years.
Number of Contests Entered: "About ten. I feel lucky the number is so small."
Sample: "In every sumo, there's a little bulimic awaiting a glorious purge." (" More...
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Apr 24, 2011
Donna
rated it: 
I was prepared to be confused by this book, having heard Nick Demske read from his self-titled collection Nick Demske, winner of the Modern Poetics Prize from Fence Books in 2010. His numerous pop culture references and mind-boggling twists and turns in thought may at first seem haphazard or difficult to follow. His passionate reading style, however, won me over, and I was curious to see what the book had to offer.
I am glad that I did. Reading the book brings the poems to new light. More...
I am glad that I did. Reading the book brings the poems to new light. More...
Jan 08, 2011
Jeffrey
rated it: 
Between the sublime and the subversive, between the crack and the cracked, comes a rollicking new voice. Writing with a shotgun, Nick Demske hits the target. In fact, he obliterates it. His lines are bloody pellets plucked out of his prey. He makes direct contact. “I write death letters to everyone. Indiscriminate.” Scattered as that may seem, Demske’s eponymous debut of nouveau sonnets holds together in surprising ways, both traditional and innovative.
An inveterate wiseacre and skille More...
An inveterate wiseacre and skille More...
Feb 24, 2011
Ryo
rated it:
Fantastic exploration of the profane, abject, and vulgar via forced sonnets that feel rather like a corpse being stuffed back into a live body. One of the best displays of the excising of language, based on language cliches, ephemera (advertising, phone messages, etc), and their frenetic reworking--language as excrement, the sloughed off. Julia Kristeva eat your ass out. Paired finely with moments of startling imagery and sound: "Cup full of athlete, / Spilling. Huffing mouth-to-mouth at a
More...
Nov 05, 2011
Liz
rated it:
I am in love with Nick Demske, or, in other words: I have been Nick Demsked. This surprising series of sonnets is hypercontexualized in the now, is fresh and real. By no means boring poetry.
Nick Demske made me laugh out loud enough that I had to read the poems out loud to others so they could laugh as well. His work is concurrently gripping, hilarious, heartbreaking. He connects with you, gets inside your head, and guides you along the pages. You will be surprised, disgusted, and m More...
Nick Demske made me laugh out loud enough that I had to read the poems out loud to others so they could laugh as well. His work is concurrently gripping, hilarious, heartbreaking. He connects with you, gets inside your head, and guides you along the pages. You will be surprised, disgusted, and m More...
Dec 14, 2010
Dave
rated it:
Plucking the shards from his young body, licking the lacerations, Nick Demske fashions a glowing golden mosaic describing painfully exposed segments of his life, and observations of an ailing planet, in a manner both humorous, shocking, and wise. Written in a post-apocalyptic shaman's hallucinogenic vision of the future by looking through a magnifier at the present, Nick at times walks us through Hell, a tongue-in-cheek tour guide who doesn't flinch or whitewash the human experience.
Huffing More...
Huffing More...
Feb 09, 2012
J.A.
rated it:
I was enchanted by the aggressive nature of these poems, their accusatory stance. Really inventive and super enjoyable to read.
Mar 03, 2011
Ryan
rated it: 
If I wanted 'clever' play with cliche and idiom I'd go watch really bad poetry slam performances on YouTube.
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