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Nick Demske
by
Nick Demske
"Nick Demske writes from culture like the Hollywood version of a rebellious slave, the role shredding off him, culture's synthetic exemplary tales shredding and piling up on the floor of the projector room."—Joyelle McSweeney
His name is "a transcendant uber-obsenity that can be understood universally by speakers of any language."
His name is "a transcendant uber-obsenity that can be understood universally by speakers of any language."
Paperback, 88 pages
Published
October 1st 2010
by Fence Books
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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." ("Tragic Songstress")
Source of Inspiration: "My mother died of breas...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." ("Tragic Songstress")
Source of Inspiration: "My mother died of breas...more
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. The poems a...more
I am glad that I did. Reading the book brings the poems to new light. The poems a...more
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 skilled punster,...more
An inveterate wiseacre and skilled punster,...more
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 carri...more
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 moved.
It is 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 moved.
It is m...more
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 life...more
Huffing life...more
I did a reading with Demske last year shortly after I moved to the Bay Area, and it wasn't until that event that I realized I had seen him read before with Ariana Reines in DC--but the room had been so full and I had been so far back I couldn't see who was reading and I missed the name.
Demske's work is exciting, it's probing, and in general it seems to work. There are perhaps some things that I find interestingly problematic, but in more of an exciting and engaging sort of way than anything nega...more
Demske's work is exciting, it's probing, and in general it seems to work. There are perhaps some things that I find interestingly problematic, but in more of an exciting and engaging sort of way than anything nega...more
I was advised not to read this entire book in one sitting, but I did anyway. It was a little overwhelming, then a little tedious, then a little UNDERwhelming. I feel like if I read it again, on short subway trips, or during lunch breaks, I would dig it more, its kind of fratty humor and aggressive take on de Copia and all that.
Dec 11, 2012
Justin
added it
at its high marks, Demske's book can fuck with anything coming out of poetry right now. but where the style fails, boy it's rough. odd to me that joyelle mcsweeney picked this as the fence award winner, as it just seems that it could have... it feels like a demo tape from Biggie, in ways.
I was enchanted by the aggressive nature of these poems, their accusatory stance. Really inventive and super enjoyable to read.
Oct 31, 2011
Colorado Review
marked it as reviewed-books
If I wanted 'clever' play with cliche and idiom I'd go watch really bad poetry slam performances on YouTube.
More than 5 stars. Love Love Love Love Love Love
Super interesting and very innovative.
Poetry that somehow leaves you peeing pearls of sweat.
This books is fucking crazy in the best way.
Not my cup of shit.
Mar 09, 2011
Zack
added it
http://www.spdbooks.org/pages/staff-p... <-----short review there
view all 3 comments
Ugh, hipsters shouldn't write poems.
May 25, 2013
Ipsith
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Kelsie Caldwell
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Margie
is currently reading it
Apr 29, 2013
J.D. Scott
marked it as to-read
Mar 12, 2013
Bob
added it
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