Matt's review
The Book of Accident (Akron Series in Poetry (Paperback)) by Beckian Fritz Goldberg
I really thought this was a pretty wonderful book, one that falls well outside the orbit of it's putative genre, lyrical poetry.
It's a series of narrative poems that instead of progressing directly through a narrative seem to share common narrative ground: there's been a nuclear accident, and the result is a gang of lost mutant boys with names like Torture Boy and Wolf Boy. The poems tackle their life of isolation and yearning for love, and show an almost juvenile (but in a good way) love-hate fascination with their creepiness. Along the way, poems about the environment post-accident, etc. It's weird, as if the poems are somehow commentary on a story we should already know or something, but the writing is deliciously purple, and each poem dives down a rabbit hole of lyrical inquiry all its own, and it's intoxicating to read.
I've got theories (ie: it's all about contemplating motherhood), but what do I know. It was a great read, full of electricity and excitement, and why would ...more
It's a series of narrative poems that instead of progressing directly through a narrative seem to share common narrative ground: there's been a nuclear accident, and the result is a gang of lost mutant boys with names like Torture Boy and Wolf Boy. The poems tackle their life of isolation and yearning for love, and show an almost juvenile (but in a good way) love-hate fascination with their creepiness. Along the way, poems about the environment post-accident, etc. It's weird, as if the poems are somehow commentary on a story we should already know or something, but the writing is deliciously purple, and each poem dives down a rabbit hole of lyrical inquiry all its own, and it's intoxicating to read.
I've got theories (ie: it's all about contemplating motherhood), but what do I know. It was a great read, full of electricity and excitement, and why would ...more
