Flowering Mall

by Brandon Brown

Poetry. Brandon Brown's FLOWERING MALL is not a translation of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal, but it does beautifully perform an alchemical revival of the punk spirit that is French Symbolism. The book reveals our world of gorgeous excess, surveillance, friendship and possibility.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[r. fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

i know that this author is not a fag, but to me this is Fag Art Canon. It's so obsessive and personal while also being a cultural snapshot. It is perfectly 2012. I really loved this

[Mike Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

from NOÖ [14]:

Read this on a bus from NYC to Massachusetts. Bought it from Unnameable Books in Brooklyn because the cover reminded me of trying to make my own 8-bit RPG in junior high. Instead of talking about the flowers of evil or faux-translation, I will say these poems grill all the glitchy nouns of our moment (from Kanye to Occupy to Ciroc to das kapital gains tax) into something bloody—and manage a fair salting of self-scrutiny about polo shorts. They don’t flinch when it comes to crawling through the instinctual douchbaggery of late capitalism. They would make the quickest and sharpest joke about someone accidentally mustaching themselves with a highlighter pen.

[Misha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful schizophrenic meanderings through a neoliberal wasteland of excess and commodity. Gruesome and hilarious. Highlight was the final successful failing translation of fusees.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

fantastic and sad and intriguing. highly recommended.

[Heaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an incredible look at the comparisons of pop culture of the past and present day and the integration of the mainstream into poet culture and vice versa. Witty and challenging.