There's a Brevitist Loose in the Condensory: If You Want Your Heart Broken, Read Somebody Else

by John T. Langfeld

With the desire of making others feel, think, and smile, author John Langfeld shares a diverse collection of aurally and visually unique poetry written over the course of more than thirty years of working with language as a technology. Influenced by the ideas, themes, and poetic devices that have tested both him and his students over the years, Langfeld offers poems that explore relationships, induce laughter, illustrate brevity, and present his unique voice. From a voyeur’s prize to the hidden persuaders in our society, Langfeld takes others on an entertaining lyrical ride through humility, political confusion, and spell check hell as he contemplates modern life and all it encompasses. There’s a Brevitist Loose in the Condensory shares a compelling collection of verse that offers an unforgettable glimpse into one man’s views about the world. “This is not Donne or Keats or even Whitman or Frost. This is poetry for the 21st century; poetry that looks into issues and topics and ideas and events and lays them bare to scrutiny and perceptive language. Just as quickly it turns on its heel and offers up selections that are there just to play with words or ideas or words-and-ideas. Some of the offerings are deceptively short and others are cloaked in language specificity that demand more than just a casual reading. At times, Langfeld captures a situation so precisely that you want him to offer a solution or at least a rallying cry for action. But his appears to be the job of pricking the minds and consciences of others and, hopefully, moving them to more than an armchair response. These are words to be savored; not an anthology to be rushed thru.” ---Amazon Review from a verified purchaser (May 18, 2014)

220 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2014