Collected Poems & Stories

by Mallory Whitten

Mallory Whitten's poems & stories take such unique note of the strange & depressing aspects of contemporary American life that they often feel like dreams. At the same time affectless & deeply emotive, these poems & stories take account, with something like a stenographer’s prowess, of the anthropologically immense complexity & absurdity of everything happening all at once: prescription drugs, great-grandparents, the judicial system, upper middle class candy stores, elementary school janitors, gentrification, iguanas, binge drinking, anxiety attacks, vague social structures, ad nauseam.

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories

101 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Shawn Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

five stars, duh, because i mean you can't fight the fact that no one knows how to be mallory whitten better than mallory whitten

i appreciate how her writing form helps orient me into her point of view, i have a personal preference for writers from my time period who write about living within my time period, i don't understand why other people don't, i haven't mastered the realms of fantasy, and for me her technique produces an intimate and relatable perspective on the same things i see and live but in a way that's true to her

so i gave the book five stars, and if you don't agree you better show me the book, i'd read it, is it like this

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book sort of by mistake. I got Mallory Whitten confused with another author. Later I remembered I had heard Mallory at a reading a few years ago. I'm not a fan of "The Following Not-That-Interesting Things Happened While I Was on X Drug:" type of writing, but the rest of the stuff wasn't bad.

Reading this book made me think back and wonder if life seemed so depressing and bleak when I was that age. I think it did. But at the time I thought I was the only one that felt that way, and I didn't have any cool drugs.

[James Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS NOW

[Lauren Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. She really captures a time, place, and age.