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Normal Distance
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2022)A collection of funny and thought-provoking poems inspired by surprising facts that will appeal to poetry lovers and poetry haters alike from the author of the acclaimed essay collection The Unreality of Memory, “a work of sheer brilliance, beauty and bravery” (Andrew Sean Greer)
Elisa Gabbert, a writer known to be both “casually brilliant” (Sandra Newman) and a “ruthless self-examiner” (Sarah Manguso) brings her “questing, restless intelligence” (Kirkus Reviews) to a new collection of poetry.
By turns funny and chilling, these poems collect strange facts, interrogate language, and ask unanswerable questions that offer the pleasure of discovery on nearly every page: How does one suffer “gladly,” exactly? How bored are dogs? Which is more frightening, nothing or empty space? Was Wittgenstein sexy?
With her sharp observations building to extremely quotable one-liners, the poems in this collection have an ear-wormy quality to them that’s both ultra contemporary and offers a reading experience that is at once essayistic, aphoristic, and philosophical—an invitation to eavesdrop on a mind paying attention to itself. Normal Distance is a book about thinking and feeling, meaning and experience, trees and the weather, and the boredom and pain of living through time.
Elisa Gabbert, a writer known to be both “casually brilliant” (Sandra Newman) and a “ruthless self-examiner” (Sarah Manguso) brings her “questing, restless intelligence” (Kirkus Reviews) to a new collection of poetry.
By turns funny and chilling, these poems collect strange facts, interrogate language, and ask unanswerable questions that offer the pleasure of discovery on nearly every page: How does one suffer “gladly,” exactly? How bored are dogs? Which is more frightening, nothing or empty space? Was Wittgenstein sexy?
With her sharp observations building to extremely quotable one-liners, the poems in this collection have an ear-wormy quality to them that’s both ultra contemporary and offers a reading experience that is at once essayistic, aphoristic, and philosophical—an invitation to eavesdrop on a mind paying attention to itself. Normal Distance is a book about thinking and feeling, meaning and experience, trees and the weather, and the boredom and pain of living through time.
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2022
22 people are currently reading
6419 people want to read
About the author
Elisa Gabbert
27 books337 followersElisa Gabbert writes the On Poetry column for the New York Times and is the author of six collections of poetry, essays, and criticism, including Normal Distance; The Unreality of Memory & Other Essays; The Word Pretty; L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems; The Self Unstable; and The French Exit.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
March 5, 2022
Many of these poems felt like a collection of thoughts in the notes app of one of my smartest friends. Her writing is largely casual or conversational which makes the profound moments really hit. Every third line is a great sentence to start an essay I would probably enjoy.
November 24, 2022
These poems were moving at first, but as I went through the collection I realized some felt like different drafts of poems from earlier in the book. I kept coming on lines that were slightly reworked versions from a few pages ago. If it was intentional, it was distracting and felt like padding. I wish it had been a tighter collection because when it hit it really hit.
November 2, 2024
Mostly found these more lovable in fragments, but I might be partial to the one about the moon.
Moon News
I read that in January of 1912, "the moon came closer to the Earth than at any time in the previous 1,400 years."
High tides make the sea extra iceberg-y; ergo, the moon sunk the Titanic.
When you turn your concentration to one thing, you turn your distraction to something else. Distraction as dark side of the moon.
Every photo of the moon from the moon looks black and white, because the moon is black and white.
I resent all this news about the moon. I only love the moon when it takes me by surprise.
Here's my favorite thing about the moon: A moonwalker said when he's looking at the sky, he sometimes suddenly remembers: That's my moon, the same moon I walked on. (To each their own moon.)
We realise the same things over and over, new every time.
We are born not remembering why we walked into the room.
August 31, 2022
I really loved reading all the poems in NORMAL DISTANCE by Elisa Gabbert! I wasn’t bored at all! The opening poem Prelude made me think about time and what awaits. I loved the touches of humour throughout this book. My fave poems are New Theories in Boredom and Oral History. I would definitely read more poetry by this author since I loved the themes of asking questions, seeking facts and thinking about life. And I absolutely love the striking cover design by House of Thought! This is now one of my fave poetry books of 2022!
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Thank you to Soft Skull Press for my gifted review copy!
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Thank you to Soft Skull Press for my gifted review copy!
June 2, 2024
I don't read much poetry so giving this a star rating is purely based on my enjoyment of this reading.
This is a poetry of thoughts set in small vignettes on a variety of subjects. Writing this review, I found it is very difficult to explain poetry in general and the only way I can do it is by giving examples and these are short examples of the many that caught my eye and mind.
In a poem about Free Will
I heard more babies are born when there's a full moon and no one knows why."
"I wonder if mothers are tidal--if there are tides in the womb"
In another titled, New Theories about Boredom
"How bored are dogs? Pretty bored, I think."
and "I wonder why we don't get bored in the shower." "I don't trust books that aren't a little boring."
in a later poem
"Some philosophers think your phone has a conscious "mind"
"New scientists believe we have a mirror universe. a "reflection" of our universe where time flows backward from the future to the past."
There are several poems about death and her thoughts of:
"You going to die of something.
I hope I die of boredom in my sleep"
Just a small sample. I found learning what this author thought was often amusing and caused me to reflect as well. More than just beautiful language about a subject. This was instead focused on how a person's mind can work as it examining questions and thoughts about the world. Profound in itself--no, but mind opening, yes. And most enjoyable.
Can't quite remember who recommended this or where I heard of it, but it did get me finally reading some newer poetry and writing a bit of my own"---
I dreamt last night till my eyes grew tired
And I was forced to wake
In order to rest
People I had not seen in years appeared
And some I had never seen in this life.
So thanks to the recommender and to Elisa Gabbert. After I digest this a little more I may start searching for poetry as a stimulate for my own mind.
This is a poetry of thoughts set in small vignettes on a variety of subjects. Writing this review, I found it is very difficult to explain poetry in general and the only way I can do it is by giving examples and these are short examples of the many that caught my eye and mind.
In a poem about Free Will
I heard more babies are born when there's a full moon and no one knows why."
"I wonder if mothers are tidal--if there are tides in the womb"
In another titled, New Theories about Boredom
"How bored are dogs? Pretty bored, I think."
and "I wonder why we don't get bored in the shower." "I don't trust books that aren't a little boring."
in a later poem
"Some philosophers think your phone has a conscious "mind"
"New scientists believe we have a mirror universe. a "reflection" of our universe where time flows backward from the future to the past."
There are several poems about death and her thoughts of:
"You going to die of something.
I hope I die of boredom in my sleep"
Just a small sample. I found learning what this author thought was often amusing and caused me to reflect as well. More than just beautiful language about a subject. This was instead focused on how a person's mind can work as it examining questions and thoughts about the world. Profound in itself--no, but mind opening, yes. And most enjoyable.
Can't quite remember who recommended this or where I heard of it, but it did get me finally reading some newer poetry and writing a bit of my own"---
I dreamt last night till my eyes grew tired
And I was forced to wake
In order to rest
People I had not seen in years appeared
And some I had never seen in this life.
So thanks to the recommender and to Elisa Gabbert. After I digest this a little more I may start searching for poetry as a stimulate for my own mind.
October 22, 2022
'My brother knows how to make a chair from the little wire cage on a bottle of champagne.
I find it hard to throw away the wire when I know there’s a chair inside.
A chair my brother would have made, which would make it worth saving.
I find it hard to throw out flowers, which were dead on arrival.'
('The Idea of Beginning', p7)
I find it hard to throw away the wire when I know there’s a chair inside.
A chair my brother would have made, which would make it worth saving.
I find it hard to throw out flowers, which were dead on arrival.'
('The Idea of Beginning', p7)
July 30, 2022
This is my ideal kind of book, or close to it. I am in love with the lyric essay, and this is a tiny step away from it--little poems that are made of prose sentences that are thoughtful and sometimes exquisite.
For instance:
"My brother knows how to make a chair from the little wire cage on a bottle of champagne.
I find it hard to throw away the wire when I know there’s a chair inside.
A chair my brother would have made, which would make it worth saving.
I find it hard to throw out flowers, which were dead on arrival."
And:
"I’m kind of interested in people using two stars to mean “I got bored and didn’t finish it.”
I don’t trust books that aren’t a little boring.
It’s almost like there should be different words for “boring because simple” and “boring because complex.”
“Boring because complex” isn’t actually boring, it can just be mistaken for boring, the way a hangover can be mistaken for guilt."
These poems unstrand like this, and we get to follow along with Gabbert's thoughts and even if that isn't where our own thoughts would have gone, we trust that we're trotting along beside or behind her, and we'll end up somewhere pleasant or at least nod along and think, yes.
As I'm reading, I think: has she written essays? Because I'd sure love to read some of her essays. Take these strands and make them a little longer. And sure enough, she has, and I cannot wait to read more.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!
For instance:
"My brother knows how to make a chair from the little wire cage on a bottle of champagne.
I find it hard to throw away the wire when I know there’s a chair inside.
A chair my brother would have made, which would make it worth saving.
I find it hard to throw out flowers, which were dead on arrival."
And:
"I’m kind of interested in people using two stars to mean “I got bored and didn’t finish it.”
I don’t trust books that aren’t a little boring.
It’s almost like there should be different words for “boring because simple” and “boring because complex.”
“Boring because complex” isn’t actually boring, it can just be mistaken for boring, the way a hangover can be mistaken for guilt."
These poems unstrand like this, and we get to follow along with Gabbert's thoughts and even if that isn't where our own thoughts would have gone, we trust that we're trotting along beside or behind her, and we'll end up somewhere pleasant or at least nod along and think, yes.
As I'm reading, I think: has she written essays? Because I'd sure love to read some of her essays. Take these strands and make them a little longer. And sure enough, she has, and I cannot wait to read more.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review!
October 10, 2022
"I procrastinate more than I used to, and worry less. It turns out, important stuff just gets done.
I know it will get done. So it seems strange that I actually have to do it.
Why do I have to make this future that already exists?"
I was impressed by how this collection was one cohesive whole, with callbacks to previous poems throughout, a bevy of literary and philosophical references, and an almost elliptical focus on boredom, suffering, life, death, and why we all want to keep living anyway. This makes it sound depressing, but it's not: it's a very interesting look, in free-verse poetry form, at the quirks of being human at this point in history, or, really, at any point in history. Gabbert has such a good sense of humor, and a very modern approach to the writing of poetry. I don't like poetry in general, but I also love Gabbert's work, so this was an interesting and quick read!
I know it will get done. So it seems strange that I actually have to do it.
Why do I have to make this future that already exists?"
I was impressed by how this collection was one cohesive whole, with callbacks to previous poems throughout, a bevy of literary and philosophical references, and an almost elliptical focus on boredom, suffering, life, death, and why we all want to keep living anyway. This makes it sound depressing, but it's not: it's a very interesting look, in free-verse poetry form, at the quirks of being human at this point in history, or, really, at any point in history. Gabbert has such a good sense of humor, and a very modern approach to the writing of poetry. I don't like poetry in general, but I also love Gabbert's work, so this was an interesting and quick read!
March 10, 2023
funny but also incredibly smart.
i feel it’s important to approach these poems not in search of something lyrical, but something intellectually labyrinthine (im not sure how else to say it) gabbert does this interesting thing with callbacks that make reading it feel like a constant case of deja by but each new appearance of the same idea somehow feels different and better ?
i feel it’s important to approach these poems not in search of something lyrical, but something intellectually labyrinthine (im not sure how else to say it) gabbert does this interesting thing with callbacks that make reading it feel like a constant case of deja by but each new appearance of the same idea somehow feels different and better ?
Read
December 18, 2022It really did feel like notes app thoughts, but I enjoyed it? I think I don't know how to read poetry so I'm not sure if I got much out of the poems but it wasn't a bad time at all.
August 19, 2022
NORMAL DISTANCE |
Gabbert's use of language to bend ideas and concepts to her momentary thought clouds was evident in the powerful, thoughtful exploration that was NORMAL DISTANCE. This will be favorite of the month.
Gabbert explores inherent contradictions brought about by how we think, naturally through the confines of our language, the medium of how we communicate our thoughts.
We have all been trained to think of things as diametrically opposed, in terms of either-ors, dualisms. The method of language is so limited in structure and exposes these impossibilities that seem to contradict and yet both seem naturally, logically true, like counterexamples unto themselves. It's like the feeling of approaching infinity, meditating in the singular while the boundless limit pushes ever outwards. How luxurious and intriguing to do so. How miniscule and wasteful to do so.
I loved this book in its entirety. Strongly recommend
I also get a real kick thinking of this book conversing in drawn out moments with Selin from #theidiot and #eitheror about #wittgenstein etc.
This book will be out Sept 13th!
Gabbert's use of language to bend ideas and concepts to her momentary thought clouds was evident in the powerful, thoughtful exploration that was NORMAL DISTANCE. This will be favorite of the month.
Gabbert explores inherent contradictions brought about by how we think, naturally through the confines of our language, the medium of how we communicate our thoughts.
We have all been trained to think of things as diametrically opposed, in terms of either-ors, dualisms. The method of language is so limited in structure and exposes these impossibilities that seem to contradict and yet both seem naturally, logically true, like counterexamples unto themselves. It's like the feeling of approaching infinity, meditating in the singular while the boundless limit pushes ever outwards. How luxurious and intriguing to do so. How miniscule and wasteful to do so.
I loved this book in its entirety. Strongly recommend
I also get a real kick thinking of this book conversing in drawn out moments with Selin from #theidiot and #eitheror about #wittgenstein etc.
This book will be out Sept 13th!
August 3, 2022
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the arc in exchange of honest review.
It is very rare for me to read poetry, but i thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
"It’s not my hands that are shaking— it’s my mind. Cut off my head! That’s where the pain lies."
Loved it!!
It is very rare for me to read poetry, but i thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
"It’s not my hands that are shaking— it’s my mind. Cut off my head! That’s where the pain lies."
Loved it!!
September 20, 2024
Read this for Dr. Swaney’s Poetry class! I didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it either. It was an okay read. The poems were a mixture of Gabbert’s random thoughts and what she has seen or read in her life. Memories, time, death, suffering, and boredom were heavily mentioned repeatedly throughout the poems as they were also themes she focused on. She did write this during 2020, so I understand why those were her main themes. There were moments in a few poems where I completely had to stop and think about what she wrote because some stuff I read was deep and other stuff I was like “Girl what?” but I like how she was able to incorporate things such as rhyme and repetition. Some poems did have good vivid imagery too! Songs that really go along with this book that give paradoxically aesthetic vibes about life and thinking about life, emotions, memories, and the other themes tied to this book are: “On & On.” By: Djo, “Chamber of Reflection.” By: Mac DeMaraco, & “Let It Happen.” By Tame Impala.
3/5!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 4, 2023
"I like to feel wistful before sleep, and sometimes I get in bed early just to lie there awake, feeling wistful."
Mind-bendy. Slow-interesting.
Mind-bendy. Slow-interesting.
July 18, 2023
I feel like the odd man out rating this poetry collection so low but I didn’t think it was good.
It’s not well written, there are a few short poems that are good and I enjoyed - but most of the longer form poetry I didn’t like.
I also found that the author tends to write about the same thing over and over again, and like every third poem I’d be like “wait didn’t I just read this?!” From what I read, the most popular subjects include:
- the past is now and the future is the past
- is this thing that??? Or is that thing this??
- I’m bored !
- so I read this thing, and I have an opinion on it
Not for me!
It’s not well written, there are a few short poems that are good and I enjoyed - but most of the longer form poetry I didn’t like.
I also found that the author tends to write about the same thing over and over again, and like every third poem I’d be like “wait didn’t I just read this?!” From what I read, the most popular subjects include:
- the past is now and the future is the past
- is this thing that??? Or is that thing this??
- I’m bored !
- so I read this thing, and I have an opinion on it
Not for me!
December 22, 2022
hey girl did you know that uhhhhh i associate the idea of beginning with the idea of death: to exist at all is to enter eternity ?
July 30, 2022
A quick read. I didn’t care for this poetry at all.
January 26, 2023
I like the way these poems' strangeness creeps up on you. Had a strong urge to read each of these in a different set piece/room in a labyrinthine IKEA.
November 2, 2022
elisa ♥️
August 23, 2023
I would really like to read her essays and will be doing that soon. The thing about these poems is that sometimes she says something incredibly poignant and sweet and affecting and human and tragic, and then sometimes she says things I just can’t take seriously in a printed book. Largely these don’t feel like poems, but like themed lists of thoughts (which maybe that’s just a poem idk, what really IS a poem, something that was running through my mind while reading this collection). She did make me laugh and that rocks. I think she has cool ideas and fun thoughts but ultimately the execution just felt half-baked.
“I heard more babies are born when there’s a full moon and “no one knows why.””
“I heard more babies are born when there’s a full moon and “no one knows why.””
April 12, 2023
Her best work yet, not just because it's more philosophical but it's the multiple levels of engagement, different registers (I still love her pessimism best), and all kinds of humor (including funny boredom). Only four months in and I think it'll be one of my favorite books of the year.
March 22, 2024
these kind of read like lists of off-brand jenny holzer truisms mixed with pithy tweets and the rare moments of pure cutting emotion are cancelled out by the need to double down… and like i would read the tweets or even the essays but they don’t really a poetry collection make
August 22, 2023
This was ok; not really poems proper, more a collection of 1 or 2 sentence long aphoristic musings grouped together around a theme.
September 24, 2022
Elisa Gabbert brings her essayist mind into the world of verse. It's a miscellany of images and often philosophical ideas that occasionally works beautifully and mostly feels disconnected as a collection.
July 21, 2022
This was fun.
November 29, 2022
one of my favourite poetry books so far but then again I haven't read many to compare it with
January 4, 2024
A lot were hit or miss for me with glimmers of greatness here and there. The reference list at the end is real solid/neat.
March 20, 2023
Adventurous. Delightful. COOL.
If I could use an image to describe the reading of these poems, I would definitely say "jumping from one rock to another on a turbulent river"!
Bad news: You can’t actually save time. You’ll just use it to do something else.
You pretty much have to do one thing at a time, and in order.
You could change your life.
You could waste some time and be happy.
I like to feel wistful before sleep, and sometimes I get in bed early just to lie there awake, feeling wistful.
I procrastinate more than I used to, and worry less. It turns out, important stuff just gets done.
I know it will get done. So it seems strange that I actually have to do it.
Why do I have to make this future that already exists?
If I could use an image to describe the reading of these poems, I would definitely say "jumping from one rock to another on a turbulent river"!
Bad news: You can’t actually save time. You’ll just use it to do something else.
You pretty much have to do one thing at a time, and in order.
You could change your life.
You could waste some time and be happy.
I like to feel wistful before sleep, and sometimes I get in bed early just to lie there awake, feeling wistful.
I procrastinate more than I used to, and worry less. It turns out, important stuff just gets done.
I know it will get done. So it seems strange that I actually have to do it.
Why do I have to make this future that already exists?
January 14, 2024
Less lyrical and more thought-provoking, like a collection of shower thoughts and “unpopular opinions” (“people who close the windows on planes: I guess you don’t want to feel melancholy and golden and sublime?”) by the smart friend of the group. Lots of half-thoughts like the ones scribbled in the Notes app during walks but then you read them back and realize they’re pretty nonsensical out of context lol (“the eternal now was followed by magic consciousness (one dimension), and then by mythic consciousness, which ‘knows time but not space’ (two dimensions)”).
“Detail” was my favourite- reminded me of Frank O’Hara’s work.
“Detail” was my favourite- reminded me of Frank O’Hara’s work.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews