Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, but Enough

by Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre

OF WHAT FUTURE ARE THESE THE WILD, EARLY DAYS?

An exploration of the role that artists play in resisting authoritarianism with a sci-fi twist.

In poetry, dialogue and visual art the book follows two wandering poets as they make their way from village to village, across a prison colony moon full of exiled rebels, robots, and storytellers.

Part post-apocalyptic road journal, part alternate universe history of Hip Hop, and part “Letters to a Young Poet”-style toolkit for emerging poets and aspiring movement-builders, it's also a one-of-a-kind practitioners' take on poetry, power, and possibility.

NOT A LOT OF REASONS TO SING is

-post-apocalyptic road journal
-alternate universe history of Hip Hop
-“Letters to a Young Poet”
-toolkit for emerging poets and aspiring movement-builders


it's also a one-of-a-kind practitioners' take on poetry, power, and possibility.

Genres: Poetry, Science Fiction, Fantasy

208 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2022

Reviews

[Sarahpelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book. I don’t know if I’d have heard of it otherwise, and I would have missed out on a unique and unexpected read.
I don’t usually read a lot of poetry. I don’t dislike poetry, but I always feel like I’m not smart enough, or not romantic enough. Luckily for me, this poetry collection isn’t about being the smartest in the room, nor is it about declaring your love to someone (although maybe it is about declaring your love to something).
I absolutely loved the fact that this book takes on so many different formats, while still having a specific narrative thread. The author mentioned in the afternote the imagery of a mixtape when thinking about his work, and I really felt that. Reading this book was like listening to a very carefully curated mixtape, while at the same time reading torn pages from a journal that don’t necessarily follow each other, but don’t need to.
The different formats of poetry were super interesting and refreshing, especially for someone like me who often sees poetry as just one thing. If you can, I would advise reading some of the poems aloud - even when I couldn’t see it outright, rhythm felt very important in most of these pieces.
By setting this book in a post-apocalyptic world, the author reframes current (and very old) issues, and makes you question the kind of society we live in without offering an easy answer (there are none). How we treat others and the imagery of constellations are some of the things that really stood out to me in this book.
I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Kenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a highlight every page type of book. Absolutely brilliant.

It’s a mix of poetry, songs, and prose about a robot poet and his human companion as they travel village to village on their planet as it’s being taken over by an authoritarian leader. (It sounds so bizarre. And it is, but in the absolute best way.) It’s about art, activism, community, stories… and it’s so freaking timely and surprisingly hopeful. Loved.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Not A Lot of Reasons to Sing but Enough", Myhre creates a post-apocalyptic world in which the reader is forced to acknowledge the injustice, the hypocrisy, the creeping authoritarianism and the helplessness that many currently feel. The dialogue, poetry, and storytelling is wonderfully executed.

"Not A Lot of Reasons to Sing but Enough" has an interesting format, not only because of the storytelling and setting, but because of the characters. There are no major arcs and no clear resolutions which I find extremely effective and important. Myhre is clear there is no easy solution to the problems in our society but there is an importance of relationships, community and using art to speak the truth. This book, among other things, is perfect for poetry lovers, a call for self-reflection and a tool for activists.

I recommend the audiobook version as well. The delivery is (if you are familiar with his previous work) unsurprisingly effective.

[Patrícia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I keep picking this sort of experimental poetry book hoping to find exactly this, which I finally, for the first time (obviously) did!
This was absolutely brilliant. It was fun, experimental, interesting and explored a diverse range of subjects that I was not expecting it to! Very unique and perfectly included some storytelling and illustrations in the mix.
Can't wait to buy a physical copy and annotate my thoughts. I really appreciate the fact that this exists and it became one of my favourites. This might not be for everyone but I do recommend you give it a chance!

[ame · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started reading "Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, But Enough," I had a hard time getting into it. However, after a while, I found it to be quite interesting. The illustrations throughout the book were absolutely gorgeous, and I loved how the author developed the world through poems and stories. One thing I really appreciated about the book was how the author tackled real-world problems in a metaphorical way, while still keeping them set in a fantasy world.

[Rowen H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best thing I've read so far this year.

This book is so many things that I'm finding it difficult to describe - it's poetry and narrative, it's playful and heavy, it's deeply tied to our current political and social moment while also being set on the moon at an undefined future time. What it most definitely is, without any caveats, is very, very good.

[Seher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll have to come back here and edit my review when I’ve been able to write a longer or better one, but to sum up; this book is odd and extraordinary.

At the start, I wasn't sure I would like this, and I couldn't understand the setting; we're listening to a robot whose memories were recovered from a post-apocalyptic world, and as we do so we follow 2 poets traveling across the said world, as poet-bards. I'm not clear on that bit, and I will need to read the start again.

Either way, Myhre uses that setting to explore racism, homophobia, poetry, sexism, and violence without naming names. This setting gives him a lot of freedom to explore things, for example, 'Revenge is the best Success' is a great poem, but works even better in this setting rather than a more standard book of poems. The poems on Hen March are great, but an entire book on Hen March may not have worked the way these poems in this setting did and how they made us switch between the past and the present.

I also loved how the poets cross paths with so many unreasonable people and are brushed aside every time they speak the truth; it's indicative of not only the role art has in our lives, but also of how truth still exists, someone does still speak it, even when it looks like the majority doesn't agree with it.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

[Jonathan Atwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and brilliant, hopeful without ever losing sight of the effort and struggle it takes to get the work done. Absolutely recommended for anyone who wants a poetic primer on what it takes to hold on to hope and resist despair.

[Wisegirl Wiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic search for cultural sanity gone awry. Reading and Listening to "Not A Lot of Reasons to Sing, But Enough", Words by Kyle Tran Myhre and Art by Casper Pham, opened up my mind to a whole new genre of poetry. The sci-fi futuristic moon setting was mystical, and you can feel a dark rhythm. The characters were not all human, but they felt a little ancestral - and connected to me somehow. I was not aware it was hip hop style until I read the AMAZING afternotes - which I must admit were as inspiring to me as the quirky stories. The poems felt cool and sparse - and I especially loved the inspirations from the matriarchal elder. There is no denying the impact of the COVID timeline on the themes in this poetic writing. I found the audiobook read by the author in his poetry slam style - 5 star!. Loved the artsy feel of the poems AND the simple almost medieval style drawings. Open this book, and feel the energy of a gallery where a poetry slam is in session.

Thank you to Netgalley and Button Publishing Inc. for the ARC I received in exchange for a fair review.

[Braden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this book is sort of difficult cause 1.) it’s not at all what I thought it would be, though that’s on me for not doing my research, and 2.) I’m by far no expert on poetry.

That being said I think the book did a good job at what the author was trying to do, which is re-contextualize a lot of heavy political and social issues by looking at them through a sci-fi lense.

I do think the poems were a little too on-the-nose and required little to no thought to grasp their meaning which was a little disappointing. I get that the author didn’t want to be subtle because “these aren’t issues to be subtle about” (to paraphrase their own work) but I would’ve liked to have had to done a little reflection to get the meaning. Don’t just say cops are bad and in space, use a metaphor, make me work for it. Readers aren’t stupid they will make the connection without it being too obvious.

All in all this was a quick and enjoyable read if nothing else. 3/5

[Krys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting when I threw my name in the metaphorical hat to review Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing. I haven't often thrown myself into the poetry world since leaving the classroom but something about the mix of sci-fi and poetry had my attention. And I was not disappointed.

If you look for your poetry to have the face slap, scream the truth from a stage bite of slam poetry, this has it.
If you look for your poetry to teach you something about the life best lived, this has it.
If you prefer poetry that forces you into yourself to seek the tiny kernels of truth, identity, and power.... this has it.

Myhre has taken us out of this world into a future that is both like and unlike the society we live in to force us to face all of the ugly injustices we do to ourselves, our neighbors, and to our futures both in the light of day and in the dark recesses of our private thoughts. That bitterness is chased by the ever-present undercurrent of hope and possibility. Myhre is both challenging us to face what we are and what we can become.

Were I still teaching, this would make an instant addition to my curriculum for creative writing and multicultural lit.

[Mady Dudrear · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was fun, I enjoyed the underlying narrative and characters, themes, and scifi setting. got a bit repetitive and I wasn’t sure what was up narys monologues (self insert advice but also maybe you’re supposed to laugh at him even though it’s not very funny and mostly just long?). would recommend as a poetry collection that reads very easily and has something interesting to say with its subject matter.

[Emma McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️
There was some beautiful stuff in here, and great world building. I particularly loved Hen March and the panel poems (AWP anyone?). At the same time, I think it didn’t quite live up to the premise, and was repetitive and on-the-nose at the end of the day. I don’t know if I’m the audience.

[J'Naia Stepp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc

This was moving and the story told through the poetry is what made it so powerful. It moves your souls and heart and it makes you take a step back and think.

[Grace Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially frustrated by how direct and 1:1 the world represents our own, but it’s powerful, I guess or am lead to believe, that this poet hides nothing from their audience and tells us things like they are. I think this collection poses one of VERY FEW enactable and meaningful answers to the “what does art mean in a world of oppression” and “what is the role of the artist when comes the revolution” questions. I don’t think, and I don’t think the artist thinks, that that answer will be found easily with a bunch of open-mics, however.

[Kimmy]

As someone who loves both dystopia and poetry, I was absolutely delighted to stumble across a book that combines the two. Of course, tie in memory deletion and you basically have the recipe for my perfect book. Unfortunately though...all the proper ingredients doesn't ensure the perfect execution.

The foundation of the story is that a bunch of robots and humans have been exiled to the moon, and while they still have all their vocabulary from before, they can't remember anything else. We then explore some past and present of life on this planet with some poets who travel and help encourage others with writing. More or less.

Sometimes the abstract was just too much...I suppose that can be very common in poetry though. Honestly the worst part was just everyone's opinions and views were just so completely, blindly one-sided that it made everyone one dimensional. There was Hen March who was one of the earliest exiles who was just the perfect poster child for earthly progression. Her memories from before are wiped but she just inherently knows that gender is a construct and cops are bad and shouldn't exist and so on. I would've preferred so much depth there. Instead of someone coming seemingly just programmed with these ideals and never questioning or thinking about any of it.

On the flip side, the obvious "bad guys", with bad ideals anyway were just these caricatures of the opposite of that. Like the entire poem of what a "real man" is...never looks at birds, exchanges shark tooth necklaces, drinks his own tears to achieve victory over them. Then somewhat admits that the rules are intense but goes into explaining how we need to follow such rules blindly because that's the only way we can keep from dissolving into chaos.

I can absolutely see WHY the author did all this and the points and beliefs definitely came across. It just made it all so one dimensional though to have everything so black and white. Where's the friction and inner turmoil and depth?! Then not to mention all the little author chats, where there were usually 3 and it was just the perfect little Goldilocks situation. We have too much, then too little and then in comes Nary jjjuuuusssttt right. But ignored.

That said...I highlighted a ton of lines in this book. It was thought provoking. I was absolutely aching to write afterwards and enjoyed how there were even writing prompts in the end. I'm kind of not sure how to even rate this. Do I weigh the overall story and characters highest? Does well written lines and post-reading inspiration weigh more? I honestly feel like I both loved and hated this book. I was left with many questions, both about the story and more philosophical ones. Which I suppose was a big point of it.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH a cool cool book!!

[Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Oh man, this book is so cool in theory but just didn't really do it for me. It got so repetitive cycling through the same message over and over again and it doesn't bring in enough aspects of poetry for it to be read as such for me. This is a difficult book to place into a genre, which I appreciate, but it didn't work for me like other books that are a mishmash between poetry and other genres (see: Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions, or practically any Anne Carson work). The parts that I liked, that I found myself looking forward to while dragging through the other pages, were the sections about Hen March. What a cool lady.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

The easiest 5 stars I've given in ages. I wish I could afford to give everyone I know a copy of this book. I worry that people will see this classified as "sci-fi poetry" and be scared off because they don't like sci-fi, or they don't like poetry, and they certainly don't want those things mushed together. But I can assure any potential reader that this accessible to anyone, and important for everyone. The underlying theme is the importance of art--whether creating or sharing it or absorbing it--during times of authoritarianism, and whoo boy is it timely.

For context, I read this during the first 6 weeks of Trump's second term, and this book honestly kept me a little sane. It gave me a glimmer of hope. Not that everything is going to be alright, but that there are paths towards getting there. I wasn't seeing paths.

A little taste, from the poem "A Pragmatist's Guide to Magic (Remix)":

And this was my disillusionment. Not a lightning strike: a slow flood.
Figuring out, on some fundamental level, that things were not getting better, and that they weren't going to.

Not on their own. Not easily. Not like magic.

This is my disillusionment. Not the absence of hope; the absence of illusion.
The unsubtle art of getting your hands dirty. Because we do not have the luxury of waiting to be saved. We recognize no superpower stronger than solidarity, community, courage. We don't have spells, but we do have songs.

This alchemy of suffering, this transmutation of pain into progress. This hard-won knowledge: how a voice does not have to move mountains to move people. How it's not about the source of the fire; it's about how brightly it burns. How the magic is not whether I pick up that brush with my mind, or with my hand; the magic is what I write with it.

It is not destiny that we are all here right now. But we are all here, right now.

I mean...damn.

[Amanda Cus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I just say, wow, this book was a breath of fresh air. This book is imaginative and inspiring, structured brilliantly.

As a fan of dystopian worlds and scifi, I loved the unique setting, a future society of Earth's outcasts surviving on the moon. But the morals and lessons are very much of the world we know now. He artfully crafts tales of counter-narratives that left me in deep thought about our world, how we got here, where we're heading, and how we can help or hinder the process.

Also, though the book isn't actually about writing poems, being an amateur writer, I loved the lessons he wove into his story on writing and what we as artists and educators can do to help promote and encourage community and voice. I can't wait to share some of these poems and stories in my classroom!

Some quotes that I loved:
🌙 How do you not notice that dread, hanging in the air like a cloud of mosquitoes?
🌙 We have to tell our stories. We have to listen to one another's stories.
🌙 ...no matter how beautiful, or colorful, or well-constructed the balloon itself is, none of that makes it fly.
🌙 May you do the right thing even when it is not the easy thing. Or the expected thing. Or the lawful thing.
🌙 ...magic is not whether I pick up that brush with my mind, or with my hand; the magic is what I write with it.

Though this book is poetry, at times, it reminded me of
🌙 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
🌙 Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
🌙 The Book of Koli by MR Carey
If you're a fan of any of these, pick this one up!

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was not a first string pick on my usual visits to a local bookstore. Initially, I picked it up because I've always got my eye on employee recommended poetry and I am not immune to the intrigue of a signed copy.

What caught me was the presentation of a poetry collection in the format of a non-linear science fiction narrative. I've never been one for science fiction, but applying not dissimilar themes to what we see in our society to this colony on the moon was such a fun way to tell a story I've already heard before.

There's a lot I liked here. The way it flows from poems to transcripts to sketches and how each bit recontextualizes the last. The directness of it all was refreshing, sometimes it's a relief to hear something you already know reiterated or retold in a new way. The emphasis on community and the power of gathering was also valuable to me, and on some levels, it was inspiring.

There's also a lot that I'm not clear on how to form into a cohesive review quite yet. Just know, this book is not as simple as my review.

Overall, I found myself feeling encouraged by what I read. This was certainly a collection I marked up with pencil and it is something I will enjoy coming back to expand on my initial thoughts.

[Jamie Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve kind of followed this guy since I was a teenager, after hearing this amazing album of collaborative raps with Cowboy Bebop-esque beats and lyrics on very similar subject matters to this book. His previous poetry collection was great, and then I took way too long to get a copy of this book, struggling to know the best time/place to easily receive a copy.

I didn’t intend to read this at such a prescient time either. I believe that right now Kyle Tran Myhre is doing exactly what he preaches in this book, but in the streets of Minneapolis, and a lot of the topics and ideas covered in the book are more relevant than ever. The afterword begins ‘I’m writing this section of the book in July of 2020; I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that whenever you’re reading this, July of 2020 feels like a thousand years ago.’ That got me. It really does. I don’t know who would’ve predicted it get so awful so fast and with such bluntness, but his work is still just as relevant, educational and (importantly) hopeful as it was the last time I read his work.

Taking the depressingly everyday stresses of fascistic oppression and individual prejudices and abstracting them through science fiction and mythic little segments works so well. It’s also still somehow exactly my vibe. A recurring theme on the power of the circle as a symbol connects even more to a circle tattoo I got based on similar ideas. makes me want to share this even more to combat the jokes it gets due to its simplicity. A lovely book, and I’m excited for whatever comes after this 🙏

[Lucsbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this book because I was in need of some poetry and I trust Button Poetry to give me exactly what I need every time.

This ended up not being nothing like I would have expected and everything I needed at the same time. I finished this book and my only thought was that tragically, I read it at the perfect time with everything going on in the world.

"Not A Lot of Reasons to Sing but Enough" is told thorough poems and illustrations, following several points of view and covering all kinds of situations from racism, discrimination, environmental problems, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, censorship, dictatorship, poverty, pretty much everything on the news right now, but in a futuristic community in the moon, where the descendest of extradited criminals live.

The unique way in which this story is told may take a while to be understood but once you get in the rhythm of it, it will be rooted in your mind forever.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Button Poetry for this DRC. It made me feel a little bit less alone.

[Riley Newfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to like this so much. The language is not beautiful in the same way that Hanif’s language is beautiful, or Butler’s, or any of the other writers I’ve enjoyed as of late. Yet that doesn’t seem to matter, really. The straight-to-the point prose-poems do a lot in a book that’s choosing to obscure itself in setting rather than in language.

Myhre crafts a world and tells through a story of art against authoritarianism, a story that reveals itself to be a collection of tips and tricks - incomplete instructions for artist-activists. The parallels to our world aren’t subtle, but neither are they distracting. Instead this book makes thinking about “resistance” fun.

I read an essay in the New York Times yesterday about how to grapple with being a writer in a country whose leader lacks the four aspects a good writer embodies: precision, freedom, respect, and love. This book is a part of that same conversation, and that’s a conversation we artists *need* to be having right now. There’s no use in despairing. Let’s keep writing.

[naviya · Rating 3 out of 5]

- i LOVE the cover art, and the illustrations
- this book oscillates between being super preachy, on-the-nose (especially the interview sections with Nary felt alot like Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet which,,,I hated lmao) and then creating a lovely world (the Blessing and Hen March sections)
- some of the ideas about abolitionism seemed to be presented without context, but that doesn't mean that it's bad, it's just that I've read them before and didn't really feel like the author discussed them in a way that added anything to my current understanding,
- but i really wanted it to! i expect sci-fi, especially this type of utopia/dystopia sci-fi to reinterpret the current world or to offer some image of what it could be (as opposed to a manifesto/abstract hope of what it could be)
- the concept of mourning a world that was better was really interesting in concept, but it came across as a little flat in this book

[Jim Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Kyle Tran Myhre, under his stage name Guante, for a pretty long time now, enjoying his music, poetry, and podcast. I’ve also used his work a lot in the classroom, and because of this, I can recognize this book as the perfect distillation of everything he’s done before now. This is an odd and hard to describe book - it’s a novel, I guess, but it’s made of poems and transcripts of conversations, and doesn’t have anything like a linear plot to it. Even though it’s set in the far future, on the moon, and features a pair of travelling poets (one of whom is a robot), this is very much a book about today. The struggle against authoritarianism and the need to make a more just and equal society permeates every aspect of this book. At times, it can feel a little preachy, as Nary, the main character, expounds on his thoughts about poetry, but I loved those scenes too. I’m really glad I picked this up, and know I’ll be returning to parts of it in the classroom next year.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is beautiful, meditative, and profound. It’s interesting and innovative and especially relevant to the world today, as Myhre confronts heavy topics in a quiet and intimate way. Some sections feel too long or unnecessary, but the author’s message always shines through. Other sections of this book feel like a love letter to art, stories, and writers which makes it a joy to read. It also feels like a call to arms and shows the reader how art is resistance and resistance is power, no matter how small. Overall, I am impressed with the level of worldbuilding and amount of heart in this unique blend of sci-fi and poetry, which is complemented well by Pham’s illustrations. A great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Vidya Tiru · Rating 4 out of 5]

As for what the book is about, the description says quite a bit. While I am not a huge sci-fi fan, I love listening to button poetry, which is why I picked this book. I am loving how Myhre subtly weaves in lessons on poetry while touching upon so many of the issues we face in today’s society (but set in a futuristic dystopian society) all while adding strong threads of hope and positivity throughout.

Don’t forget to read the Afterword (or Liner Notes, as Myhre puts it), as well as the amazing Process, Reflect, Create section that includes so much information; that will help you understand things better, on the book itself (themes, motifs, the hows and whys in the book), as well as writing prompts that are sure to spark your imagination.

Thanks to Netgalley for the erc ;; these are my honest thoughts about the book

[Calvin Coqui]

An oddball book of poetry written in-character in-universe of an original scifi setting on a world which originated as a prisoner colony, had a revolution that is now a distant memory, and is now contending with a new oppressive regime.

If you like Friends at the Table's science fiction seasons, I can say fairly confidently that you'll like this. It's similar in theme and form: lots of leftist politics, an attempt at a utopia which is now crumbling and must be maintained with effort everyday, meditations upon the place of art and artists in resistance against oppression.

I'm not much for this style of poetry, but I did still find several lines in it that resonated deeply with me. The accompanying illustrations by Casper Pham are also gorgeous and did a lot to frame my experience of the poetry and the world.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was offered this book as an ARC by NetGalley. I am quick to admit that I do not read much poetry but do want to broaden my horizons. The fact that this book has a sci-fi flavour, was a big draw and thought that it might be a good way for me to ease myself in. I really liked that the book is a mix of different writing styles and has the added bonus of some great artwork. I am about to start my next writing course and so am fired up to be far more experimental in this module so thank you to Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre!