chrisq

This is by far the best book I've read in a long time. As a poetry lover I was immediately taken in with the first poem "The Limited" and the last poem, "Food Chain" I loved so much that it gave me chills and will be added to my list of poem favorites. This book was painfully gorgeous. The first short story "Breaking and Entering" took me by such surprise it reminded me of Flannery O'Connor's short story about the tractor. Now that I think about it, I think that's part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. The surprises, the poignant reality and honesty of the stories and characters always left me wanting for more. Also as a Kafka fan I loved the reference of the book-titled short story "War Dances" that begins with "My Kafka Baggage." There was also a continuous thread between each of the poems and short stories despite there differences - from cockroaches, to hospital beds, to ear pain, to married men looking for sex, to New York Times Crosswords puzzles to salt.....wow absolutely amazing. Some of my Favorite Quotes: "For who is lonelier than a cockroach without his tribe?" "Ah, man, I love Trader Joe's. But you know what's bad about them? You fall in love with something they have-they stock it for a year-and then it just disappears." "How well can you mourn if you continually forget the dead are dead?" "Wouldn't the crow, that ubiquitous trickster, make a more compelling and accurate national symbol for the United States than the bald eagle?

2022-11-14 18:42