Harmless Medicine [Paperback]

Justin Chin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2001

Marked by maturity and poetic vision, Harmless Medicine is fiercely devoted to the margins of queer life in the generation after the first wave of the AIDS epidemic. In more than 40 pieces, Chin fearlessly delivers everything from his first exposure to science (“Magnified”) to a mail order fantasy experience (“I Buy Sea Monkeys”); from backroads travel in Asia (“Little Everest in Your Palm”) to the plight of immigrants in America (“The Men’s Restroom at the INS Building”). Chin’s brutal honesty and sharp humor frame a profound and original collection.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Justin Chin is the author of two collections of poetry, Harmless Medicine and Bite Hard (Manic D Press), and two collections of essays, Burden of Ashes (Alyson Press) and Mongrel: Essays, Diatribes and Pranks (St. Martin's Press). In the 1990's, as a performance artist, he created several performance works that were presented nationally and abroad. He lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc. (September 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916397726
• ISBN-13: 978-0916397722
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,722,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complex resonance, December 3, 2001

By 

Jason Allen (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harmless Medicine (Paperback)

Rarely does a book of poetry leave a reader with an experience of so many deep mixed emotions: joy, despair, anger, humor, etc. The longer complex poems ("Imagining America", "Little Everest In Your Palm", "Homomonument") contrast sharply with the humorous short prose poems like "Neo Testament" showing the range of Chin's writing ability. Some of the pieces are downright silly, like "Contents Page to the Book of Poems I Have Yet to Write", but that's okay because they provide relief from the heavy weight of a young poet's reflections on mortality. Great reading for times of personal reflection...

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, December 6, 2001

By 

Heywood Djaluvmi (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harmless Medicine (Paperback)

It is so rare to encounter a writer who handles difficult material--life, death, love, joy,--yet does it with a light touch, a unique voice, exquisite prose, and most important, with a wicked sense of humor. Wicked, wicked. Justin Chin is the real thing.