Customer Reviews

Nick Demske (Modern Poet Series)

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I was pulled through this collection at an urgent pace I rarely feel reading new collections of poetry. Even collections I've loved for years don't "hook" me like this. One of the more engaging books I've read in some time. Demske's voice is playfully--even mockingly--self aware and irreverent, "The Key to brainwashing is repetition. They key / Did you expect me to repeat that now?" (from "Psychie 101")

He has an incredible gift of deconstructing the rhetorical trappings of idiom and cliche', "We maim / Our temples, kneel on marbles, we drag / Nails through cheeks, we bum rush body bags, / Caskets . . . to know a veil. I pulverized the cross to kindling. / I whittled my face to skull." (from "Blues Sonnet")

It's so fresh and different, I'm at a loss of language to properly do it justice. I feel I love it. But I'm not sure exactly what I *think* about it--or how to articulate it. I best quote Demske's poem "Treausure" here: "I don't know what I think about / / That. I don't know what I think / About. I don't know what I think.

Highly recommended.

First of all, let me say that I feel totally unqualified to review this book, so this is probably more of a comment on my own inadequacy as a reader than a comment on the quality of the writing. That said, I am very intrigued by this book, and I feel that, depending on how the reader approaches the work, one will come away from it being astounded, confused, offended, or oddly curious. I am not offended, though I understand why others may be. Nick Demske makes statements in his book which are outrageously offensive by themselves. Within the context of his poems, however, these statements become one element in a larger, absurd/comical jargon that he is creating by collaging and putting semantic twists on the clichés and jargons of others. So, when he makes a statement like "The holocaust never happened" in a collage poem (of sorts), I feel like what he's really telling us is, "Look how ridiculous this statement is. Some jerk said this and really meant it," rather than, "This is my actual worldview, reader. Take it or leave it." Still, it is a tough statement to digest in any context, and my sympathy is with those readers who are not able to give the writer the benefit of the doubt, as I am doing. I do wonder at times if Demske is overplaying the shock-value of his poetic hand, but I admire him for taking risks with both style and subject matter.

Overall, the book is deserving of a careful read and there are many fun and laugh-out-loud moments to be had, even if you aren't sure you're "getting it," but it is not for everyone. If you don't like experimental poetry, you might want to steer clear. If you enjoy having your expectations messed with and you don't mind being occasionally made to squirm (in the uncomfortable way), then this is the book for you.

As a poet and as a woman, I did not gain from this book.

I'm offended, and I want my eleven dollars back.
I don't want to buy you breakfast, Nick Demske, not even an Egg McMuffin.