Customer Reviews

Satellite

5 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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Matthew Rohrer established his plain-spoken, dreamy style in his 1995 book, A Hummock in the Malookas (two years before Clover's mentor/professor Jorie Graham got his book published). There is no pseudo-intellectuality or political posturing in Rohrer's work, and his attitude is never snide. Rohrer's poetry does exude a hipness, though, which could be a sin in certain quarters, except that Rohrer's attitude in his poems seems far more embracing and genuine than Clover's preening. And Rohrer's style has nothing in common with Clover's, or Graham's, and that should be refreshing to readers looking for poems that don't gyrate self-consciously across the page.

While Hummock was imaginative and unsettling, Satellite demonstrates a darker vision. Rohrer has matured a bit, he's more intent on having each poem forward something--an idea, an image, an emotion, an arrangement--in unexpected and often breathtaking ways. Satellite is subtly sinister, and it grows with repeated readings. It might not be as instantly likeable as Hummock, but it has more lasting power.

I went to school with both Clover and Rohrer, and I'm not close with either. I can, however, attest to the fact that both poets have very different styles and neither has influenced the other. Satellite is singular in its vision, and grows clearly from the strengths of Rohrer's first book. It is a compelling book that takes considerably more effort to read than A Hummock. Ms. Fuller would do herself a favor if she took the time to read past "surfaces" and offer more than just a knee jerk reaction.

This poet likes surfaces, glitterings on the tops of otherwise real emotions and ideas. It's one of the first glimpses of the effect that young gun Joshua Clover has had on his generation. I can't recommedn this book at all.