Inspired by "the plot genie"—a plot-generating device created in the 1930s that used numerical games of chance to divine character traits and plot points—this imaginative, book-length poem discusses the ways in which people are re-created, inspired, aroused, and persuaded by the power of the stories that they listen to and share. Rich in scene and cinematic quality, the plot—visual and literary, old and new—recombines all into a simultaneous present, examining society’s endless hunger for narrative. Exploring and blending genres with exciting and lyrical language, references to film and pop culture are laced throughout. Presenting a memorable cast in moving and humorous motifs, this rich composition explores the way the characters behave when inhabiting a construct created by ideas.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Conoley's sixth collection—which takes its title from a plot-generating system devised in the 1930s by silent screenwriter Wycliffe A. Hill—is a book of many sources (ancient and contemporary, cerebral and tabloid) that all point toward cinema. Archie, Betty and Veronica appear in one poem, while another features the less likely trio of Walt Whitman, Paul Bunyan and Aristotle, all of them eerily imprisoned by an elaborately illusive studio system. There's an atmosphere of decay throughout, replete with chambers dim with histories, and locusts/ without end. At its best, the book reads like an exceptional film noir projected onto the mind's eye. The world is a weird luminescence, writes Conoley. A greenish glow, unhinged, Experimental poetry fans and cinephiles will find much that haunts and stimulates. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Conoley's sixth collection is a book of many sources (ancient and contemporary, cerebral and tabloid) that all point toward cinema. Experimental poetry fans and cinephiles will find much that haunts and stimulates." —Publishers Weekly
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By P. Koneazny
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Plot Genie is something of a departure for Conoley. Although there are numerous instances of what I think of as Conoleyesque language ("into the long anarchy before them," "Along the lower serifs of the city, and "will you be my shapeless nonentity under the ancient olive tree" are examples) and although the poems generally employ the poet's almost signature double spacing, the motivation, language and tone of The Plot Genie seem different from earlier books such as Beckon, Lovers in the Used World and Profane Halo. Always an admirer of Conoley's work, I am entirely enthralled with this latest venture. Perhaps because I too am intrigued by language-generating devices (here taking the form of The Plot Genie, a plot-generating system created in the 1930s by Wycliffe A. Hill, a former silent film screen writer)fragmented narrative and narrative strategies employed for other than story-telling ends. A group of stock characters wander in and out of the poems: Miss Jane Sloan, Redhead, Handsome Dead Man, Comedy Boy and E & R(whom we end up cheering on, hoping that they will at least once land in the same love story). Conoley's love of cinema, particularly films from the 30s, 40s and 50s, once again inflects her poetry to good effect. I intend to re-read The Plot Genie soon for further enjoyment.
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