A collection of socialist, surrealist poetry and prose, Theater of War parodies the rhetoric of the U.S. National Security Strategy Report, exposing the fascist machinations of the Bush administration. Presented with unforgiving humor, disjunctive syntax, and subversive wordplay, Theater of War removes the earplugs that "defend" us from dissent.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"In this detournement of political statements like the U.S. National Security Strategy Report, a reader will inquire when is 'the truth' blurred; conversely, when does Powers' alternative reading come painfully close to the real? The author's hard-hitting, farcical longer-form poems might have constituted a part one, dissolving into the more empathetic, injured fragments. But his choreographed admixture embodies how emotions come. Anger interspersed with hurt; a loudly reinterpreted official voice, broken by still louder whispers."
Bruna Mori, Derive (Meritage Press)
Bruna Mori, Derive (Meritage Press)
From the Author
Watching news saw bomb fall, land and my TV exploded. I crawled out of crater, picked poem-shrapnel out of limbs, and wrapped it in blank pages. Here is scholastic, satirical self-exposure, medical records of guilt sick American mind. Vomiting up of flag and prayers. Unfolding of blueprint of refinery of our collective unconscious. Absurd playbill in which big politicians and Evil Doers get stage biographies, sad Paul Celan-like goodbyes to the dead. X-ray of mad logic of pre-emptive war in Iraq to see semantic cancer spreading over earth.
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More About the Author
Nicholas Powers (1911-2011) was bitten by the Communist vampire Mao Zedong in 1931 during a baby-oil wrestling match. He lived a hundred years until bitter with loneliness he walked into daylight and ignited into a wild flame. Over the course of his life, he traveled the world and wrote on the state of humanity.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a theatre for world domination,
This review is from: Theater of War (Paperback)
"Theater of War translates, from the rhetorical to the farcical, the most under-read official document released by the Pentagon after 9/11, the US National Security Strategy Report as an obsessive, bizarre proclamation for world domination. Interspersing the author's renderings of the Security Report are satirical poems, theatrical biographies, and glossaries of puns that, if they don't make you laugh or cry, are sure to offend! There is no figure, subject, or emotion that is safe from his subversive playfulness in this text. Any patriotic notion to suspend dissent during crisis has been shattered--like, as Powers writes, "the sky over Baghdad to which Sam Champion reads the weather"-- and with it our innocence/ignorance. The poems alone are worth the read!"
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Subtext,
This review is from: Theater of War (Paperback)
In this detournement of political statements like the U.S. National Security Strategy Report, a reader will inquire when is "the truth" blurred; conversely, when does Powers' alternative reading come painfully close to the real? The author's hard-hitting, farcical longer-form poems might have constituted a part one, dissolving into the more empathetic, injured fragments. But his choreographed admixture embodies how emotions come. Anger interspersed with hurt; a loudly reinterpreted official voice, broken by still louder whispers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Political mind on a rampage,
This review is from: Theater of War (Paperback)
This book really blows the pages off of its own cover. As a three-time student of the author, I recommend this book to any student who wants to look into the mind of a politically conscious professor. His poetry flows deep into the soul and mind of everyone who comes into direct contact with it. His book is honest, at times brutally enough to make the reader feel as deeply as him, whether you agree with him or not. This book is an insightful and thoughtful read.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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wet puns, rational insecurity, champion aspirations, other main centers, free raid, rouge states, opening societies, global economic growth, multilateral development banks, national security strategy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, American Idol, Saudi Princes, United Steaks, Wet Puns of Mass Deconstruction, Cold War, Bush Washington, Old Ward, Twenty Sense Usury, World Bank, Six Flags Atlantis, Twin Towers, Wet Puns of Mass Distraction, New York June, President Bush West Point, Stand Deli, The Russian Vietnam, World Trade Organization, Association Press, Canada Dry, So-Be-It Union, Whirl Raid Organization New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
wet puns, rational insecurity, champion aspirations, other main centers, free raid, rouge states, opening societies, global economic growth, multilateral development banks, national security strategy Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, American Idol, Saudi Princes, United Steaks, Wet Puns of Mass Deconstruction, Cold War, Bush Washington, Old Ward, Twenty Sense Usury, World Bank, Six Flags Atlantis, Twin Towers, Wet Puns of Mass Distraction, New York June, President Bush West Point, Stand Deli, The Russian Vietnam, World Trade Organization, Association Press, Canada Dry, So-Be-It Union, Whirl Raid Organization New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
- The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics) by Adam Smith on page 59
- The Last Supper by Susan E. Bartlett and Diana S. Smith on page 60
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