Satellite (Paperback)

by Matthew Rohrer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Laundromats, oddball flora, a toy tomahawk, "many falling rats," a "robotroid girlfriend" and a series of twice-told childhood stories distinguish the determinedly eccentric, sometimes winning poems in Rohrer's second volume. Like his sometime models Charles Simic and James Tate, Rohrer (A Hummock in the Malookas) seeks out surreally menacing objects, finding a disturbing, even deceptive emptiness amid his seemingly ordinary "brick houses" and heterosexual couples, making accomplished phrases to match their disorientations: "In the middle garden is the secret wedding," he says, "that hides always under the other one/ and under the shiny things of the other one." A giddy suspicion like that of schoolchildren's pranks sometimes matches, and sometimes overwhelms, the poems' attempts at offhand social critique; topics include male sexual anxiety and postmodern self-consciousness … la Dave Eggers: "No man is an island. Also, no one is interested/ in excessive indeterminacy." Rohrer's hip titles ("Alternatives to Pain"; "Starfish Waving to Me from the Sand") and tricky allusions (Ashbery, Longfellow, William Blake, Woody Allen) can over-determine the poems they introduce, but their facility and charm usually step in and smooth things over. (May) Forecast: One of the poetry editors of Fence, onetime acting managing director of the Poetry Society of America and currently publicity/events director at the Academy of American Poets, Rohrer has deep roots in the po-biz, which will distinguish him from his contemporaries.

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Review
"The surface ease and playfulness of these poems belie their seriousness." -- Chase Twichell

A shimmering constellation of images, both urban and wild, filled with unexpected twists and shifts. -- Time Out New York

Everywhere marked by originality and freshness.... wakes one up and clears the senses. -- Harvard Review

The surface ease and playfulness of these poems belie their seriousness... They're smart, inventive, and sneakily profound. -- Chase Twichell

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 86 pages
• Publisher: Wave Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970367236
• ISBN-13: 978-0970367235
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,566,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars herbaceous perhaps, but no clover here, July 27, 2001

By A Customer

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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a field scorched of clovers, May 3, 2002

By A Customer

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.

3 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Clover-Effect, July 18, 2001

By	Krista A. Fuller (Epping, NH United States) - See all my reviews

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.