Reviews and Comments

I’ve been reading and writing poetry for about half a century. Even though this book is written for newcomers to poetry, I found value in it, especially in the analyses of specific poems. There’s plenty about social issues, but not in a polemical way. It’s not a “poetry for the revolution” book.

I’ll be coming back to this book, probably more than once. CAConrad gives us the rituals/exercises that lead to the poems, as well as the poems themselves. The poems I write will not be the same after reading Ecodeviance.

I first met Tomie through the movie, which is a disturbing piece of work, but the graphic novel is FUCKED. UP. The immortal title character, who manipulates people into murdering her again and again, is a malignant narcissist and an incel’s wet nightmare, but there’s something pure about her malice. If you’re a fan of Fantômas or Maldoror, Tomie might be you.

Imaginative and well-written horrors that are sometimes all too relatable.

An important, affirming, and (I hope) life-changing book for me.

There’s a certain sameness to many of the poems here. I don’t know if that reflects editorial preferences or the state of U.S. prose poetry at the time. A few pieces are delightful.

An absolutely wonderful collection of poems for lovers of monsters, myths, vivid language, and empathy.

Many excellent parts that, for me, did not add up to a satisfying whole.

I was promised a novel and I got a narrative prose poem. I was promised horror and I got a love story. I’m not complaining. It’s a tale about a mermaid, but Hans Christian Andersen, it ain’t. It’s bloody and bleak and cruel. But I already said it’s a love story, didn’t I?

I might start seeking out graphic novel versions of Macbeth. I’ve read a bad one. Now, with the Gareth Hinds adaptation, I’ve read a good one. This book brings Shakespeare’s play to life, and makes me feel things. I appreciate the notes at the end, where Hinds talks about his historical research and explains some of his artistic and editorial decisions. If someone were asking for a graphic novelization of Macbeth, I’d gladly point them to this. However… I feel like there must be bolder interpretations out there.

Weber spends a lot of time trying to tie fascism and socialism together. He disapproves of fascism; he disapproves of socialism; therefore, they are at least in sympathy with one another, if not the same thing viewed from different angles. (Maybe later parts of the book modify this stance, but I’m old and have limited time to read.)