Friday Links: Noir Poetry Edition
"I like flycrusted, offal poetry / I like dead, stuffed & waterlogged poetry" - Adrian Sobol, "GARBAGE POETRY"
Lotta text this week. I tried not to. But I read good books! And good articles! Let’s get to it!
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:
Good stuff, stuff that was a real treat to read. I read one of my favorite poets, one of my favorite anthologies, one of my favorite chapbooks, and one of my favorite Real Writers Who Is An IRL Friend. In the spirit of let’s get to it—I’m talking, of course, about Tiny Crimes edited by
and Nadxieli Nieto, 1919 by Eve L. Ewing, They All Seemed Asleep by Matthew Rohrer, The Life Of The Party Is Harder To Find Until You’re The Last One Around by Adrian Sobol (who has a new book, HAIR SHIRT, that you should pre-order).
Tiny Crimes, edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto: what a fun anthology! I’m glad I read it cover-to-cover, and I’m really excited to write some flash fiction this year. Have I mentioned that’s a goal? I’m gonna spend 2025 writing flash fiction. Some of it will have crimes.
1919 by Eve L. Ewing: stretching the definition of noir a bit, sure, but the genre is about how fucked-up things can get in cities. I’ve only read this book once before, but: just like with Gabo (and JMW and Zach), I’m trying to make sure I read my favorite writers plenty. Keep me tethered to my fundamentals, you know? Reading this book after The Trees—hell, after The Relentless City—felt very much like you could syllabus these books. There’s so much immediacy, so much action in this book, yet Eve never lets you forget there is a “before” and “after” the 1919 riot. This exact thing could always happen again in this country. Something I love, especially in the poem “Exodus 10,” is the portrayal of the violent whites as “…slothful, and found only misery in their repose. / And the kings, their hearts hardened…” yet the Black people of the city “…found leisure, / calling to one another through the darkness as in a child’s game, / and they found each other in laughter. And to them, all noise was joyful / in the darkness, so that each found the work of the Lord” Do the oppressive classes ever get to enjoy anything? It doesn’t seem like it. Oppressed classes are always partying.
They All Seemed Asleep by Matthew Rohrer: again, not really noir in subject matter. Feels noir, somehow. I’ve not read enough of Matthew to call him a favorite writer, but this is one of my favorite (chap)books of poetry ever. The incredible storytelling yet immediate verse? That’s GOALS, baby.
The Life Of The Party Is Harder To Find Until You’re The Last One Around by Adrian Sobol: I don’t know if Adrian would classify his book as noir, BUT the moment I watched Under The Silver Lake—a very good neo-noir—I thought, “I bet Adrian loved this movie.” I wanted to re-read Adrian’s book during Noirvember because I hadn’t read it in a long time. Adrian’s poems are not wool suits and dames with Lugers, Adrian’s poems aren’t even bleak to me, although maybe that says something about me. They’re funny, they’re strange, they’re influenced by James Tate, but there is a certain existential feeling here. A certain “life sure is dark but at least we got poems.” The crying woman on the cover has earned her tears, and she’ll be okay, I’m pretty sure. This book pairs wonderfully with Tiny Crimes—the same strain of the absurdity of life runs through both.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? Brendan put me onto this band, Microwave, and I’ve really been enjoying them the last week or so. Takes me back to when I was really jamming Manchester Orchestra. Let’s watch their song, “Dull,” on Audiotree.
Did you know I am forever trying to be shorter in my editorializing of these links? I can practically hear CP, my former editor at Cracked, telling me “don’t bore us, get to the chorus.” Anyway, here’s Kat Abughazaleh at The New Republic arguing a lot of the things I argued on Wednesday, but with more specificity.
I want to re-iterate this more, because I believe it cannot be said enough: we need to defund the police, and it’s incredibly bad that it hasn’t happened yet. Democrats not acting when they had the power has left us more vulnerable in the coming four years, as Jerry Iannelli at The Appeal lays out.
Meant to link to this the same week I was reading a Percival Everett novel set in Mississippi and focused on lynching, but here’s Jessica Glenza at Guardian talking about how some U.S. states have firearm deaths comparable to countries in active wars. Zero surprise here, but maybe you haven’t heard. This country is unsafe and bad, no matter where you are.
I wanna pull quote Kelly Hayes’s opening paragraph in her re-assessment of how effective direct action is, and that will be my editorializing (and explanation for my approach to this blog): “Some of these tactics were successful…ADAPT’s 2017 mass action at the Capitol may have played a major role in saving the [ACA]. Mass marches promoted a new sense of politicial identity for many people….Some approaches were less effective, including the constant reiteration and denunciation of every Tumpian pronouncement—or what Daniel Hunter has dubbed ‘public angsting.’” That Daniel Hunter is good, dudes. Seriously.
No editorializing: I implore you to read this piece from
on despair not being our only option. Margaret is maybe the only “prepper” I am willing to listen to. She knows her shit.BONUS SIXTH LINK, for something fun: Patrick Redford at Defector with a breakdown of De’Aaron Fox’s game after his 109-points-in-two-games explosion this past weekend. The NBA has not been on my TV much since opening night—I got so into all the horror I was watching and then I was spending all my time practicing guitar for recording sessions—but this article might’ve inspired me not just to start the NBA season, but to become a Kings fan. I already love their colors, own a Chris Webber jersey (shoutout to my good friend Dan and the jersey exchange my friends and I used to do every Christmas), and they have the coolest player in the NBA, DeMar DeRozan. When DeRozan left Chicago this summer to film K.Dot videos and play for a real basketball team, I was glad he picked the Kings. De’Aaron has “coolest player in the league” potential, learning from DeMar will be good for him. As Brad Miller once taught Joakim Noah, so too shall DeMar teach De’Aaron. A pull quote, because Defector is subscription-based (but worth it!): “If you want to understand what makes De'Aaron Fox's game so effective and cool, the most important thing to understand is something of a signature Fox play: the surprise fast break. Several times per game, while the opposing team is in the process of setting up its halfcourt defense with obvious spatial and manpower advantages, Fox will see an opening and sprint with the ball directly into the heart of that defense, creating either a layup for himself or a wide-open shot for a teammate.”
What’re you still doing here? In the name of The Basketball Gods, I command you to watch Joakim Noah talk about Brad Miller putting dip in his mouth during the game. It’s 40 seconds of your life. Watch this video.
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. If Brad Miller can put a dip in his mouth during the game, you can show up to work drunk or high. I’m not saying I did or did not while I worked at [REDACTED], I’m not necessarily encouraging it, either. I’m just saying it’s hard out there in the service industry, and only some of your customers deserve your best.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris
