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When the Wolves Quit: A Play-in-Verse
Drama. "In Joshua Young's WHEN THE WOLVES QUIT, the palpable influences of cinema and surrealism are woven together in this luminous play-in-verse. The firing of a gun triggers this emotional investigation of faith, memory, and the afterlife. With the same ferocity of a fired bullet Young's work accelerates the reader through his poetic obsession where the woods are ghostly and the path through the thicket is somewhere off the stage. With ingenuity and his strong gifts as a storyteller, Joshua Young's tale invites readers to become major characters and to explore a place that is the "middle ground between closure and myth."—Oliver de la Paz
"Long after reading it, Joshua Young's WHEN THE WOLVES QUIT still sits on my chest heavy as stone, lapping at my throat with a sometimes tongue and the always threat of teeth. When I scream blood-lust for new words, this book is what I greedily nightmare about."—J. A. Tyler
"A remarkable and delightful full-length debut, Joshua Young's WHEN THE WOLVES QUIT is a poetic Lynchian noir unlike any poetry before. Interrogating a familiar, provincial American space where 'secrets are damp, / caught in the space between the throat and the front teeth,' Young entices us to step onto the stage itself. ENTER STAGE LEFT : someone disappears. ENTER STAGE RIGHT : see the missing through a keyhole—or worse, through the slats of your neighbor's nearly closed blinds. Brilliantly suppressing distinctions between poetry, drama, and fiction, here is a frightening polyphony of voices, where all become victims of their own crimes—where 'suffering moves and breathes.' The smallest details are even more disturbing, such as an out of tune piano plinking over the debris of other people's lives in half-abandoned rooms. When told in the book this is dream, we think nightmare. Most worryingly, Young manages to implicate an audience who is much too titillated by the oblique violence happening offstage. Just try to remove yourself from that association, reader."—Richard Greenfield
"Long after reading it, Joshua Young's WHEN THE WOLVES QUIT still sits on my chest heavy as stone, lapping at my throat with a sometimes tongue and the always threat of teeth. When I scream blood-lust for new words, this book is what I greedily nightmare about."—J. A. Tyler
"A remarkable and delightful full-length debut, Joshua Young's WHEN THE WOLVES QUIT is a poetic Lynchian noir unlike any poetry before. Interrogating a familiar, provincial American space where 'secrets are damp, / caught in the space between the throat and the front teeth,' Young entices us to step onto the stage itself. ENTER STAGE LEFT : someone disappears. ENTER STAGE RIGHT : see the missing through a keyhole—or worse, through the slats of your neighbor's nearly closed blinds. Brilliantly suppressing distinctions between poetry, drama, and fiction, here is a frightening polyphony of voices, where all become victims of their own crimes—where 'suffering moves and breathes.' The smallest details are even more disturbing, such as an out of tune piano plinking over the debris of other people's lives in half-abandoned rooms. When told in the book this is dream, we think nightmare. Most worryingly, Young manages to implicate an audience who is much too titillated by the oblique violence happening offstage. Just try to remove yourself from that association, reader."—Richard Greenfield
- GenresPlays
134 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 6, 2013
Joshua Young unfolds a story in a very understated yet dramatic way in his play-in-verse style. To be honest, if I were told that a book was written in a play-in-verse style I might think twice about picking it up. Fortunately, I had read the author's work before and was eager to dive into this book. My first read of this unique writer was To The Chapel Of Light, an marvelous chapbook published by the now defunct (sadly) Mud Luscious Press.
With When The Wolves Quit, Mr. Young's play-in-verse style is in full blossom; able to expand the arch of not just the story, but also the storytelling. There were times when the writing made me feel as if I were listening to folklore being told by a campfire rather than any sort of traditional play structure.
It's a quick read, but don't let that fool you. It's knee deep in quality.
With When The Wolves Quit, Mr. Young's play-in-verse style is in full blossom; able to expand the arch of not just the story, but also the storytelling. There were times when the writing made me feel as if I were listening to folklore being told by a campfire rather than any sort of traditional play structure.
It's a quick read, but don't let that fool you. It's knee deep in quality.
July 7, 2012
Brilliant. If Faulkner wrote fairy-tales, this what they'd sound like. Equal parts ghost story, murder mystery, and epic poem, "When the Wolves Quit" is easily the best play-in-verse I've read since J.B. An extremely strong full-length debut, Joshua Young is definitely a voice to look out for.
April 11, 2022
Loved the format!!! Long form poetry is so cool always. I also really enjoyed the sense of place, though I was a little disappointed that the ending was literal-- I thought there'd be a magical ish solution. But that's on me for reading mostly specpo
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2013
This came oh-so-close to getting five stars. I did notice a couple of typos, which I know is a tiny, nit-picky thing but when I see them they really bug me.
February 29, 2012
I'm not sure I've ever been happier being that creeped out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews