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Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction
With work that ranges from the laugh-out-loud funny to the silence and rage of loss, Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction is a must listen.
This is a collection of work that asks itself for forgiveness while becoming an instruction manual on how listeners can follow suit. These complex and passionate poems make space for a narrative about the self in the wake of destruction.
It explores American culture and examines how Singer's identity as a Jewish American underpins daily life. This book tells us that forgiveness has the power to grant a release from the shame we carry about our decisions. Forgive yourself was written from a place of vulnerability and pushes us towards compassion for the person we are with the most, ourselves.
*Listening Length: 1 hour and 21 minutes
This is a collection of work that asks itself for forgiveness while becoming an instruction manual on how listeners can follow suit. These complex and passionate poems make space for a narrative about the self in the wake of destruction.
It explores American culture and examines how Singer's identity as a Jewish American underpins daily life. This book tells us that forgiveness has the power to grant a release from the shame we carry about our decisions. Forgive yourself was written from a place of vulnerability and pushes us towards compassion for the person we are with the most, ourselves.
*Listening Length: 1 hour and 21 minutes
2 pages, Audible Audio
First published December 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
December 24, 2019
3.5/5
this was really a personal book. don't know if enjoyable is the right word for it, but i felt a connection with a lot of poems. my heart aches.
*Note: i received a copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
this was really a personal book. don't know if enjoyable is the right word for it, but i felt a connection with a lot of poems. my heart aches.
*Note: i received a copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 13, 2021
Covering themes from identity and body image to mental health issues, love and loss, this poetry collection feels deeply personal and incredibly authentic. I know I'll be going back to it again and again.
February 26, 2020
3.5 Stars ☆☆☆.5
"If there was magic in this world, we have long since scienced it into extinction."
I don't think this is the kind of book you say you enjoyed, simply because of all the dark topics it covers: from suicide to self-harm to anti-semitic beliefs. Poetry can get extremely personal, and this is a prime example of that. At times, it felt as though Jared Singer was almost laying his soul bare.
I connected a lot to some of the poems, I thought they were insightful and relatable. The poetry itself was great, I loved the writing style. However, I did think the poems got slightly too repetitive for my tastes which is why I gave it 3.5 stars.
"If there was magic in this world, we have long since scienced it into extinction."
I don't think this is the kind of book you say you enjoyed, simply because of all the dark topics it covers: from suicide to self-harm to anti-semitic beliefs. Poetry can get extremely personal, and this is a prime example of that. At times, it felt as though Jared Singer was almost laying his soul bare.
I connected a lot to some of the poems, I thought they were insightful and relatable. The poetry itself was great, I loved the writing style. However, I did think the poems got slightly too repetitive for my tastes which is why I gave it 3.5 stars.
January 9, 2022
Good idea, poor execution.
May 19, 2024
TW: SIB, suicide(!!!), death(!!), depression
Automatic 5 stars because I cried multiple times. As someone who has lost multiple friends to suicide, shootings, and eating disorder complications, I needed to read this. I needed this guttural voice of agony for those who were lost and weren’t supposed to be lost. I shouldn’t have had to walk across the stage with her name on my cap so she could do it too. I feel like Jared knew this about me, which is what I didn’t know I needed. Thank you, Jared.
Here are my (depressing) favorites:
“No matter how many friends you bury, it never gets easier, but it does become automatic.”
“I don't believe in Gd, but I do believe in miracles, in things so large that they seem impossible but when you do them one tiny step at a time you get them done. Taking a shower is a miracle. Laughing is a miracle. Being here is a miracle. We all give up. We all hide. We all wallow in our own whatever awful we have to wallow in. But if you're lucky, you can find a miracle. Take a shower. Keep doing tiny things until the world is a slightly less dark place.”
“‘Of all my friends, I think you’re the one who’s strong enough to take it.’ What made you think I was strong enough to take this? I would go back to the moment before you became the reason I don’t read letters without having someone else proofread them first. If I could project my thoughts into another's head, even knowing it could never have saved you but believing maybe it could have saved me, you would never have doubted, even for an instant, that you were loved.”
“despite all the death i have seen — how often i have wanted to bring someone back— i have always hated all frankenstein stories. no one seems to care or even remember frankenstein was the scientist. the creation was nameless, nameless like you feel now, Henh. The wikipedia page about the virginia tech massacre is 12,000 words long. less than 500 are dedicated to the 32 who were murdered. the rest are about him. about the man who made you nameless.”
“Admit why you do not take your sleeping pills: the only time your brain gets quiet is when it is sleep addled. Forgive yourself these tiny acts of self-destruction. Watch the sunrise for the fourth time this week. Allow the new day to give you hope.“
Automatic 5 stars because I cried multiple times. As someone who has lost multiple friends to suicide, shootings, and eating disorder complications, I needed to read this. I needed this guttural voice of agony for those who were lost and weren’t supposed to be lost. I shouldn’t have had to walk across the stage with her name on my cap so she could do it too. I feel like Jared knew this about me, which is what I didn’t know I needed. Thank you, Jared.
Here are my (depressing) favorites:
“No matter how many friends you bury, it never gets easier, but it does become automatic.”
“I don't believe in Gd, but I do believe in miracles, in things so large that they seem impossible but when you do them one tiny step at a time you get them done. Taking a shower is a miracle. Laughing is a miracle. Being here is a miracle. We all give up. We all hide. We all wallow in our own whatever awful we have to wallow in. But if you're lucky, you can find a miracle. Take a shower. Keep doing tiny things until the world is a slightly less dark place.”
“‘Of all my friends, I think you’re the one who’s strong enough to take it.’ What made you think I was strong enough to take this? I would go back to the moment before you became the reason I don’t read letters without having someone else proofread them first. If I could project my thoughts into another's head, even knowing it could never have saved you but believing maybe it could have saved me, you would never have doubted, even for an instant, that you were loved.”
“despite all the death i have seen — how often i have wanted to bring someone back— i have always hated all frankenstein stories. no one seems to care or even remember frankenstein was the scientist. the creation was nameless, nameless like you feel now, Henh. The wikipedia page about the virginia tech massacre is 12,000 words long. less than 500 are dedicated to the 32 who were murdered. the rest are about him. about the man who made you nameless.”
“Admit why you do not take your sleeping pills: the only time your brain gets quiet is when it is sleep addled. Forgive yourself these tiny acts of self-destruction. Watch the sunrise for the fourth time this week. Allow the new day to give you hope.“
December 30, 2019
A good collection of poetry that goes into a lot of deep emotions (feelings about a friend's suicide, being Jewish in America, etc). My favorite poem by far was "The Last Love Letter from an Entomologist." That one blew me away and took several minutes for me to ruminated on properly because it hit me in just the right way. It was beautiful and worth the price of the book alone, in my opinion.
March 22, 2021
Brilliant, raw, and unforgiving (while the author forgives themself throughout). It's been years since I've read anything so turgid and trying for understanding. The book feels like a journey that left the shores and is yet to see land. I recommend it to anyone adrift at sea.
January 4, 2020
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"When the time finally comes to say
goodbye to me for the last time,
don't hurt yourself trying to
sum up everything you want to say.
Raise a glass, drink it down,
I'll be listening."
The first thing I have to admit about Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction is that it was a very personal book. In every poem, in every line, in every word, you can see the Jared Singer's personal thoughts reflecting. You can see how much the book means to him. You can see why poetry is so important to him, why speaking onstage is important to him and why one should read it.
"I hope we are reborn as flies
so that we can love each other
as hard as we were meant to."
It's beautiful in every single way. The poet pens down his words in a miraculously calm manner, even though when you read them, you can feel the passion behind them. Singer talks about many of his experiences in this book. He talks about his brother's death, his friend's suicide, how being Jewish in America changed a lot of things for him and also how his "fatness" (he's just fat, nothing special about it) affected his life. All of these things he discusses in the book. He says out words that he probably hadn't been able to say before. Or maybe he had. I can't say for sure, though. And all the while, you can imagine him crying in his corner while writing or shaking his head in anger—that's the power of this book. That's how great it is.
The only thing that I didn't like about it, however, was that most of the times, it didn't seem poetry to me. Don't get me wrong, the words Singer used were poetical enough. However, they seemed more like poetic sentences broken in places than actual poetry. Yes, I felt for him. I felt the emotions he portrayed throughout the book. However, I just didn't think it was poetic enough. And that is what bothered me, majorly. This is why I'm not giving it a 5-star rating. But here's to hoping the next book is better!
"When the time finally comes to say
goodbye to me for the last time,
don't hurt yourself trying to
sum up everything you want to say.
Raise a glass, drink it down,
I'll be listening."
The first thing I have to admit about Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction is that it was a very personal book. In every poem, in every line, in every word, you can see the Jared Singer's personal thoughts reflecting. You can see how much the book means to him. You can see why poetry is so important to him, why speaking onstage is important to him and why one should read it.
"I hope we are reborn as flies
so that we can love each other
as hard as we were meant to."
It's beautiful in every single way. The poet pens down his words in a miraculously calm manner, even though when you read them, you can feel the passion behind them. Singer talks about many of his experiences in this book. He talks about his brother's death, his friend's suicide, how being Jewish in America changed a lot of things for him and also how his "fatness" (he's just fat, nothing special about it) affected his life. All of these things he discusses in the book. He says out words that he probably hadn't been able to say before. Or maybe he had. I can't say for sure, though. And all the while, you can imagine him crying in his corner while writing or shaking his head in anger—that's the power of this book. That's how great it is.
The only thing that I didn't like about it, however, was that most of the times, it didn't seem poetry to me. Don't get me wrong, the words Singer used were poetical enough. However, they seemed more like poetic sentences broken in places than actual poetry. Yes, I felt for him. I felt the emotions he portrayed throughout the book. However, I just didn't think it was poetic enough. And that is what bothered me, majorly. This is why I'm not giving it a 5-star rating. But here's to hoping the next book is better!
January 14, 2020
"Goodbyes
are exactly like that—
no matter how ready you think
you are for them,
they always leave you with so
many things you want to say."
Reading this book wasn't what I expected. I know that reading someone else's poetry you enter in a part of their soul that is not always available to anyone else. Poetry can get very personal. It's not only a writing genre where you put words together to make them rhyme, but it's also a process where you express what you can't say with your voice in a certain moment, and I feel this process is different than writing a diary because mind and heart look for the correct words or even invent them to capture them on a piece of paper to never let them go.
Jared Singer talks about different kinds of love: the one that is romantic, the one that comes from friendship, the one that comes with one's identity and culture and self-love but also about their counterparts, like a partners' loss because love is gone, the loss of friends due to suicide or hate crimes, the loss of one's self, which happens often and can involve any of the aforementioned losses and, therefore, the need of self-destruction as well as the path to acceptance.
I'd say "TOXICITY" and "I STILL MISS YOU" were poems that felt like a bunch of slaps because they reminded me of myself. And that's the thing about poetry that differs from characters in novels. Even though these aren't your words, you can find your feelings finally expressed and that you are not the only one that thinks the same.
The only one I disagreed with was "YOUR SLEEPING PILLS." Didn't I get the point of it? Maybe. But as someone that has been in treatment for months, I can't tell myself that I don't need them. Of course, my body and mind would love not to take them, that I'd be better off without them in a certain way, but taking those pills is something that I need to get used to since what I have is not something that will ever end. Still, even with those pills, I do have those moments of self-destruction (you need to read the poem to understand such moments).
I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Button Poetry ;)
are exactly like that—
no matter how ready you think
you are for them,
they always leave you with so
many things you want to say."
Reading this book wasn't what I expected. I know that reading someone else's poetry you enter in a part of their soul that is not always available to anyone else. Poetry can get very personal. It's not only a writing genre where you put words together to make them rhyme, but it's also a process where you express what you can't say with your voice in a certain moment, and I feel this process is different than writing a diary because mind and heart look for the correct words or even invent them to capture them on a piece of paper to never let them go.
Jared Singer talks about different kinds of love: the one that is romantic, the one that comes from friendship, the one that comes with one's identity and culture and self-love but also about their counterparts, like a partners' loss because love is gone, the loss of friends due to suicide or hate crimes, the loss of one's self, which happens often and can involve any of the aforementioned losses and, therefore, the need of self-destruction as well as the path to acceptance.
I'd say "TOXICITY" and "I STILL MISS YOU" were poems that felt like a bunch of slaps because they reminded me of myself. And that's the thing about poetry that differs from characters in novels. Even though these aren't your words, you can find your feelings finally expressed and that you are not the only one that thinks the same.
The only one I disagreed with was "YOUR SLEEPING PILLS." Didn't I get the point of it? Maybe. But as someone that has been in treatment for months, I can't tell myself that I don't need them. Of course, my body and mind would love not to take them, that I'd be better off without them in a certain way, but taking those pills is something that I need to get used to since what I have is not something that will ever end. Still, even with those pills, I do have those moments of self-destruction (you need to read the poem to understand such moments).
I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Button Poetry ;)
January 3, 2020
Let me start with this: "A Letter to Sarah Contemplating Superpowers" just flat out made me bawl. Being a spoken word poet myself, I went looking for the video on YouTube, which is a far more visceral experience than just reading the words.
I wish we didn't live in a time where we get taken by surprise when someone we know, a friend, a loved one, turns up dead by their own choice. But we live in a time where a lot of us do to various degrees. What can we say to that, other than:
"If I could travel through time, I would go back
to the moment before it was too late.
Right before you wrote a suicide note that started
Dear Jared:
I’m doing this now because I know you will be the one to
find me. Of all of my friends, I think you’re the one who’s
strong enough to take it.
What made you think I was strong enough to take this?"
There was a lot of poems about this topic. I'm not sure if they were about the same person or if Singer had to experience more than one. But if that sampler wasn't enough to clue you in, 'Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction' is in part, raw with pain and in other parts, breathtaking in how an image was woven out of words.
The other piece that stood out for me was 'Artifacts', excerpt:
"Why do you think rich men buy the
instruments of famous musicians
and put them behind glass instead of playing them?
To protect a valuable object? Do you see their
families in cases? Their egos? Their legacies?"
I can't relate to his poems about being Jewish, but I can appreciate how poetry allows us to talk about things we each experience differently.
This eArc was courtesy of NetGalley and Button Poetry.
I wish we didn't live in a time where we get taken by surprise when someone we know, a friend, a loved one, turns up dead by their own choice. But we live in a time where a lot of us do to various degrees. What can we say to that, other than:
"If I could travel through time, I would go back
to the moment before it was too late.
Right before you wrote a suicide note that started
Dear Jared:
I’m doing this now because I know you will be the one to
find me. Of all of my friends, I think you’re the one who’s
strong enough to take it.
What made you think I was strong enough to take this?"
There was a lot of poems about this topic. I'm not sure if they were about the same person or if Singer had to experience more than one. But if that sampler wasn't enough to clue you in, 'Forgive Yourself These Tiny Acts of Self-Destruction' is in part, raw with pain and in other parts, breathtaking in how an image was woven out of words.
The other piece that stood out for me was 'Artifacts', excerpt:
"Why do you think rich men buy the
instruments of famous musicians
and put them behind glass instead of playing them?
To protect a valuable object? Do you see their
families in cases? Their egos? Their legacies?"
I can't relate to his poems about being Jewish, but I can appreciate how poetry allows us to talk about things we each experience differently.
This eArc was courtesy of NetGalley and Button Poetry.
December 30, 2019
I really enjoyed the sections of this poem book that I related to. It had many different poems in the book that I highly related to and this is what I look for specifically in a poem book.
I also really enjoyed that the poem book had a range of lengths, some poems were short and some were long - I really like this as I find that it keeps me interested in the poem books for longer.
Overall, I think it was a good poem book with some really insightful poems that are relatable.
However, I also found that I felt that the poems about suicide specifically were slightly out there. From my perspective, it felt as if the author was trying to say that suicide is a choice, and I got the impression from two poems in the book that the author was implying that those who do commit suicide are ungrateful - due to other people dying of other causes. I don't agree with this and feel like it is slightly out there for an author talking about mental health to make statements that suicide is a choice, maybe this was just the way i interpreted the poems but this is how i perceived them and i did not like these two poems and this is what lowered my rating.
I also really enjoyed that the poem book had a range of lengths, some poems were short and some were long - I really like this as I find that it keeps me interested in the poem books for longer.
Overall, I think it was a good poem book with some really insightful poems that are relatable.
However, I also found that I felt that the poems about suicide specifically were slightly out there. From my perspective, it felt as if the author was trying to say that suicide is a choice, and I got the impression from two poems in the book that the author was implying that those who do commit suicide are ungrateful - due to other people dying of other causes. I don't agree with this and feel like it is slightly out there for an author talking about mental health to make statements that suicide is a choice, maybe this was just the way i interpreted the poems but this is how i perceived them and i did not like these two poems and this is what lowered my rating.
February 24, 2023
4.5*
"Every scar a reminder of my ability to hold on long after the let-go became the logical choice. I don't mind becoming all the things my hands have held. This is the point of callouses. To be tool-sharp, hard, and still human." - My Hands
"Don't you wish patriot sounded a little less like Klansman when coming out of your mouth? [...] We are supposed to be a country of dreamers. America, where a person can make something out of nothing. When did you forget that?" - A Letter to Arizona from the American Flag
"When they tell you you are too loud, smile, dig deep, and show them the true meaning of volume. [...] Punk rock has never been about what you were screaming and always about how loud you could be. Prove to yourself you have a voice, then find a good use for it. [...] We are all both the fury and the stillness. To break is human. To roar is human. But to never stop is the holy in all of us." - Advice from My Inner Punk Rock We Should All Take
This was beautiful.
"Every scar a reminder of my ability to hold on long after the let-go became the logical choice. I don't mind becoming all the things my hands have held. This is the point of callouses. To be tool-sharp, hard, and still human." - My Hands
"Don't you wish patriot sounded a little less like Klansman when coming out of your mouth? [...] We are supposed to be a country of dreamers. America, where a person can make something out of nothing. When did you forget that?" - A Letter to Arizona from the American Flag
"When they tell you you are too loud, smile, dig deep, and show them the true meaning of volume. [...] Punk rock has never been about what you were screaming and always about how loud you could be. Prove to yourself you have a voice, then find a good use for it. [...] We are all both the fury and the stillness. To break is human. To roar is human. But to never stop is the holy in all of us." - Advice from My Inner Punk Rock We Should All Take
This was beautiful.
July 18, 2021
3.5 Stars.
I didn't connect with this collection of poems as much as I normally do with button published books but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. The author comes from a much different background than me and therefore has had much different experiences in life. I don't know what it is like to be a Jewish man living in America. Reading these poems was like getting to see inside of his life and mind. Yet even though we are different there were still poems that felt very universal to just the human experience which were very powerful as well. I found the poems to be fairly hit or miss for me. With that being said I still did enjoy reading this. My favorites included "I Still Miss You", "Advice From My Inner Punk Rock We Should All Take" and finally, "Things to do When Not Taking Your Sleeping Pills". I read the last one at apparently the exact perfect time as I was avoiding taking my sleeping pills by reading this book.
I didn't connect with this collection of poems as much as I normally do with button published books but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. The author comes from a much different background than me and therefore has had much different experiences in life. I don't know what it is like to be a Jewish man living in America. Reading these poems was like getting to see inside of his life and mind. Yet even though we are different there were still poems that felt very universal to just the human experience which were very powerful as well. I found the poems to be fairly hit or miss for me. With that being said I still did enjoy reading this. My favorites included "I Still Miss You", "Advice From My Inner Punk Rock We Should All Take" and finally, "Things to do When Not Taking Your Sleeping Pills". I read the last one at apparently the exact perfect time as I was avoiding taking my sleeping pills by reading this book.
August 5, 2022
Read for the 2022 Sealey Challenge. But I bought it with other Button titles impulsively and on sale earlier this summer. I think that poems that are meant to be performed live tend to die, to sputter when read at home in one's under breath. And that's my major take away here.
This just didn't hit right for me, I found the speaker of a number the poems to be the kind of saccharine sensitive guy that exists as kind of a stock character of millennials. That is actually my complaint with a number of titles from this publisher, it feels like an iteration of a type of person rather than being written by anyone. Which is not as nifty of a trick as it sounds when the poems are in fact as personal as these are. I would not begrudge anyone for liking this, but it is definitely not my cup of tea.
This just didn't hit right for me, I found the speaker of a number the poems to be the kind of saccharine sensitive guy that exists as kind of a stock character of millennials. That is actually my complaint with a number of titles from this publisher, it feels like an iteration of a type of person rather than being written by anyone. Which is not as nifty of a trick as it sounds when the poems are in fact as personal as these are. I would not begrudge anyone for liking this, but it is definitely not my cup of tea.
December 29, 2019
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
This collection was another book of very hard hitting poetry, which examines a number of sometimes difficult subjects. Singer discussed a number of personal experiences and triggering subjects for him. With this in mind it made the poems more full of depth and more jarring.
There are a number of triggering subjects so if subjects like suicide, body image issues, loss of loved ones and more so if those subjects are too triggering for you go into this with caution. The poems are very heartfelt and definitely show a journey that hopefully lead towards acceptance and growth.
All in all it was a great collection that is sure to pull at the heartstrings and have great impact.
This collection was another book of very hard hitting poetry, which examines a number of sometimes difficult subjects. Singer discussed a number of personal experiences and triggering subjects for him. With this in mind it made the poems more full of depth and more jarring.
There are a number of triggering subjects so if subjects like suicide, body image issues, loss of loved ones and more so if those subjects are too triggering for you go into this with caution. The poems are very heartfelt and definitely show a journey that hopefully lead towards acceptance and growth.
All in all it was a great collection that is sure to pull at the heartstrings and have great impact.
April 24, 2020
Unfortunately this one wasn't for me at all. The title made me really interested in it but most of the poems didn't seem to have real meaning and the message of them totally eluded me. Some poems had a story and they stirred some feelings in me because I either felt something similar at some point or I had strong empathic feelings for the person, but like 90% of them didn't do it for me. I'm really sad that I have to give this such a bad review because the author probably worked pretty hard on this and it's not easy to put your feelings into words and then also publish them, but I just didn't enjoy a lot of it.
June 28, 2022
I liked this. The poems were very accessible - powerful without leaving the reader confused in the search for meaning.
.
My favorites from the collection:
-"Hometown"
-"Jared ( ) Singer"
-"Sideshow"
-"Being Jewish Means Always Being Too Much or Not Enough 1"
-"ASL"
-"Things I Have Been Told After Performing: A Found Poem"
-"April 16, 2007"
-"A Letter to Arizona from the American Flag"
-"Being Jewish Means Always Being Too Much or Not Enough 3"
-"Artifacts"
-"Living Trust, Or The Proper Use Of My Body"
.
My favorites from the collection:
-"Hometown"
-"Jared ( ) Singer"
-"Sideshow"
-"Being Jewish Means Always Being Too Much or Not Enough 1"
-"ASL"
-"Things I Have Been Told After Performing: A Found Poem"
-"April 16, 2007"
-"A Letter to Arizona from the American Flag"
-"Being Jewish Means Always Being Too Much or Not Enough 3"
-"Artifacts"
-"Living Trust, Or The Proper Use Of My Body"
March 10, 2020
Thank you to the publisher and net galley for an Arc copy for a fair and honest review.
A beautiful and thought provoking collection of poetry that will have your emotions swinging from one extreme to the other.
While there is clearly a very distinct theme to the collection, I found that it was well organised and delivered in such a way that the poems will resonate with you for days or weeks after reading.
A beautiful and thought provoking collection of poetry that will have your emotions swinging from one extreme to the other.
While there is clearly a very distinct theme to the collection, I found that it was well organised and delivered in such a way that the poems will resonate with you for days or weeks after reading.
July 3, 2020
I read this book because Jared Singer is probably my favorite person from Button Poetry, and I have really enjoyed all of his spoken poetry, however, I do feel that he is more of a spoken word poet, than a regular poet. Every poem in here that I read, I couldn’t help but feel like they were meant to be spoken, and had less of an affect when it was read. However, I did enjoy the book for the most part. Some poems I liked and some I didn’t, therefore this book is right in the middle with 3 stars.
February 3, 2020
This books description says it is a book of poetry about the ways we put ourselves into routes of self destruction. As someone who suffers anxiety, depression and much more. I was hoping this book would be something I could relate to, connect and learn from. Instead I was confused half the time what was going on and what the author was even writing about.
February 14, 2021
4.5
This was a really beautiful book that touched on suicide, suicidal ideation, religion and antisemitism, as well as friendship. A Letter to Sarah Contemplating Superpowers was especially heart-wrenching. This collection was also very well put together in terms of themes and motifs, which I appreciated. Would recommend.
This was a really beautiful book that touched on suicide, suicidal ideation, religion and antisemitism, as well as friendship. A Letter to Sarah Contemplating Superpowers was especially heart-wrenching. This collection was also very well put together in terms of themes and motifs, which I appreciated. Would recommend.
March 14, 2025
Not a book that you ‘enjoy’ because it makes you feel good. This a collection of the deepest, darkest thoughts and experiences a human being could experience, and still live to create art from it.
Moving, exposing, devastating and raw. Jared writes (and performs) with unmatched conviction.
His work is truly some of my favourite.
Moving, exposing, devastating and raw. Jared writes (and performs) with unmatched conviction.
His work is truly some of my favourite.
January 21, 2020
Knowing very little about this book or author, I very casually flipped into this collection thinking I'd just be filling some downtime. By page 2 I was breathlessly shattered (by a poem aptly named). Weaving a simple dedication into his verse - "This is for everyone who fell in love with the let go -- / who cut and cut and cut / but never game in to the give up --" Singer sets a tone for the following poems that will reverberate down to rattle your ribcage for days. Every poem hits you with a perfect balance between a raw, blunt shout and unflinching vulnerability. This is the kind of collection that bleeds a subtle electricity that glues you to it: I couldn't put it down and it left me utterly fatigued.
January 21, 2020
I so often found myself reading a poem and stopping to absorb it, then reading it again and feeling its impact a second time. That is outstanding poetry.
Beautifully devastating poems about grief, love, body image, religion, and many other topics.
Beautifully devastating poems about grief, love, body image, religion, and many other topics.
January 28, 2020
I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.
A strong, emotive and utterly vibrant collection. Jared Singer's poetry is full of incredibly potent lines and verses. I could not stop reading from the first to the last page.
A strong, emotive and utterly vibrant collection. Jared Singer's poetry is full of incredibly potent lines and verses. I could not stop reading from the first to the last page.
February 25, 2020
This was such a powerful collection of poems on topics such as grief, suicide, love, and body image. I found so many of the pieces to be relatable and the way Singer writes gets right in there and tugs at those heartstrings. I will be getting a hard copy of this so I can go through and copy my annotations from the digital version that I have. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
September 4, 2020
I feel this collection had potential but it felt awkward, and repetitive. Usually, with button poetry books I underline so many lines and earmark it everywhere. But Singer's lines felt more literal than poetic. It felt more like prose.
March 2, 2021
Painfully beautiful.
I lost a friend to suicide a few years ago, and carried this anger for what happened. “A Letter To Sarah Contemplating Superpowers” voiced those emotions so perfectly. It broke my heart all over again.
I lost a friend to suicide a few years ago, and carried this anger for what happened. “A Letter To Sarah Contemplating Superpowers” voiced those emotions so perfectly. It broke my heart all over again.
August 16, 2022
Simply beautiful. Jared is so talented, and his poems are very accessible. Some of them broke my heart, others made me smile. Every single one of them left a mark. I look forward to reading more of his work!
November 25, 2023
I enjoyed this a lot. I'm so glad I came across a video of Singer sharing one of his poems online. I found his book this way. Lots of strong feels in this book. Themes of death, being fat, and Jewish. I related a lot.
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