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Underscore
It’s the story of a man wandering through a homeless shelter looking for himself. He’s everywhere and nowhere, and unsure what to make of what he sees. He’ll tell you, though, with certainty, that he’s the real deal.
The poetic tale Underscore meets between Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ and Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl,’ modern spoken word, and a one-man ‘Waiting for Godot.’ Experience this trip into wretched sobriety through the eyes of a soup kitchen visitor. He needs to know about the drunks on Wood Street and why the chess master is playing a game against a priest. This rhythmic story will draw you into its chaos and pull you closer to the truth and lies.
BONUS: Five more gritty rhythmic pieces delving into the visceral side of the human psyche.
* Love Song for Charlie Parker
* After Leaving Chicago
* Patrick Henry is Dead
* The Ferryman
* golgotha
The poetic tale Underscore meets between Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ and Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl,’ modern spoken word, and a one-man ‘Waiting for Godot.’ Experience this trip into wretched sobriety through the eyes of a soup kitchen visitor. He needs to know about the drunks on Wood Street and why the chess master is playing a game against a priest. This rhythmic story will draw you into its chaos and pull you closer to the truth and lies.
BONUS: Five more gritty rhythmic pieces delving into the visceral side of the human psyche.
* Love Song for Charlie Parker
* After Leaving Chicago
* Patrick Henry is Dead
* The Ferryman
* golgotha
35 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2023
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Trendl
14 books8 followersAnthony Trendl is an author, speechwriter, and speaker from Chicago who now lives in the Deep South. His writing ranges from playful children's tales to spiritually influenced psychological short stories.
"The Raging Giant Blue Goldfish: 22 Short Stories" Occasionally outlandish and often sentimental, these will evoke the days of old storytelling told in a new way. Heartwarming, thoughtful, and entertaining. Goldfish, cats, turtles, funny little ghosts (and a couple scary ones), baseball, dogs, tea, amazing kids, and terrible ice cream.
"The Joro Spider Journal: The Blue Book" It's a journal filled with 50 beautiful photos and 50 incredible quotes.
"Death, Misery, & Other Curiosities: 12 Dark Short Stories Filled With Angst and Tragedy" Death. Loneliness. Fear. Failure. Sin. Pretense. Arrogance. Doubt. Find all those here. Tales looking at executions, suicide, murder, and other manners of demise. Stories resounding in brokenness and despair, each grabbing for the unreachable.
https://TreeFortBooks.com
https://AnthonyTrendl.com
https://HungarianBookstore.com
"The Raging Giant Blue Goldfish: 22 Short Stories" Occasionally outlandish and often sentimental, these will evoke the days of old storytelling told in a new way. Heartwarming, thoughtful, and entertaining. Goldfish, cats, turtles, funny little ghosts (and a couple scary ones), baseball, dogs, tea, amazing kids, and terrible ice cream.
"The Joro Spider Journal: The Blue Book" It's a journal filled with 50 beautiful photos and 50 incredible quotes.
"Death, Misery, & Other Curiosities: 12 Dark Short Stories Filled With Angst and Tragedy" Death. Loneliness. Fear. Failure. Sin. Pretense. Arrogance. Doubt. Find all those here. Tales looking at executions, suicide, murder, and other manners of demise. Stories resounding in brokenness and despair, each grabbing for the unreachable.
https://TreeFortBooks.com
https://AnthonyTrendl.com
https://HungarianBookstore.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 4, 2023
Underscore is gritty, free verse poetic prose peppered with pop culture and literary quotes. Its God-besotted narrator wanders about in a Chicago soup kitchen for reasons that are never quite clear, observing the drunken humanity there gathered. He repeatedly returns to the refrain “God Almighty Above,” which seems to be an oblique clue to his journey. Several times he claims that he could have been one of the drunken throng, which he never explains, but seems to be a “there but for the grace of God” thing rather than a “thank God I got sober” thing.
The author acknowledges Ginsberg’s Howl as an influence, and is obviously striving toward a similar effect. Somehow, for me at least, the overtly Christian tone just doesn’t work as well as Ginsberg’s rabbinist atheism. It gives off a kind of hip youth pastor vibe.
Of the other pieces in this short collection, Love Song For Charlie Parker is my favorite. It plays off the Beat tropes and theme all to make the point that the poet, thanks to God’s Grace, is NOT beat. It’s kind of clever, even if a bit didactic.
The author acknowledges Ginsberg’s Howl as an influence, and is obviously striving toward a similar effect. Somehow, for me at least, the overtly Christian tone just doesn’t work as well as Ginsberg’s rabbinist atheism. It gives off a kind of hip youth pastor vibe.
Of the other pieces in this short collection, Love Song For Charlie Parker is my favorite. It plays off the Beat tropes and theme all to make the point that the poet, thanks to God’s Grace, is NOT beat. It’s kind of clever, even if a bit didactic.
October 10, 2023
This work is only 35 pages and well worth a second read. The first time, I looked for a plot, but don't bother. Read it for what it is . . . a broad overview of Chicago's underbelly. The second time, I simply enjoyed Trendl's lyrical writing style. This beautiful collection of vivid scenes could tease a songwriter into enhancing the words with notes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews