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Hider Roser
Poetry. "Mirov's poems are like dead soul dispatches from an emotional robot. Contained in them is the terrible recognition of the mere materiality of the universe—and that somehow arising from that is an irrational attachment to friends, loves, and a man named Ben Mirov. The poems are an attempt to speak of these things, often opening into imaginative spaces tinged with the absurd. The continued disconnect between what the speaker describes and what he may or may not feel is funny, until it's revealed to also be sad."—Dan Magers
"Ben Mirov writes,'The high-fives are meant to signify celebratory attitudes and reinforce the sense of comradery we feel in the wake of our semi-athletic achievement.' For the 'semi-athletic' achiever in all of us, HIDER ROSER gives free $12 high-fives."—Amanda Nadelberg
"It seems like HIDER ROSER was written by Ben Mirov. His name appears on the cover and in the poems the book contains. However, he did not write this book. I did. Ben Mirov's function in the process was more like an android, receiving messages from an alien source. If you ever actually meet the vessel I know as Ben Mirov, his personality and conversational capacity will underwhelm you. I hope these poems will not."—the author of HIDER ROSER
"Ben Mirov writes,'The high-fives are meant to signify celebratory attitudes and reinforce the sense of comradery we feel in the wake of our semi-athletic achievement.' For the 'semi-athletic' achiever in all of us, HIDER ROSER gives free $12 high-fives."—Amanda Nadelberg
"It seems like HIDER ROSER was written by Ben Mirov. His name appears on the cover and in the poems the book contains. However, he did not write this book. I did. Ben Mirov's function in the process was more like an android, receiving messages from an alien source. If you ever actually meet the vessel I know as Ben Mirov, his personality and conversational capacity will underwhelm you. I hope these poems will not."—the author of HIDER ROSER
- GenresPoetry
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 25, 2013
REARRANGING THE LETTERS IN BEN MIROV / YOU GET RIB VENOM, WHICH MEANS SOMETHING / YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND
Nothing much beats Ghost Machine. How, then, does one go about rating any book post-GM without punishing its author either for failing to write Ghost Machine or for attempting to write Ghost Machine over and over, ad infinitum?
Thankfully, in Mirov’s case, I came to realize that night and day can exist together in equal parts, equally regarded.
Please see my further impressions at the Lit Pub:
http://thelitpub.com/featured-books/h...
Nothing much beats Ghost Machine. How, then, does one go about rating any book post-GM without punishing its author either for failing to write Ghost Machine or for attempting to write Ghost Machine over and over, ad infinitum?
Thankfully, in Mirov’s case, I came to realize that night and day can exist together in equal parts, equally regarded.
Please see my further impressions at the Lit Pub:
http://thelitpub.com/featured-books/h...
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November 30, 2012this review is also an e-mail i wrote to ben today...
"Ben.
Was substitute teaching today in a math class but the students were pretty bright math students and they just did their work and talked quietly. So I had a chance to read your book, all in one sitting. I like doing that with books that aren't too ridiculously long.
anyway. there's a lot that's fucking fantastic here. lots of diversity. so much play with narrative. telling the story around the story. i feel like kevin killian would like that book. auden said something along the lines of "poems are just stories with the boring parts cut out." <---that's what you got going on here!
what struck me most was how you create little worlds in your poems, setting bizarre contexts (often especially in the title or the first line or two) from which the poems emerge. a lot of these poems seem like they're from another galaxy.
also i feel like sex and politics play a really large role in this work. but it's done at this unconscious level so it's not hokey or contrived. there were some poems, like 10% maybe, I didn't like so much because they seemed a bit too random...most of those were around the beginning. who knows though, probably other people will loves those!
anyway...this is pretty vague as i just read it but just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for the book and it's really wonderful. let's hang out soon! I actually very likely will go to the MOMA on tuesday (the third) because it's the free admission day. let me know if you want to and can come with. hope this finds you well and thanks for your poems!
-Zack"
"Ben.
Was substitute teaching today in a math class but the students were pretty bright math students and they just did their work and talked quietly. So I had a chance to read your book, all in one sitting. I like doing that with books that aren't too ridiculously long.
anyway. there's a lot that's fucking fantastic here. lots of diversity. so much play with narrative. telling the story around the story. i feel like kevin killian would like that book. auden said something along the lines of "poems are just stories with the boring parts cut out." <---that's what you got going on here!
what struck me most was how you create little worlds in your poems, setting bizarre contexts (often especially in the title or the first line or two) from which the poems emerge. a lot of these poems seem like they're from another galaxy.
also i feel like sex and politics play a really large role in this work. but it's done at this unconscious level so it's not hokey or contrived. there were some poems, like 10% maybe, I didn't like so much because they seemed a bit too random...most of those were around the beginning. who knows though, probably other people will loves those!
anyway...this is pretty vague as i just read it but just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for the book and it's really wonderful. let's hang out soon! I actually very likely will go to the MOMA on tuesday (the third) because it's the free admission day. let me know if you want to and can come with. hope this finds you well and thanks for your poems!
-Zack"
November 17, 2012
Maybe a slight disappointment after the amazing Ghost Machine, but Hider Roser still displays a lot of brilliance, such as in the poem, Monkey Heart when he writes: I love my fucking life./Even my secrets/and the terrible things I've done./They're like small smooth stones/in a green plastic bottle...
Or in Diagnosis: Lake is such a beautiful word./I'd like to die with it inside me. Hider Roser is erratic and seems like a less personal journey for Mirov this time around, but when he hits it solid and deep, it's a home run.
Or in Diagnosis: Lake is such a beautiful word./I'd like to die with it inside me. Hider Roser is erratic and seems like a less personal journey for Mirov this time around, but when he hits it solid and deep, it's a home run.
December 13, 2018
A collection of poems that gets better and better as the book progresses. It's a delight to dive inside of Mirov's brain and I'm looking forward to grabbing another one of his books to read more.
May 13, 2013
Ben Mirov writes good poetry. That's all there is to say. Why detail the hows and whys and what-fors? If you want to read good, modern poetry, read what Ben Mirov writes. If you want to read poetry about trees that harbor the hearts of sparrows during the cold of winter, you've found the wrong author. I want to be surprised. I want lines that hit me in the spleen when I'm not paying attention. I want subtle epiphany or the complete opposite in its shortest, finest form. Ben Mirov achieves this pretty well in Hider Roser, preceded by the haunting Ghost Machine, which has ever since made me reevaluate poetry and all forms of writing for that matter. Nature poems in sonnet form are cute, but people and the intangible experiences they provide interest me more, and to quote a line from Mirov that sums this up pretty nicely (taken out of context potentially, to fit my sentiments): "The clouds have nothing to do with pain. They've never felt a thing." Read Hider Roser. You don't have to be a poetry fan, or any kind of person at all, to enjoy the stuff Ben Mirov writes. It's always new and it's always fun.
January 4, 2014
The experience of reading Ben Mirov’s new book of poetry,Hider Roser, is like what the experience of being alone inside of someone else’s head might be like: it’s a place where one encounters fragments of dreams, splintered selves, and half-thoughts, along with books, authors, memories, and other detritus that makes up a life. Hider Roser is composed of poems that are slightly disorienting and yet somehow familiar as if Mirov has been able to tap into his subconscious and relay something universal and yet original and strange.
That's the first paragraph of a review I wrote of the book for The Rumpus. You can read the full review here: http://therumpus.net/2013/02/hider-ro...
That's the first paragraph of a review I wrote of the book for The Rumpus. You can read the full review here: http://therumpus.net/2013/02/hider-ro...
December 24, 2012
A secret mirror world where everything is tilted only a fraction of a degree and tenuously retaining its form. As Mirov writes in a poem to Ben Mirov,
DrivingPlayful and mysterious.
a car and driving a star
are almost the same
if you believe as I believe
the world is made of language.
December 15, 2012
you can read this with the computer squarely facing the window
and you can read this while standing in front of a mirror.
"Purple light passes through curtain after curtain
until it reaches the retina and escapes."
and you can read this while standing in front of a mirror.
"Purple light passes through curtain after curtain
until it reaches the retina and escapes."
August 14, 2013
If you regard Ghost Machine as a single poem, then this is probably Mirov's superior artistic act. These poems are funny but not fun. There's nothing fun about being pursued by a grass-monster. Mirov doesn't mess around; there's no time for that anymore.
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April 24, 2015i want a tattoo of the keyhole dividing the sections of this book... (thats so fangirl w/e) to be continued
March 24, 2013
Yet to be let down in any way by Ben Mirov.
October 4, 2013
"There are many disturbing facts about the nature of reality."
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April 20, 2017read while getting confused stares from muscled up gentlemen at a community softball game. 10/10 experience, would recommend.
October 19, 2013
That first poem might be my favorite opening poem. Mirov might just be poetry's Walter White.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews