If I Don't Breathe How Do I Sleep

by Joe Wenderoth

"Best-known for his gritty and uproarious prose poetry collection Letters to Wendy's , Wenderoth began his career with two books of gimlet-eyed, world-weary, hard-hitting poetry. Now he returns to verse, favoring (as before) relatively short poems, often twelve lines or fewer, most of which crackle with a bleakness that's part gallows humor, part outrage, and part despair."— Publishers Weekly , starred review of No Real Light "A perverse, sometimes pretty, obscene, and confounding collection of one page meditative missives . . . trimmed with lunatic fringe."— Rolling Stone review of Letters to Wendy's Whether it's addressing the grotesque in daily scenes or upsetting the norms of professional culture, Joe Wenderoth's fifth collection resonates with his signature intellect and disturbing humor. He is at once an aesthete and an iconoclast who brings inventive force to American poetry. Early Capitalism they are perfecting the pillow
with which
you are being suffocated now it sings to you
and shows you pictures Joe Wenderoth grew up near Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of No Real Light , The Holy Spirit of Essays Written for John Ashcroft's Secret Self , and Letters to Wendy's . Wesleyan University Press published his first two books of Disfortune and It Is If I Speak . He is a professor of English at the University of California, Davis.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2014

About the author

Joe Wenderoth grew up near Baltimore. He is the author of No Real Light (Wave Books, 2007), The Holy Spirit of Life: Essays Written for John Ashcroft's Secret Self (Verse Press 2005) and Letters to Wendy's (Verse Press 2000). Wesleyan University Press published his first two books of poems: Disfortune (1995) and It Is If I Speak (2000). He is Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Davis.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/46-...

Reviews

[Stacie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. I’m not sure I have ever given ⭐️ but I cannot give less. I’m not sure many of the lists of words are more than that. Poems rarely. I know this book represents the work of several people though I just did not get it. Aspiring poets out there - if this collection was published, yours will be too! The Bettendorf Public Library wasted $25 on this one. Please. Someone help me! I’m not sure I can stop telling people how bad this “poop sandwich in heaven” truly is.

[Sol · Rating 2 out of 5]

at first i was gonna give this book a 4 stars. half way through it, it moved down to 3. now that i finished it, its a 2.
it started good but then it got weirder and weirder.
there a few lines that stood out too but i would bot re read it again.

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was rough. I am aware that these are all weird, and some are good! I know that poetry is an art all of its own but a poem about masturbating on toys and then cutting your face with a razorblade to see your fluids run together... maybe should have been kept as a draft?

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handful of standouts but overall not quite my taste.

[Ethan Ksiazek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Joe Wenderoth is really special and I could read him all day. Joe has a sick neural twist that really caters to me right now; it’s a sublime form of fuckery.

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 4 out of 5]

EARLY CAPITALISM

they are perfecting the pillow
with which
you are being suffocated

now it sings to you
and shows you pictures

[Patrick Healy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook is a reading at a bookstore or something. Really good!

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sacrifice and Letter to Dick Cheney were both fantastic poems.

A lot of this collection, though, I just couldn't get into. Many of the poems felt unfinished to me - like great poetic ideas that weren't given the time that they needed. I know that sounds like I'm being "workshopy," (I made that word up because I'm too stupid this morning to come up with anything that would portray what I'm trying to say) and I wouldn't want this to become overworked so that it becomes all too similar... But I just feel like many of these poems are unfinished thoughts.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this collection of poetry from Above the Treeline the quality was horrible.

Joe's poetry is a gritty wash up. I don't believe this is his best work, because at times I can see some great lines. I give him a lot of credit for his forwardness on the masturbating in a sink filled with action figures.

I quoted some of his lines in status updates, this review is more a 3.75 stars. because the quality of the pdf file might of affected the way it was read.