Against Common Sense

by Brian S Ellis

Against Common Sense is a collection of poems. Against Common Sense is a collection of poems that thinks that complexity is a form of accuracy-which is to say, a form of honesty-and that simplicity itself is not a virtue; in fact, simplicity has been used many times as a form of violence. The poems in Against Common Sense do not think that there is a type of knowledge that a person can obtain that detracts from said person's overall ability to this is the theory that is invoked when common sense is employed; that it is possible somehow that learning can separate us from ourselves; that learning is a dangerous activity that will leave us with less information than we began with. Against Common Sense is a collection of poems, it is hoped, that thinks. Against Common Sense is a collection of poems.

Genres: Poetry

132 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2023

Reviews

[Ashe Parra · Rating 5 out of 5]

how strange it is to read a collection from someone living in the same town as me! i picked this copy up at a local bookstore and dove in blind. it was startling to run into such specific pdx references and even more shocking to understand them and find them amusing. ellis makes it so easy to sink into the absurd. i ended up in tears reading a refrigerator break up with its therapist. i felt completely known, witnessing a 954 year old human yearn for ruby genitals and a “long, frail” androgynous form.

every poem was fresh and frightening. i look forward to reading more of ellis in 2024.

[Ilse Ruizvisfocri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me feel proud of being part of the middle-low-dying class. Such a raw and passionate description of current life, insanely touching.
“You don’t need faith if you believe in god. You need faith if you don’t.”

[Sam Greenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absurd and abstract meets honest and human