I'd Rather Be Destroyed

by Zach Goldberg

Genres: Poetry, Mental Health

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 17, 2024

Reviews

[Natalie D.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

~Thank you to Button Poetry for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review~
A stunning full-length debut that explores themes of Judaism, alcoholism, mental health, and home. I did not expect to enjoy this collection as much as I did. From the beautiful verse to the diverse range of forms to the relateable themes, I devoured each and every one of these poems. I also appreciated the author's notes at the back of the book that added even more depth to each work as well as the author's manner of weaving anti-Zionism into his poetry surrounding home. My favorite works from this collection are "Ninth Plague," "J.I.N.O (Jew In Name Only)," "NUREMBERG LAWS," and all of the "___ Drink" poems. Truly, I enjoyed each and every poem in this collection and couldn't recommend checking this out more! <3

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of poems about identity, being Jewish, faith, heredity, family, and survival.

from Ninth Plague: "i'm an Aries, which means i'd rather be destroyed / than ignored. my mother loves to tell // the story, how as an infant, i once bit down / on her breast when she raised her chin // to chastise my older brother, attention / is my currency of choice, never mind // its proximity to violence."

from My Depression Explains Me to My Mother: "i am with him / most days. he carries me around / like a stone at the bottom of a lake."

from Listen, the Ghosts Out in the Old Country Can't Light Candles: "ghosts / know all about borders, how your synagogue can be // on one side when the sun goes down / and the next morning your language is a crime."

[Kyla Munden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goldberg's focus on formalism is to the detriment of the themes he explores throughout this collection, and while there is an addendum explaining the significance of these stylistic choices the choices in and of themselves remain flawed. Consequently, the poems are unable to deliver on their emotional promise and present as amateurish, and dissonant.

[Kaleigh Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Button Poetry and Zach Goldberg for the ARC copy of this beautiful compilation. There are no words for the feelings I felt when reading this book. There times I had to put it down to absorb it and there were gut punches along with it. Beautiful writing and imagery.

[Mya Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’m an Aries which means I’d rather be destroyed / than ignored.”

“we have broken out of enough cages to know how to / build a good one up ourselves.”

[Elizabeth Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I rate a collection of poems, I think of how many I read that stuck with me. For this collection, there are a series of erasure poems about struggles with alcoholism that I’m still thinking about. For that series alone, I’d recommend this book. There are also some good poems about navigating Israel and Palestine as a Jew, though admittedly I had to read a lot of the footnotes to fully understand them.