This Is Not a Skyscraper

by Dean Kostos

This Is Not a Skyscraper examines New York City through a surrealist lens. Like the title of Magritte’s painting, “This is not a pipe,” these poems question perceptions of the metropolis. While NYC entices talents that swarm its stages, museums, runways, and readings, throngs of outsiders live on the city’s margins, silenced. Among the grotesqueries of corruption, an African immigrant is killed by police in a case of mistaken identity. His disembodied voice introduces the book. Many of these poems attempt to speak for the “others” existing on the peripheral, whose perspectives have been abandoned.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2015

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into these at all. The first section is a pleasant series of observations on city life, while the subsequent sections contained similar poems on different subjects. I could appreciate the camera being turned on various aspects of New York City and exploring those details, but the poems themselves don't really go anywhere, and the repetition of this observation format gets tedious.

[Dennis Bensie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a smart collection of poems. Sort of a tour of NYC, yet quiet. Peaceful. Deep and wide in it's emotions. Great work!

[willowdog · Rating 2 out of 5]

A love letter to New York City from a very observant poet. Most of poems have poet observing his surroundings.