Surrealities

by Bruce Boston

"Reflect that science fiction owes its greatest unpaid debt to surrealism, for suspending our disbelief in an invented future works best when our critical faculties are distracted and engaged by images from the unconscious. Now comes science fiction poetry's greatest practitioner, Bruce Boston, to repay a part of this debt in Surrealities, which is at once an introduction to the uninitiated, a handbook for the journeyman seeking to gain masters and an intoxication for those of us who fancy ourselves connoisseurs of the strange." -- Lee Ballentine, author of Dream Protocols "In his latest collection, Boston plumbs a surrealistic orientation, expressing 'the wonders and horrors of existence' as well as imaginative visions 'enhanced by sensations visceral and cranial.' Through unrestrained and mutinous explorations of narrative and portraiture, as well as the occasional splash of humor and well placed non sequitur, Boston utterly transcends convention, highlighting many aspects of human experience accessible through the use of more traditional methods. Reading these poems is like embarking upon a trek through 'the depths of dreams, ' the 'infrastructure' of the soul itself! I celebrate the release of this work, a collection to which I shall, no doubt, frequently return." -- John Amen, author of At the Threshold of Alchemy.

Genres: Poetry

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

I've published more than sixty books and chapbooks, including the novels Stained Glass Rain and the best-of fiction collection Masque of Dreams. My work ranges from broad humor to literary surrealism, with many stops along the way for science fiction, fantasy, and horror. My novel The Guardener's Tale (Sam's Dot, 2007) was a Bram Stoker Award Finailist and a Prometheus Award Nominee. My stories and poems have appeared in hundreds of publications, including Asimov's SF Magazine, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Nebula Awards Showcase, and received a number of awards, most notably, a Pushcart Prize, the Bram Stoker Award, the Asimov's Readers' Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Grand Master Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. For more information, please visit my website at http://www.bruceboston.com/

Reviews

[Kristine Muslim · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the first issue of Kaleidotrope Magazine in a review of a bizzaro book, the critic Martin Earl offered what for me was the best take on surrealism in literature: “surrealism is confusing but ultimately understandable.”

This is true for Bruce Boston’s Surrealities, a 64-page book of poems and illustrations (Boston’s rendition of Rorschach inkblots) lending stunning insight on the human condition: the violence (Two Nightstands Attacking a Cello), the humdrum (A Life in the Day Of), the obsessive-compulsiveness (Surreal Wish List), and the exquisite madness (Before the Vilification of Hypnagogic Birth).

Surrealities is replete with ekphrastic references. In “Portrait of My Dead Brother with Burning Wing:”

An immature boy in a sailor suit
refuses to leave

the beaches of Port Ligat.
The great masturbator

considers the obscene history
of the Third Reich.


In “Revealing Their Eyes:”

reveal sunflower
burning giraffe
eyes.


Music -- possibly because its form is amorphous, its influence is intuitive, and thus the most powerful representation of the surreal -- is a common element in this collection. This music comes in many forms: from static to the cacophony of fear and panic.

The foreboding “Lizard and Wind,” the best piece in the book, tells of:

The lizards were everywhere
and so was the wind.
There was no way you could
keep either of them out
that hard spring.

All in all, Surrealities is a very important contribution to the literature of the surreal.

[E. Sabin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully Daliesque. Both challenging and thought-provoking, this collection of poems is a must read for anyone who enjoys the surreal.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really different. I think Boston uses the genre to convey his imagination quite well.

[Paul Comeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of modern surrealist poetry.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boston is to poetry what Dali was to painting. Surrealities would be a great introduction for anyone to this kind of speculative poetry, but it can also be enjoyed even more by aficionados.