Exit, Pursued

by Dalton Day

A one-act play in which apologies must be made to Chekhov. A one-act play in which there is a blueprint, & that blueprint is ignored entirely. A one-act play in which a decision is made, but it is unclear by & for whom. A one-act play in which the wind has the smallest hands, no, even smaller than that. Over the course of 41 one-act plays—most of them starring the characters ME and YOU—Dalton Day investigates grief, love, anxiety, and loss in this stunning collection of dramatic poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Plays

85 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2016

About the author

Dalton Day is a preschool teacher in Georgia.

Reviews

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of one-act plays blew me away. Surrealist, funny, heartbreaking, and insightful. Every scene packs a punch and often feels like a prose poem with its own spin. Humans with antlers, humans drowning, humans on fire, humans being devoured by tinier humans, humans refusing to answer a phone that never stops ringing. Every act here takes place in a theater in a quieter, different dimension, a dimension that can be discovered if you continue walking down your own familiar street.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was pretty good. delightful but also heavy at the same time. occasionally a bit too delightful — to the point of being a little silly — but I enjoyed it. borrowed it from a friend

[Tyler Crumrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read Dalton Day's work the more I admire it. His skill and creativity as a poet and playwright is maybe only outmatched by the size of his heart. There's a clear love he has for his characters/readers/audience, and while this is a collection about grief and fear—and there's a lot both going around these days—it's also about companionship and—in Dalton's words—"an insistence on staying here." This is a collection that made me think and feel harder and better and more fully. I honestly can't recommend it enough.

I'm biased, though. Here's what other folks are saying:

"Dalton Day stole my Neo-Futurist heart. Don't just read this book. Stand and perform this book. Revel in its stage directions. Embody the densely packed dialogue. Imagine ME and YOU safe and huddled beneath the proscenium. Exit, Pursued is four-dimensional poetry, and its tiny plays are giant with impossibilities and contradictions."

—Jeffrey Cranor, co-writer of Welcome to Night Vale

"Take a program, take a seat, and prepare yourself for these sparkling and sublime plays. In Dalton Day's theater, however, you won't stay in the audience for long. These short pieces find you and bind antlers to your skull. Soon enough, you are in the woods."

—Amelia Gray, author of Gutshot

M: Oh thank god for this
M: lithe and electric and dangerous and funny
M: and beautiful collection of plays—
M: they will be produced and directed by
M: Edward Albee and Frank O'Hara and Dada in heaven, or
M: if you're lucky, in your own hometown.
M: Oh
M: Dalton Day!

—Matthew Dickman & Michael Dickman, authors of 50 American Plays

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure, full honesty, no spoilers. I am ashamed to say that I didn't enjoy this as much as I would have liked. I did like a couple of the one-acts. But overall, this just really didn't do it for me. This makes me think of that one guy on twitter who makes a bot watch like 1000 hours of something and then the bot writes it's own little screenplay of the thing. If I didn't know any better I would say that this book is a collection of one-acts that someone put together after they made their bot watch 1000 hours of that guy's bot's show and THEN made a book out of it. I am all for quirky writing and off-the-wall things but in my opinion, it was just much too scatterbrained and dizzy.

Is this a good book? Um, many people would probably enjoy this quirky little thing, but it just wasn't for me.

Would I recommend to a friend? No.

Would I purchase this book for my personal collection? No.

2.5 Stars

[Fez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got a very funny back story with this play.

It first started when I accidentally downloaded the wrong epub, roughly two years ago. I wanted a book of a similar title, but from a different author, and accidentally landed here. I'm not sure what exactly went wrong, maybe I clicked on the wrong button, maybe the website mixed up the files or maybe the Universe just realised how much I'd love this.

The file I downloaded didn't include the authors name ANYWHERE and I couldn't find them online. I just assumed that this must've been written by an anonymous indie author, or maybe just posted on Tumblr or something, and moved on. I did however, print out the whole play so I could keep a physical copy of it. But boy was that a mess. I did that with my school's printer and that thing only caused trouble. In the end everything worked out though and I put it in a binder and stuck it in my book shelf, letting the mysteries rest.

So imagine my surprise when I go through my Goodreads TBR (I never check this beast of a list) JUST TO FIND OUT I MARKED THIS AS TO READ YEARS AGO??? WHAT THE HELL

[Addison Rizer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative, fun, and touches the heart, Exit, Pursued, has an awareness of the limits of the one-act play format, and leans into them, acknowledging the audience, their expectations, and the reader watching from the outside. Lovely start to the year.

[ji ☾ ⋆*･ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this reminded me of why I read, and what it's like to have a collection of words churn up your heart

[Sarah]

if you care about poetry read this book immediately?!

[Barry Paul Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really amazing collection of one-act plays that read poetically. I was really moved.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful and different and made me feel like I was suspended in something I didn't quite understand.

*

You were never small. You were what happens when the sky makes room for something else.

[kiwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely blown away