Contusions

by Gary Beck

Contusions is a heartfelt poetry collection that explores the aches and pains we suffer from the assault of life. Each piece explores some of our deepest daily challenges such as safety, violence, and today’s political climate.

116 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2019

About the author

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn't earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and his published books include 28 poetry collections, 11 novels, 3 short story collections, 1 collection of essays and 2 books of plays. Published poetry books include: Dawn in Cities, Assault on Nature, Songs of a Clerk, Civilized Ways, Displays, Perceptions, Fault Lines, Tremors, Perturbations, Rude Awakenings, The Remission of Order, Contusions and Desperate Seeker (Winter Goose Publishing. Forthcoming: Learning Curve and Ignition Point). Earth Links, Too Harsh For Pastels, Severance, Redemption Value, Fractional Disorder and Disruptions (Cyberwit Publishing). His novels include Extreme Change (Winter Goose Publishing). and Wavelength (Cyberwit Publishing). His short story collections include: A Glimpse of Youth (Sweatshoppe Publications). Now I Accuse and other stories (Winter Goose Publishing) and Dogs Don’t Send Flowers and other stories (Wordcatcher Publishing). Collected Essays of Gary Beck (Cyberwit Publishing). The Big Match and other one act plays (Wordcatcher Publishing). Collected Plays of Gary Beck Volume 1 and Plays of Aristophanes translated, then directed by Gary Beck (Cyberwit Publishing). Gary lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Jim Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

More on star counts later. Let’s get to the good stuff: 97 poems. These poems cover a lot of ground – the human condition. Beck’s range here is enormous. Expect to be surprised. I realized on re-reading how large Beck’s scope is in this work.
For a start, turn to Ode to the Passage of Time. In this short poem, Beck speaks for all of us.
In Health Problems, Beck visits an experience we’ve all had: too much waiting.
For cynicism, turn to Media Face, where our gullibility with politicians is mocked.
Patriotism? Turn to Ode to Neil Armstrong. When did the USA give up on space?
Life? turn to Hidden Treasure.
Social commentary? turn to A NIght Out.
Foreign policy? Turn to Policy Shift. It turns out the US’s main fault is being visible.
Art? turn to Applied Art.
Social commentary? Turn to Cleanliness Bias, where the rich are clean (of course).
Finally, turn to Policy Issues. It’s easy to make other peoples hate us.
Now for the star count boilerplate, as usual. My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. This is a fine work by a fine poet. Five stars is an easy decision.