Harmless Medicine

by Justin Chin

Fiercely devoted to the margins of life in the generation after the devastating first wave of the AIDS epidemic, this cathartic collection of poems explores illness, travel, contagion, the meaning of home, identity, tainted purity, and the bits of life that contain them and hold them together in spite of the harsh exigency of daily life. In more than 40 pieces, Chin fearlessly delivers everything from his first exposure to science ("Magnified") to a mail order fantasy experience ("I Buy Sea Monkeys"); from backroads travel in Asia ("Little Everest in Your Palm") to the plight of immigrants in America ("The Men's Restroom at the INS Building"). Chin's brutal honesty and sharp humor frame a profound and original collection.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Queer

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Malaysia, raised & educated in Singapore, shipped to the U.S. by way of Hawaii, and lived in San Francisco. Author of 3 books of poetry, all published by Manic D Press: Bite Hard (1997); Harmless Medicine (2001), a finalist in the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Awards; and, Gutted (2006), which received the 2007 Thom Gunn Award for Poetry by the Publishing Triangle. Squeezed in between these were 2 non-fictions: Mongrel: Essays, Diatribes & Pranks (St. Martins, 1999), and the ur-memoir, Burden of Ashes (Alyson Publications, 2002).


In the nineties, also led a double life as performance artist: created and presented seven full-length solo works here, there and where ever. Packed up those cookies in 2002, (with occasional relapses) and the documents, scripts, and what-heck from that period was published in Attack of the Man-Eating Lotus Blossoms (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2005). Continues to produce text/visual Book-based performance work. Book 2 is an on-going project where discarded or abandoned books found on the streets & other public places are remade, remodeled, & reworked into artists books.

Reviews

[Adam Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would put this as part of the 21st century poetry canon. Though it came out in the 1990's, Chin's work is an important documentation of queer poetry at the turn of the millenium, and it is unlike any other collection of its era.

While many of the poems focus on the AIDS crisis and the gulf of culture between Asian and Polynesian Queer men, and Queer White men, they run a gamnit of styles: satirical, sentimental, hilariously flippant, brutally personal, historical journalism. Each poem seems to present a different angle on the same overall story. But those angles are so sharp and unexpected that, at first reaf, they might not seem related to the rest of the narrative.

I first read this book when I was 21, having picked it up in a queer bookstore that mainly sold porn DVDs. I loved it then. Even though I didn't pick up on the satirical element of poems like "Surrealist Bookmark". I understood it was satire, but didn't grasp the subject matter.

If you're looking for a poetry collection that can entertain you and show you world outside of the Dead White Guy Club, please pick this up. It works for people just getting into poetry, as well as people who've been engrossed in the culture of reading poetry for decades.

[Ric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is a great mix of poetry that I really enjoyed. Some funny (Neo Testament was hilarious) and playful, some heartbreakingly raw. I enjoy Justin Chin’s poetic style and was pleasantly surprised to find some Bay Area references (the stanzas on fleet week were particularly timely, contained in a staggeringly beautiful poem). This book feels very current and I love how he weaves so many topics into a very cohesive collection of poetry. I am left wanting to read more!

[Max Lewy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Carter Murphy]

Strange. Challenging. Graphic. Tender at times.

Some went over my head, but others (like “Eros in Boystown” and “Imagining America”) definitely stood out.

[Jackee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Chin is such an underrated poet and writer. Too many great poems in here to choose favourites.