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Porn Carnival
In Porn Carnival, the debut full-length collection by Rachel Rabbit White, hedonism and materialist critique join in an abject orgy of labor confessionals, group texts, and criminality. White's deliberate, dominating voice evokes a Plath-like dynamism turned on to queer pleasure and displeasure, indulgence and raison d'être, the bedevilments of a gay bitch on the pole.
162 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 16, 2020
rachel rabbit white said one of the most beautiful and impactful quotes i've ever read in an interview once:
"i tell my friends a lot, like, i want my work and stuff to be stolen. i want these ideas to be proliferated. i try very hard not to work and function out of a place of scarcity but a place of abundance. like, i have an urge, because of the world of clout and social capital and power, to be the only one doing something, but i don't actually want that. i want to bring people in, turn people on, and turn people out. you know? and when i get jealous of other people, their work, their lives, whatever, i take a sip of water and try to see if that's someone i can earnestly collaborate with. it's a way of dealing with internal feelings of insecurity, like, maybe what i need is a mentor, or maybe i want to be that person's friend or maybe i want to make work with them. it's a more generous and honest way to exist"
when i read this quote, i was pretty depressed and lonely in january of a writing fellowship where i felt out of my depth, and it really shook me out. i still come back to that place sometimes, often but also come back to this quote sometimes, often
that said i couldn't really get into this book. there are some interesting themes: power dynamics across client/sex worker, class, gender ("men tell me i'm beautiful / more for themselves than me / to remind themselves, as consumers, / they've made the right choice"); references to motherhood that felt a bit unexplored, i didn't really know what to make of them; hedonism but from a distance ("never thought of a dick in my mouth / as anything / but an interval / my pussy nothing / but a vortex / and if i've suffered / i surely never felt it"). but generally the overwhelmingly glitzy/glamorous/hedonistic images are hard for me to access/find meaning in, as a newfound subscriber to r/minimalism. i wish the form/line breaks felt more thoughtful, line breaks generally corresponded to clauses. i think that one lana reference made me wish all these poems were lana songs instead of text i was reading
will keep following rrw though because i am captivated by the intersection of hotness and vulnerability! that's where i want to live!
"i tell my friends a lot, like, i want my work and stuff to be stolen. i want these ideas to be proliferated. i try very hard not to work and function out of a place of scarcity but a place of abundance. like, i have an urge, because of the world of clout and social capital and power, to be the only one doing something, but i don't actually want that. i want to bring people in, turn people on, and turn people out. you know? and when i get jealous of other people, their work, their lives, whatever, i take a sip of water and try to see if that's someone i can earnestly collaborate with. it's a way of dealing with internal feelings of insecurity, like, maybe what i need is a mentor, or maybe i want to be that person's friend or maybe i want to make work with them. it's a more generous and honest way to exist"
when i read this quote, i was pretty depressed and lonely in january of a writing fellowship where i felt out of my depth, and it really shook me out. i still come back to that place sometimes, often but also come back to this quote sometimes, often
that said i couldn't really get into this book. there are some interesting themes: power dynamics across client/sex worker, class, gender ("men tell me i'm beautiful / more for themselves than me / to remind themselves, as consumers, / they've made the right choice"); references to motherhood that felt a bit unexplored, i didn't really know what to make of them; hedonism but from a distance ("never thought of a dick in my mouth / as anything / but an interval / my pussy nothing / but a vortex / and if i've suffered / i surely never felt it"). but generally the overwhelmingly glitzy/glamorous/hedonistic images are hard for me to access/find meaning in, as a newfound subscriber to r/minimalism. i wish the form/line breaks felt more thoughtful, line breaks generally corresponded to clauses. i think that one lana reference made me wish all these poems were lana songs instead of text i was reading
will keep following rrw though because i am captivated by the intersection of hotness and vulnerability! that's where i want to live!
July 1, 2022
we’ll make heaven
from whatever we’ve got💧❤️🩹💦
Abundance mindset
from whatever we’ve got💧❤️🩹💦
Abundance mindset
July 8, 2020
I'll need to reread some of the longer pieces, because there are levels to the language that I couldn't get inside on the first go. I want to note as well that these poems are sometimes addressed to/around sex workers, so I'm not the right audience to speak on them.
"the poet is a sort of prostitute,"/ wrote Nietzsche, who failed this
Much of White's poetry is in the interweaving of aesthetics with erotics, flesh and emotion. It's Marilyn Monroe, Lana del Rey, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse and fka twigs at a bacchanal. It's Moulin Rouge, Baby Geisha, and Melissa Broder. It's tricksy and weird. It's sassy, messy, queer, and sad.
I fall asleep/ leave the candles/ running
I do think this collection could've been more concise. Some individual poems lavished in the surfaces of language rather than connecting to fuller meanings. Some pages were half-formed ideas costumed as poems. White has talent in writing, but the collection as a whole read as an experiment towards a text, rather than the text itself.
One of my favourite parts:
pussy pays the bills/ pussy keeps the lights on/ anyone who thinks sex/ is something inherently precious/ is not your friend// it's true, sometimes I have to get extremely drunk/ but it isn't like/ poor me,/ in a strapless sequin dress/ it's just these people are all too stupid/ to have all this money (Cabaret)
Poems I liked best:
Monologue Beyond Midnight
The Heart is Delirious Above All Things*
Celebrity Stage
Kiss From a Rose in a Glass Pipe
Monistat Seven Day*
Porn Carousel
Diamonds
Infinity Spring
Doves
"the poet is a sort of prostitute,"/ wrote Nietzsche, who failed this
Much of White's poetry is in the interweaving of aesthetics with erotics, flesh and emotion. It's Marilyn Monroe, Lana del Rey, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse and fka twigs at a bacchanal. It's Moulin Rouge, Baby Geisha, and Melissa Broder. It's tricksy and weird. It's sassy, messy, queer, and sad.
I fall asleep/ leave the candles/ running
I do think this collection could've been more concise. Some individual poems lavished in the surfaces of language rather than connecting to fuller meanings. Some pages were half-formed ideas costumed as poems. White has talent in writing, but the collection as a whole read as an experiment towards a text, rather than the text itself.
One of my favourite parts:
pussy pays the bills/ pussy keeps the lights on/ anyone who thinks sex/ is something inherently precious/ is not your friend// it's true, sometimes I have to get extremely drunk/ but it isn't like/ poor me,/ in a strapless sequin dress/ it's just these people are all too stupid/ to have all this money (Cabaret)
Poems I liked best:
Monologue Beyond Midnight
The Heart is Delirious Above All Things*
Celebrity Stage
Kiss From a Rose in a Glass Pipe
Monistat Seven Day*
Porn Carousel
Diamonds
Infinity Spring
Doves
April 14, 2020
My fave poems were Our Lady of the Camellias, Celebrity Stage, Interlude, & Doves. I liked most of the short poems too but wasn’t tracking. (This has abso nothing to do w the content but) I found the font size to be oddly small..
June 4, 2021
Read this with a bottle of cava and a broken heart in a hotel bathtub and it was a 10/10 experience.
August 29, 2021
I would give the regular Porn Carnival just three stars but I read the Paradise edition and found the new poems really moving, so it gets bumped up
October 28, 2020
The post- capitalist decadence & SW brand nihilism, I love it.
But, the concept didn’t really carry through as well as I thought it could have. RRWs short “filler” poems fell short for me, to be fair though I’m not a fan of the style in general. Also not sure I stand behind this clouty “luxury communism” ideology// aesthetic. I do like the whole dark carnival analogy, and just the general discussion of ~money cycles of doom~.
However, if every poem were like my personal favorite “Doves”, this would have been a different book. More thought out and poetic and deeper. I don’t know, overall I’m kind of excited over this approach to “modern poetry” and I am looking forward to whatever’s next for her.
But, the concept didn’t really carry through as well as I thought it could have. RRWs short “filler” poems fell short for me, to be fair though I’m not a fan of the style in general. Also not sure I stand behind this clouty “luxury communism” ideology// aesthetic. I do like the whole dark carnival analogy, and just the general discussion of ~money cycles of doom~.
However, if every poem were like my personal favorite “Doves”, this would have been a different book. More thought out and poetic and deeper. I don’t know, overall I’m kind of excited over this approach to “modern poetry” and I am looking forward to whatever’s next for her.
June 25, 2024
A beautiful collection, though I wish the formatting of many of the poems felt more intentional. The line breaks caused a breath, which changed the way the poems read, and made a lot of it feel very disjointed and odd. This, however, is a device I do appreciate in poetry for it's boldness, and I liked what was done here a lot. I do also really love that most of the poem titles are in all caps, as this is something I do in my work that I adopted from indie poets I've read throughout my life.
I rarely see sex work written about in ways that feel so enchanting and yet realistically disgusting, and that is my favorite part of this collection by far.
My favorite poems are: "INTERLUDE" and "IN THE OTHER VERSION OF NIGHT"
My favorite excerpt is from IN THE OTHER VERSION OF NIGHT:
"I remember laying in bed
thinking all that gratuitous work to pretend
we're forever available and available now
when of course, all along
they know the score
to be used against you
sabotaged
for a seemingly endless
labor
any fixed personality I once had
memory erases that too"
I rarely see sex work written about in ways that feel so enchanting and yet realistically disgusting, and that is my favorite part of this collection by far.
My favorite poems are: "INTERLUDE" and "IN THE OTHER VERSION OF NIGHT"
My favorite excerpt is from IN THE OTHER VERSION OF NIGHT:
"I remember laying in bed
thinking all that gratuitous work to pretend
we're forever available and available now
when of course, all along
they know the score
to be used against you
sabotaged
for a seemingly endless
labor
any fixed personality I once had
memory erases that too"
Read
April 6, 2021RRW hits us with her dispatch from the frontlines of glamour and decadence amidst a collapsing world. The poems that went deep on image, costume and pleasure resonated a lot more than the confessional love poetry that made up this extended edition, but the writing and the persona remain delicious.
September 1, 2021
I'm no expert, just a poetry lover. Cabaret was gritty and thought provoking. There were many others that seemed like just passing thoughts that didn't speak to me nor could I parse out what the author was getting at.
June 30, 2022
My favorites for Porn Carnival were Doves, Our Lady of the Camelias, Alice Alice Alice, Cabaret and Swans. In the extended version It got destructive which is true, Romeo, and In the other version of night. The love poems in the extended version never went as deep as the ones in Porn Carnival.
Porn Carnival's sexual politics and Lana Del Rey imagery make it very fun to read. RRW has a lot to say and some of the poems fall flat on meaning. Especially the long love poems in the extended version. However a very fun read and quotable.
Alice Alice Alice is my favorite and it leaves you feeling uneasy.
how could we be victims/ using every situation for our gain
when there was pleasure/ in knowing it couldn't last forever
Doves ponders on motherhood, death, grieving, sex work, and dissociation. The poem flirts with these ideas never fully explaining through creating an interior of emotion. I keep going back to this poem
if men didn't mean money/ and money didn't mean the opposite of death
A lot of the longer poems are confusing and rely on the hedonistic imagery.
Many of the shorter poems seem like notes app ramblings and I don't have many opinions on them. Gardens is a wonderful conversation starter.
you have heard it said and I say unto you/ I am the angel of angel dust/ and I am ready to be fisted
Porn Carnival's sexual politics and Lana Del Rey imagery make it very fun to read. RRW has a lot to say and some of the poems fall flat on meaning. Especially the long love poems in the extended version. However a very fun read and quotable.
Alice Alice Alice is my favorite and it leaves you feeling uneasy.
how could we be victims/ using every situation for our gain
when there was pleasure/ in knowing it couldn't last forever
Doves ponders on motherhood, death, grieving, sex work, and dissociation. The poem flirts with these ideas never fully explaining through creating an interior of emotion. I keep going back to this poem
if men didn't mean money/ and money didn't mean the opposite of death
A lot of the longer poems are confusing and rely on the hedonistic imagery.
Many of the shorter poems seem like notes app ramblings and I don't have many opinions on them. Gardens is a wonderful conversation starter.
you have heard it said and I say unto you/ I am the angel of angel dust/ and I am ready to be fisted
July 28, 2020
3.5 stars, really.
I'm a big fan of the author and her world. I think what she has to express is important. As others have noted, though, this collection was at times underwhelming. Any number of the 1-2 line poems felt more like tweets printed out and bound on pink paper--which is certainly an aesthetic unto itself, no doubt! But if we're taking the aesthetic there, then /really/ push it there, you know? Because leaving anyone guessing about such things, especially in poetry, is just going to give them room to doubt you.
ANYWAY! I am glad I bought this book and read what it contained and will continue to appreciate this artist's existence despite many very clear flaws with this particular facet of said existence.
I'm a big fan of the author and her world. I think what she has to express is important. As others have noted, though, this collection was at times underwhelming. Any number of the 1-2 line poems felt more like tweets printed out and bound on pink paper--which is certainly an aesthetic unto itself, no doubt! But if we're taking the aesthetic there, then /really/ push it there, you know? Because leaving anyone guessing about such things, especially in poetry, is just going to give them room to doubt you.
ANYWAY! I am glad I bought this book and read what it contained and will continue to appreciate this artist's existence despite many very clear flaws with this particular facet of said existence.
May 5, 2024
Actual rating: 3 1/2 stars
I found out about Rachel Rabbit White late in the game when she did a guest post for Cat Marnell's beautyshambles. Aside from having a great aesthetic and perfume taste, RRW also writes some pretty bomb poetry. They are the kind of poems that you would expect off a quick shallow glance at her but there's something a bit deeper that comes from RRW being self aware of herself and rather than subverting the reader's expectations like so many other poets would do, she instead offers no apologies for being who she is and leaves you, the reader, to sit with your own perceptions of money, sex, sexuality, NYC, and poetry.
I found out about Rachel Rabbit White late in the game when she did a guest post for Cat Marnell's beautyshambles. Aside from having a great aesthetic and perfume taste, RRW also writes some pretty bomb poetry. They are the kind of poems that you would expect off a quick shallow glance at her but there's something a bit deeper that comes from RRW being self aware of herself and rather than subverting the reader's expectations like so many other poets would do, she instead offers no apologies for being who she is and leaves you, the reader, to sit with your own perceptions of money, sex, sexuality, NYC, and poetry.
May 1, 2023
Very beautiful, enchanting, and sexy. There are a lot of ideas of power and beauty and hedonism woven together with a through line of sex.
If I could describe this book as a visual: imagine a woman laying naked in bed in a room with bisexual lighting scrolling Twitter.
I have read maybe two or three poetry books in my life.
This was very difficult for me to read. I have to assume there are poetry conventions that better read poetry fans will understand how to deal with. The line breaks and lack of punctuation made a lot of ideas unclear to me.
If I could describe this book as a visual: imagine a woman laying naked in bed in a room with bisexual lighting scrolling Twitter.
I have read maybe two or three poetry books in my life.
This was very difficult for me to read. I have to assume there are poetry conventions that better read poetry fans will understand how to deal with. The line breaks and lack of punctuation made a lot of ideas unclear to me.
June 2, 2020
An interesting meditation on consumption, excess, and capitalism. I was wrapped for the entire time. Much of the text is ephemeral and of the moment. But what is the outlook? What's lasting? Perhaps White's next book will take a stance. What happens when the angel dust wears off––when the club lights turn on? Is it the impending and sudden doom of the future?
July 16, 2024
Gorgeous. Lyrical. Visceral and true. A collection of life snippets, life snapshots, of slutty moments and slow moments and moments that are utterly human. Rachel Rabbit White’s poetry does not shy away from the juiciest parts of being a liberated person, you’ll find no shame here. This is definitely a book to be savored.
November 23, 2025
I read the portuguese edition and thought through the book that maybe the disconnection between the verses were caused by the language barrier. Sadly I found out that the book is just as it is, lost words. Maybe that is the beauty in the book, disconnect- with no intention - lines so you can travel in your own interpretation. Once you sympathize with it, the book get hotter and hotter.
February 2, 2022
RRW! Decadent, ephemeral, emotional, and thought provoking. If you love poetry you should read it. If you wouldn't be caught dead reading poetry, you should still pick it up. Get the paradise edition if possible.
Read
January 12, 2021A good first book showing growing sense of voice as it progresses
April 28, 2022
“like I love the feeling
of being crushed
into a carpet
face down
about to whisper
at the top of the
ferris wheel”
PORN CAROUSEL
of being crushed
into a carpet
face down
about to whisper
at the top of the
ferris wheel”
PORN CAROUSEL
July 3, 2022
<3 <3 ugh
October 20, 2023
Holy crap this was an interesting read.
February 12, 2022
I think poetry is a really hard genre to evaluate. Poems can be so personal. I think some of these poems made me feel emotions & others I just didn’t get.
February 7, 2025
"Transcendência pra mim é isso, 🤬 #$%!& "
"mas não seria a bondade apenas um reflexo do mal?"
Por algum motivo, quando eu vi o anúncio desse livro, eu me vi interessada. A história de vida da autora é inesperada e me deixou pensando em como tudo isso refletiria na obra dela.
E com a introdução, já muito interessante, conhecemos um pouco das reflexões da autora e isso deixou a leitura de seus poemas mais envolvente.
Vale muito a pena a leitura e bastante reflexão, muitos trechos fascinantes
"exijo excessos infinitos
pois a própria natureza é em si violenta"
"mas não seria a bondade apenas um reflexo do mal?"
Por algum motivo, quando eu vi o anúncio desse livro, eu me vi interessada. A história de vida da autora é inesperada e me deixou pensando em como tudo isso refletiria na obra dela.
E com a introdução, já muito interessante, conhecemos um pouco das reflexões da autora e isso deixou a leitura de seus poemas mais envolvente.
Vale muito a pena a leitura e bastante reflexão, muitos trechos fascinantes
"exijo excessos infinitos
pois a própria natureza é em si violenta"
September 8, 2023
This collection didn't resonate with me, it read like it needed some serious editing/workshopping and many of the shorter poems felt like platitudes. Just not my thing, I want poetry that pushes deeper and I didn't find it here.
from Interlude: "Sometimes a poem want a confession / and it's like a velvet backdrop / for throwing a stiff drink / into someone's lap"
from Eternally Turquoise: "when my desire grows dull / I sharpen my nails"
from Interlude: "Sometimes a poem want a confession / and it's like a velvet backdrop / for throwing a stiff drink / into someone's lap"
from Eternally Turquoise: "when my desire grows dull / I sharpen my nails"
July 27, 2023
Haven’t read a book of poetry in awhile and “Porn Carnival” was such a fun dive back into that world. Confronting power, money, hedonism, sex. There were some strong moments that made it worth reading but I think White’s future work will be more cohesive. I definitely want to hear more from her. Decadent, glamorous, real.
February 9, 2024
Specifically, I read the Paradise Edition. And as others have said, the love poems included in this new edition are some of the best work in the book. Poetry as luxury.
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