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Misadventure
The poems included in the poetry collection reveal the subtle sense of the mystery, beauty and love for the elemental simplicity of life. It is quite remarkable that the poet has discarded the obsolete or worn-out phraseology. The poems are endowed with intense imagination, dreamy grace and subtle suggestion. All these poems become quite charming due to 'maturity, manifested in technique, of feeling in relation to thought'.
PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS BY ACE BOGGESS
“One thing I love about Boggess’ writing is the wonder he finds in the world around him.”
—Marne Wilson, author of As Lovers Always Do
“Boggess shows us that hope exists even in dark places.”
—Steve Lambert, author of Heat Seekers
“Ace Boggess is the bareknuckle brawler of today’s poetry.”
—Greg Leatherman, managing editor of ECO Magazine
“You can count on two things with the poet Ace Boggess: he deals out truth and he doesn't put on airs.”
—Karen Craigo, poet laureate of Missouri,
author of No More Milk and Passing through Humansville
“With Boggess the pursuit is made with an abnormally brutal honesty and deft manipulation of image that creates poetry rich with surprise and revelation.”
—Marc Harshman, poet laureate of West Virginia,
author of Woman in Red Anorak and Believe What You Can
PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS BY ACE BOGGESS
“One thing I love about Boggess’ writing is the wonder he finds in the world around him.”
—Marne Wilson, author of As Lovers Always Do
“Boggess shows us that hope exists even in dark places.”
—Steve Lambert, author of Heat Seekers
“Ace Boggess is the bareknuckle brawler of today’s poetry.”
—Greg Leatherman, managing editor of ECO Magazine
“You can count on two things with the poet Ace Boggess: he deals out truth and he doesn't put on airs.”
—Karen Craigo, poet laureate of Missouri,
author of No More Milk and Passing through Humansville
“With Boggess the pursuit is made with an abnormally brutal honesty and deft manipulation of image that creates poetry rich with surprise and revelation.”
—Marc Harshman, poet laureate of West Virginia,
author of Woman in Red Anorak and Believe What You Can
85 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2020
11 people want to read
About the author
Ace Boggess
39 books107 followersAce Boggess' writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, Atlanta Review, RATTLE, River Styx, Southern Humanities Review, J Journal, North Dakota Quarterly, and many other journals. He won the Robert Bausch Fiction Award and a fellowship from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. He also spent five years in a West Virginia prison. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes and tries to stay out of trouble.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 2, 2020
In Ace Boggess’ new collection of poetry Misadventure, I discovered the writing of a person who tampers with the delicate mechanism that is "living" with the precision of a surgeon. These are poems that behave with ferocity and compassion in equal parts. I read his “Please Press One for Condolences” during the pandemic, when I was already thinking long and hard about the language I might use to address a friend’s loss of his father. When I read “Modern life/ can be too gruesome/ for the weak," I knew I was in the right place, where poetry would not give me solace but answers from within: "any decent note/ I type will go/ no further/ than my thumb.”
Yes, Boggess nails that candid ambivalence that comes when we search for an empathy that might not really be there. He also understands the blatant conundrum of desire. In his delightfully titled poem “Oatmeal”, he writes: "I’ve placed you in my script: a minor character/ for a major role with no applause." He understands so clearly the harshness we pair with that want that comes with rejection. These are poems that understand so much about what it is to be relational, to be connected and disconnected from someone else, but they are also poems that strike at what it is to consider the self, and to evolve. When Boggess writes "Reaching in, I squeeze my heart to silence it," I know that I am in good hands when I am reading this book, this Misadventure in the game we choose to play when we continue to be aware and alive.
Yes, Boggess nails that candid ambivalence that comes when we search for an empathy that might not really be there. He also understands the blatant conundrum of desire. In his delightfully titled poem “Oatmeal”, he writes: "I’ve placed you in my script: a minor character/ for a major role with no applause." He understands so clearly the harshness we pair with that want that comes with rejection. These are poems that understand so much about what it is to be relational, to be connected and disconnected from someone else, but they are also poems that strike at what it is to consider the self, and to evolve. When Boggess writes "Reaching in, I squeeze my heart to silence it," I know that I am in good hands when I am reading this book, this Misadventure in the game we choose to play when we continue to be aware and alive.
February 1, 2020
I found this read to be delightful. It showed an ethereal sadness in the first section. The second was more lighthearted and the third was perfectly charming. This was my favorite of all the Ace Boggess books I have read. I will read it again many times. The third act was my favorite, but the middle act with movie poems was so much fun. I just loved this book. Everyone should read it.
March 5, 2020
This is slighter than some of Ace Boggess' poetry collections, but there's still a lot to enjoy here. The collection mixes newer poems with some older ones from his pre-prison days, and the latter will probably be new to all but his most faithful readers. The first section is made up of poems about everyday life. The second section consists entirely of movie review/reaction poems. (I think he may have invented this form, but even if he wasn't the first, he has definitely perfected it.) The third section, my favorite, starts out with poems about space exploration and astronomy before dropping us back gently into the realm of everyday life. I ordered my copy from India where the publisher is located, but it's now available on Amazon as well, so you have no excuse not to order a copy!
June 28, 2020
I love this collection, especially the middle section that plays on old film titles.
February 9, 2020
My 5th book of poems. I'm proud of this one. Movies, horoscopes, plus meditations on astronomy, love, death, and dealing with the losses of others. Many poems I love. Order your copy from the publisher: https://www.cyberwit.net/publications...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews