Fear of Description

by Daniel Poppick

From Midwestern bars to Brooklyn apartments, narrative poems that find millennials adrift—in political upheaval and personal crisis—and trying to find their way back to one another

Winner of the 2018 National Poetry Series competition, selected by Brenda Shaughnessy

These poems tell the story of a generation in crisis: at odds with its own ideals, precariously (or just un-) employed, and absolutely terrified of seeing itself in the planet's future. Is our contemporary moment pure tragedy, or a dark joke? Can it be both? Cutting back and forth in time and ranging between elegiac lyrics and autobiographical accounts of a group of poets moving from Iowa to Brooklyn in the years just before and after the 2016 election, Fear of Description reinvigorates the prose poem, exploring the slippery terrain between grief and friendship, artifice and technology, writing and ritual, hauntings and obsessions—searching for joy in art but instead finding it in pitch darkness.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Daniel Poppick is the author of Fear of Description (Penguin, 2019), selected for the National Poetry Series, and The Police (Omnidawn, 2017). His work appears in Poetry, Harper's, BOMB, Lit Hub, the PEN Poetry Series, and other journals. The recipient of awards from the MacDowell Colony and the Corporation of Yaddo and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Victoria University (New Zealand), Coe College, and the Parsons School of Design. He currently lives in Brooklyn, where he works as a copywriter and coedits the Catenary Press.

Reviews

[erinsbookcase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though I can appreciate the beauty of poetry is in the eye of its beholder, this collection was rather futile and pretentious. When the synopsis described it as "woozy", I didn't realise it would be that exactly. In fact, it really didn't make sense to me at times and it's dull tones made it feel like it went on for an eternity. However, I did really enjoy the pieces of prose. These felt like they carried more meaning, and I could appreciate the shift to a more staccato structure that occurred in one in particular. I really wanted to connect with this collection of poems, especially as I stumble into adulthood myself, but the collection's style over substance aura left me feeling disappointed.

[Abhivyakti Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Poppick’s autobiographical prose and poetry collection, Fear of Description, was one of the better reads this summer.

Amidst the chaos of the 2016 presidential election, a group of poets move from Iowa to Brooklyn. A world that’s tipping toward its end—muddled with political unrest, economic anxiety, and conflicting morals—weigh heavily upon Poppick and his friends when intertwined with their personal crises. What they eventually discover are rituals, road trips, and artistic solidarity that helps them tide over their grief and tribulations. But, did the pain go away for good? Only way to find out is to brave another day. .
The poems that come out of this headspace are just as layered. My personal favourites are “Ecstatic Zero”, “Hell”, and “Dumpster.”

Poppick’s artistic style sees a symbiotic relationship—the prose is delicately poetic and the poems are narratives that surprisingly don’t lose their obscurity. The balance is beautiful. Not to forget how topical the content is as we move into a future where the planet is not promised to us, and our grief finds no place to escape. As Poppick puts it—“Hell is more eloquent than Heaven.”

I love a poetry book that is this size. It feels like a workbook—like I have a part to play or something to contribute as I read along. It feels personal. All in all, a memorable read.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this I really enjoyed, parts I could admire but didn’t especially like and then a few poems were just a little underwhelming. Every prose piece in the collection is fantastic and vulnerable, seeping with nostalgia and wistfulness. And the first and last poems are excellent. For such a short collection, I did feel like it lacked a bit of coherence and unity. But some of the prose is just wonderful.

[Dora Prieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much movement and changing of scale in this book. Takes patience, but is very rewarding. An aside: I was shocked to realize that the death of a friend described in the book was also a friend of mine, from middle school in Chiapas, Mexico. Very surreal.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more like 3.5, but the collection is slim enough that the prose poems ~really working for me~ isn't enough to counteract the shrug of the verse poems. Except the first, which is EXCEPTIONAL.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific, very funny, very moving.

[Clay Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like the jump to prose but still a good collection.

[Gracie]

DNF @ page 14

[Rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 enjoyed this a lot but found some bit a bit irritating and draped in sophistry - still v good tho!!

[John Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confirmation I just don't understand poetry.

[Fiona Schmidt · Rating 2 out of 5]

he writes blanly what he thinks. its confusing, especially the timeline. it's weird but sometimes funny. maybe just like life itself

[Grant Lamb · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times its over-wraught and presents style over substance. It is kind of the thing people would point to if they wanted to demonstrate what pretentious contemporary poetry is. It does manage a sense of quiet beauty in its more muted moments where the poet isn't letting obfuscation of meaning through needlessly obtuse language get in the way of making its point. Still the 60 pages felt like an eternity. If anyone wants to read a collection of contemporary poetry that doesn't sacrifice clarity of purpose for aesethics I would much rather recommend night sky with exit wounds.

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of free verse poems and longer prose poems. For me these didn't hit home - the prose poems felt rambling and without aim or editing, the free verse poems felt like they were trying hard to not make sense (they succeeded). Just not my style of poetry I guess...

from Dumpster: "A phrase cut with / The nakedness that waking is. / No longer invested / In a poetry of what waking is, / I lace my sentences with sleep. / No poem sings beneath / This sly beat."

from Fear of Description: "When asked in an interview / Do I want the position / By night I do / No by day"