The Study of Human Life

by Joshua Bennett

A third collection that reveals an acclaimed poet further extending his range into the realm of speculative fiction, while addressing issues as varied as abolition, Black ecological consciousness, and the boundless promise of parenthood

Across three sequences, Joshua Bennett's new book recalls and reimagines social worlds almost but not entirely lost, all while gesturing toward the ones we are building even now, in the midst of a state of emergency, together. Bennett opens with a set of autobiographical poems that deal with themes of family, life, death, vulnerability, and the joys and dreams of youth. The central section, "The Book of Mycah," features an alternate history where Malcolm X is resurrected from the dead, as is a young black man shot by the police some fifty years later in Brooklyn. The final section of The Study of Human Life are poems that Bennett has written about fatherhood, on the heels of his own first child being born last fall.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2022

About the author

Joshua Bennett received his Ph.D. in English from Princeton University. He also holds an M.A. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Warwick, where he was a Marshall Scholar. In 2010, he delivered the Commencement Address at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the distinctions of Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude.

Winner of the 2015 National Poetry Series, Dr. Bennett has received fellowships from the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, Cave Canem, the Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust, and the Ford Foundation. His writing has been published or is forthcoming in Boston Review, Callaloo, The Kenyon Review, Poetry and elsewhere. He has recited his original work at venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the NAACP Image Awards, and President Obama’s Evening of Poetry and Music at The White House. He is currently a member of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Inverted · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lost me with this:

Here, it is important

to make clear, the men slain
are not symbols. Here,

in these lines, our brothers
are no blood sacrifice

in the service of aspirational
middle-class academics

& activists, nor the ones
who mime their deadening

speech.
— (from Trash, V)

I 100% agree. But it begs the question: Why even bring this up? If one believes that the task at hand is to honor the slain, why waste words on the peripheral, on aspirational academics? Or is the miming what really occupies the mind?

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpts:

bless the beloved flesh
our refusal calls
home God bless the unkillable
interior bless the uprising
bless the rebellion bless
the overflow God
bless everything that survives
the fire

(from “Trash”)

We are building a story
for you that is bigger than bombs
or the words of assassins
who do not love us.
Your inheritance is this refusal
and infinitely more: triceratopses, hyacinth,
racing uphill in our blue
helmets, two runaway ice comets
cracking the night air open,
so swift within
its shadow
we are almost invisible.

(from “Dad Poem”)

you can’t expect good

results with bad data, trash
in, trash out, they say,

and I’m really just searching
for better, more redemptive

language is the thing,
some version of the story

where all the characters
inside look like me and every

single one of us escapes
with our heads.

(from “Trash”)

[Morgan Fulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to 2.5. Pretty big disappointment for me when "Owed" was my last read, and that was 5 stars. Fully admit that part 2 was just not a style that I could get into at all. But also parts 1 and 3 were goodish, not great

[Casey (ish-i-ness)]

Seems like it was perfectly calibrated to appeal to a demographic I am often mistakenly placed in but I guess I’m enough not that demographic to kind of hate it.

[Lisa Funderburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hardly read poetry but this was exquisite. The Book of Mycah being my favorite collection.

[S P · Rating 3 out of 5]

'O, littlest unkillable one. Expert death-delayer, master abstractor
of imperceptible flesh. We praise your commitment
to breath. Your well-known penchant for flexing on microbiologists,
confounding those who seek to test your limits using ever more
objectionable methods: ejection into the vacuum of space, casting
your smooth, half-millimetre frame into an active volcano,
desiccation on a Sunday afternoon, when the game is on,
& so many of us are likewise made sluggish in our gait, bound
to the couch by simpler joys. Slow-stepper, you were called,
by men who caught first glimpse of your eight paws walking
through baubles of rain. Water bear. Moss piglet. All more or less
worthy mantles, but I watch you slink through the boundless
clarity of a single droplet & think your mettle ineffable, cannot shake
my admiration for the way you hold fast to that which is so swiftly torn
from all else living, what you abide in order to stay here among the flailing
& misery-stricken, the glimpse you grant into limitless persistence, tenacity
under unthinkable odds, endlessness enfleshed & given indissoluble form.'

(from Trash ('O, littlest unkillable one'), p21)

[Jordon Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it’s just me but Joshua Bennett is not talked about enough. And I’m usually not sadden when I think an author isn’t talked about enough but if I’m honest I’m troubled by how many people aren’t familiar with an author of this magnitude especially by spoken word and poetry lovers. Think of any artist you love that constantly outdoes themself with everything they do, Joshua Bennett is that. I think of him as the Allen Iverson or the Denzel Washington of litterateur and word. A wordsmith by every definition. A one of a kind storyteller.

This book contains stories of an imaginary alternate history where Malcom X pulls a Lazarus. Similarly, a kid shot a block party also seems to cheat death. While at the same time this book also contains some of the most beautiful poetry about child birth and fatherhood I’ve ever read. 5 stars.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hodgepodge of poems reads like three separate works crammed between two covers (perhaps to keep up with the publish-or-perish treadmill of a rigorous Ivy League school) before any of the oeuvres were quite finished. The first section, “Trash,” contains interesting musings on trash as a metaphor for so many castaway items in American culture, especially the lives of black men. The middle section, entitled “The Book of Mycah,” seems like an entirely different genre altogether—“speculative fiction,” as the blurb on the back cover describes these character sketches of “unsung heroes from black communities,” which lack a sense of audience. The third section, “Dad Poems,” chronicles the joys, anxieties, and challenges of first-time fatherhood with some fresh insights and phrasings.

Favorite Poems:
“My last piece of mail”
“In the citadel of her care”
“O, littlest unkillable one”
“The professionals coming to take my blood”
“V (1968)”
“I: The smartphone app tracking your growth”
“VII: The fear a father feels”

[Marie]

There is too much to mention, but this bit, about his son:

"As I write this, you rest
in a graphite-gray carrier
on my chest, your thinking adorned
with language that obeys no order
my calcified mind can
express. Tomorrow, I will
do the thing where I make my voice
sound like a trombone, and I hope
you like it as much as you did
today. There is no sorrow
I can easily recall. I have
consecrated my life."

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection. The lyricism is beautiful and I really enjoyed the unique forms each section took. I loved seeing how Bennett used the level and diction of his language to show growth. We go from repetition of the too-simple word “Trash” to boundless prose and beautifully heartbreaking imagery. Great read, highly recommend annotating (even if it’s not your thing, try it. I feel like it further connected me to this piece)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, beautiful, lush, magical, and sometimes gritty. The middle section of this book wasn't really working for me at first, but once I got into it, I went back and re-read all of it again. Maybe this is not for the most casual of poetry readers, but the man wrote a crown of sonnets. I have huge respect for his skill as a poet after reading this collection.

[Beatrice]

The poetry > the prose, but the prose also had its rewards. I am positive I have read the very first section of the novella before (where was it published?!) and it is itself a wrenching poem. The rest flew off and dissipated a bit, but the return to poems to close the volume was a good editorial call. Leave them wanting more!

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal poetry. I love the way Bennett uses poetry as a storytelling medium, especially in his re-imaginations of Malcolm X and Mycah Dudley's lives. The way his poems connected to one another and flowed almost made me feel like I was reading a magical realism novel in verse. Will definitely be buying a copy for my shelves.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a spectacular book. It is a combination of poem and fiction and prose. What a delight to read. How moving to read the poems at the end about his becoming a parent. From beginning to end this collection sings.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is a war outside, yes, and inside our home are books about flowers, ten speed bicycles, dinosaurs with names you can’t even pronounce yet. We are building a story for you that is bigger than homes or the words of assassins who do not love us.”

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the short story but I had trouble connecting to the poems until I watched some YouTube videos of Joshua Bennett performing his poems. Wow. For the first time ever I wished I had the audio book instead of a written copy.

[Aedan Lombardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25, the first section of poems was a bit over my head but I thought the middle narrative was unique and confusing in a good way. The final section was a bit sappy but beautiful and made me all sentimental.

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very beautiful language here. I was not a huge fan of teh strucutre--it left a lot of questions.

Some of my favorite lines:

the way living through everyone around you dying kills something elemental, ancient.

Time gathers in my hair like a silver city seen at a distance.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars.

[The_J · Rating 1 out of 5]

An unimpressive offering from the hallowed halls of academia

[Barry Westbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s divided up into three sections. The middle one never resolves into anything very interesting but the two sections that bracket it are beautiful. I’ll be reading more of this poet I’m sure

[Luke Gorham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambitious, sprawling, diverse in style and language. Doesn't live up to the genius of Owed, and definitely suffers from being overstuffed, but still so much better and bolder than most.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book of mycah was an absolute stunner, i never wanted it to end.

bennett’s poems on his son and his own newfound fatherhood are a rich and warm delight

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually like poetry, but this was different and powerful.

[Leo Gómez · Rating 5 out of 5]

RCDS doesn’t deserve him as an alumni. Beautiful - Book of Mycah was incredible and I wanted so much more, and I cried a couple of times getting through Dad Poem.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't my favorite of Bennett's writing but there is a lot here that I adore. "Mycah", in particular, is beautiful work.

[Mili McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent weaving

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A poem / is where the language of the material world collides / with the devine”.
And in this book it does.

[Amelia Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read the first half of the poems in class and I liked them tbh.