Dream Rooms (15)

by River Halen

Part essay, part poem, part fever dream journal entry, Dream Rooms is a book about personal revolution, about unravelling a worldview to make space for different selves and realities. Set in the years that led up to author River Halen coming out as trans, this collection concerns itself with what sits on the surface of daily life, hidden in plain view, hungry for address―what it means to take a stranger's pet rabbit to the vet in a year of accelerating extinctions, to lose your clothes to a moth infestation then buy a duvet made of fossil fuels, to learn your bookshelf is full of work written by rapists and rape apologists, to consider a birth control device as a narrative about bodies and their possibilities, then pull the string. Deeply queer and trans not only in its content but in its thinking, Dream Rooms invites readers to that place in consciousness where fear and desire, hidden information and common knowledge brush up against each other and are mutually transformed.

Genres: Poetry, Essays, Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, Memoir, Canada

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Annie MacKillican · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of essays and poems on living as trans, and existing reluctantly and revolutionarily

[August Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa.

Written in prose (and sometimes verse) that is songlike and dreamy and angry, "Dream Rooms" has a voice that has gotten stuck in my head. This is a trans memoir with transition as epilogue, a memoir of coming of age in the late Anthropocene and all the pain that entails, and a rich conversation with other texts and discourses. The star here is definitely the prose, but the content--a dying rabbit, an analysis of body hair, a blight of moths--shines alongside it. I can't wait until my whole timeline is talking about this book.

[Elizabeth Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so so good. please read it.

[Hannah Mosca · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOah--amazing amazing amazing. first time ive felt like this since Argonauts by Maggie Nelson. this book feels different from any other book I've read!!! The writing and weaving is so queer and I loved the play on prose poetry. River Halen has such a unique voice that is very spunky and sharp and expressive at the same time. reads super quickly, in one sitting

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The front cover quotes Chase Joynt as having said that this is "A quick-witted, momentum-filled, tender rebellion of a book"--and I can't think of any better description. With a mix of poetry and prose, Halen's words and images offer a whirlwind of heartfelt meaning that I fell into head-first and enjoyed every moment of. I believe I bought the book because of the poetry sequences--which I don't find nearly enough of--and I did love the longer works here most, but the whole collection offers layers of meaning not just in relation to trans and queer identity and thinking, but in relation to self-revelation and what it means to, simply, persist.

Absolutely recommended. This is one I'll be returning to.

[Jessica Ranard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book. Hard to say. There were some brilliant lines of poetry. I found some of the poetry hard to read through, but I was also suffering from insomniac spell and was a little bit delirious. But the essay! I would read many more essays by River Halen for the rest of my life. The book blends genre in the way that gender is often blended, a little of this and a lot of that.

[kels · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so incredibly queer i love it please read it

[Connor Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixing poetry, prose, and essay, Dream Rooms takes the reader on a journey of growing up and experiencing queer relationships, with transiting as an epilogue to an artist's life. At points, this book was hard to get through but something about it made me continue to pick it up again and finish it.
It was well worth it to finish the story.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great poems! Full review soon!

Thank you to Book*hug Press for my gifted review copy!

[Michael Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fluid and unputdownable!

[Ashley ❦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book made me want to cry I will say more on my insta but omg….wow i’m gagged!!!!!!

[Gia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Near perfect book.

Got me thinking about pleasure as the removal of constraint and shi

[Akiva ꙮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a new favorite, but good. Wide ranging, as I like.

[Belladonna Le Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brb

[Cj Daly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to get the the point can’t put down but there was something about the earnest of the author that kept me interested.