Death and Exes

by Sarah Bridgins

Death and Exes explores the complexity of grief and the author's struggle to process loss through consumption; of food, drugs, alcohol, pop culture, sex, and fashion. Buying and imbibing things are often looked at as superficial distractions that keep us from dealing with difficult emotions. In Death and Exes, they are touchstones that help remind us of who we are during the times we feel most untethered and alone. These are poems of mourning, but they are also a celebration of the life affirming power of, among other things, burlesque, RuPaul, Dolly Parton, Hellraiser, and Columbo.

Sarah Bridgins is the recipient of the 2018 Sexton Prize from Eyewear Books. Her writing has appeared in Tin House, BuzzFeed, and Bustle among other publications. She lives in Brooklyn where she is the co-host of the Ditmas Lit reading series.

"Thrumming with frank grief, sharp humor, and coruscating desire, in the candidly erotic tradition of Sharon Olds, Sarah Bridgins's poems will gut you with a rhinestone cake knife and leave you for dead." -Rachel Lyon, author of Self-Portrait with Boy

84 pages, Paperback

Published December 24, 2022

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death and Exes is some next level BIG FEELINGS by one of my favorite people and a damn fine poet, Sarah Bridgins. There is a kind of maximalist leveling of emotions that goes hard from cover to cover; it's a binary world of words where there is no middle ground between love and hate. Like in maybe my favorite in the collection, Astro Advice, "Adopt a scorched earth policy / with those you once loved / Sow your heart with salt when they retreat." And so when those we love we also hate, we all flourish or we all perish, all of us together.

[Caroline Hagood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books mines daily "girl" life for profound revelation as well as hilarious moments you will recognize all too well. It's a wonderful book and companion as you walk through this bizarre life.