Tremble and Shine

by Todd Colby

Colby's Tremble and Shine is the first full-length collection since his new and selected Riot in the Charm Factory. Tremble & Shine moves from poem to fiction to reportage, from the grinning skull of Poe to Lenny Bruce’s adenoids to a rhythm of repetition that is entirely Colby — you break it down and repeat and re-form till it’s like this dance that can’t stop, this cementmixer you cannot escape from, the eternal pound.
The anger that drives the world is Todd Colby’s poetry. The tension of the murderous performer vs. the tightly packed poetic form is a spiritual thing. In Todd’s whirling art spasms, God herself is actually being created, visioned, and visited. Todd’s poems, blasphemous and heinous and pus-filled and covered with mugwort and lysergic acid as they are, are all prayers.
One of Soft Skull's original poets comes through with a collection of lyrical and awe-inspiring poems, and addresses everything from the acid-trip qualities of outdoor camping to the need to righteously rock, against all odds.

Genres: Poetry

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Todd Colby has published five books of poetry: Ripsnort, Cush, Riot in the Charm Factory: New and Selected Writings, and Tremble & Shine, all published by Soft Skull Press. Flushing Meadows was published by Scary Topiary Press in 2013. Colby’s most recent book, Splash State, was published by The Song Cave in 2014. He posts new work on gleefarm.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, punk-rock type moves with a nagging melancholy. It smells of sulphur and roses. It's a book that smiles.

[Robb Todd]

A tattoo artist told me about Todd Colby as he was inflicting pain and art on my arm. So I got two fantastic pieces of art for the price of one (and some blood).

How did Colby fly under sight for so long? Oh, right: people don't read much poetry. But they should, and they should read Todd Colby. So funny, so on point, so lyrical.

Thanks, tattoo guy. No, seriously: THANK! YOU!

[Blake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todd Colby, one of my faves!