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Acting Out
28 pages
First published January 1, 2010
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
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November 6, 2019(Project, read a chapbook a week for a year: week 4)
Almost a decade old now, I like the freedom Alli allows herself here – the self-surprising turns, the topsies brought on with foundlings and silly bits, the pop fluff of "Reification" and "Ain't the Way You Found Me" which feel built for reading to a half-drunk house-party. A few of the poems read like the results of writing exercises, but there's nothing wrong with that.
There's the Bay Area stamp in these poems of cross-fading between economic contingency, libidinal throb, and tech fatigue. As I revisit American chapbooks from the late oughts, there's this collective recognition of debts incurred as poets shift to the 'always-online', this early melancholy or regret for the poke, the profile, social sharing, the affectless 'Online Help Center'. Like all our watchful sensitives know exactly what's coming, yet "everyone is excited about the see-what-you-made-me-do program", so we do it (did it) anyway.
The title poem and "Getting Ready to Have Been Fully Ensconced" feel the most fully-formed – I like 'em, and also the wee romantic lyrics "I Need Help With This" and "Solemn Assembly of the Tribe" – two solid titles, by the way. Happy to have read this.
Almost a decade old now, I like the freedom Alli allows herself here – the self-surprising turns, the topsies brought on with foundlings and silly bits, the pop fluff of "Reification" and "Ain't the Way You Found Me" which feel built for reading to a half-drunk house-party. A few of the poems read like the results of writing exercises, but there's nothing wrong with that.
There's the Bay Area stamp in these poems of cross-fading between economic contingency, libidinal throb, and tech fatigue. As I revisit American chapbooks from the late oughts, there's this collective recognition of debts incurred as poets shift to the 'always-online', this early melancholy or regret for the poke, the profile, social sharing, the affectless 'Online Help Center'. Like all our watchful sensitives know exactly what's coming, yet "everyone is excited about the see-what-you-made-me-do program", so we do it (did it) anyway.
The title poem and "Getting Ready to Have Been Fully Ensconced" feel the most fully-formed – I like 'em, and also the wee romantic lyrics "I Need Help With This" and "Solemn Assembly of the Tribe" – two solid titles, by the way. Happy to have read this.
July 23, 2013
Just finished this chap for the 3rd or 4th time. Each read has presented further points of enjoyment; the phonetic play & overall content work well together to provide an almost always overall wonderful read. I finally realized this time through that "Acting Out" is a perfect opening poem. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get into "Ain't the Way You Found Me" nor "Reification," thus I'm inclined to rate this text a 4 out of 5 (I had before given it a 3).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews