Logorrhea: Poems

by Adrian C. Louis

Finalist, 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry

In a torrent of rage, love, and irony, Adrian C. Louis explodes all the myths and hypocrisy of Middle America in the twenty-first century. This is how Walt Whitman or Allen Ginsburg might have written about our post-9/11 world--where the realities of poverty on Indian reservations and the plight of Hurricane Katrina victims come in second place to the vagaries of Homeland Security. For Louis, both he and our nation face an uncertain future. Like many of us he is trapped in a surreal void of the present, where he is faced with middle age and isolation, the death of loved ones, an unsatisfying job, and the battle against loneliness and self-destruction. He writes as if he has nothing left to lose but then fills the page with bittersweet sorrow for everything that has been lost. Armed with unforgettable images, relentless rhythms, and a dark and scathing humor, Louis takes aim at this American life.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 2006

About the author

Adrian C. Louis is a Lovelock Paiute author from Nevada now living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He has taught at Oglala Lakota College. His novel Skins (1995) discusses reservation life and issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and social problems and was the basis for the 2002 film, Skins. He has also published books of poetry and a collection of short stories, Wild Indians and Other Creatures (1996). His work is noted for its realism.

Reviews

[Tucker]

Poems collected 2006.

“Came upon this Indian guy walking down the road backward, real fast. … There is a fourth possibility. It was me…”
“An E-mail to Taspan Wi.”

“We could not pray, so we crawled
toward the mothering darkness.
We cannot tell you why we spent
a lifetime crawling when we
had wings that were strong,
supremely brown, and so holy.”
“Kwe Na’a.”

“My whiskey voice says to love
my enemies, and for chrissakes,
I do, I really do, the bastards,
but”
“Electronic Epistle, or Apology to a Lady in the Bitterroots.”

“Temporarily averse to any factual
detailing of the actual, I will only
admit that in the almighty then
of a dark space-time continuum…
“The Arrow Bar in Sioux Falls”
(This one’s about a “tranvestite” who doesn’t put up with a “pale drunk” claiming to be part Indian. She calls him “Chief Sitting Bullshit” and punches him, and the cops drag her away.)

“I should’ve answered the bell,
except those winged monkeys
from The Wizard of Oz
were swarming over me
and one had his simian
pecker pressed against
my tired ass and I didn’t
want to get pregnant
so”
“The Last of the Saiduka”

[Leonard]

This collection of poems by Native American poet Adrian C. Louis, an enrolled member of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe, and author of a dozen books of poetry as well as the novel "Skins" which was made into a feature film, contain the right proportions of humor and indignation plus a well-developed sense of justice.

[Rebecca]

He's a good poet but I got sick of reading about his dick.