Synopses & Reviews
“Joe Wenderoth is a brilliant writer, original and subversive, sensitive and strange. I read his work with awe and admiration.”—Ben Marcus
“Joe Wenderoth's brave new poetic talent is like nothing so much as a live wire writing its own epitaph in sparks. [His poems] throb brilliantly with a sense of the 'too much.' . . . But in Wenderoth's case the too much is the too little or the too ordinary—a very remarkable discovery to have made so late in the history of poetry. Philip Larkin and a few American poets have approached it, but Wenderoth's instrument is sharper than theirs; he makes quick cuts in the meat of the ordinary, which is the meat of the impossible.”—Cal Bedient
This clear-eyed new work from a favorite young poet is searching and solemn, dissatisfied with artificial condolences and pat maxims. Joe Wenderoth’s determination in the face of harsh realities is what rescues us, and him, from hopelessness.
“Luck”
So a screaming woke you
just in time
An animal’s scream, or animals’.
What kind of animal it was
doesn’t matter, and cannot,
in any case, be determined.
The point is you are saved.
Your mouth has been opened.
Joe Wenderoth grew up near Baltimore and is the author of five books of prose and poetry. He teaches at the University of California, Davis.
Synopsis
"Joe Wenderoth is a brilliant writer, original and subversive, sensitive and strange. I read his work with awe and admiration."-Ben Marcus
"Joe Wenderoth's brave new poetic talent is like nothing so much as a live wire writing its own epitaph in sparks. [His poems] throb brilliantly with a sense of the 'too much.'. . . But in Wenderoth's case the too much is the too little or the too ordinary-a very remarkable discovery to have made so late in the history of poetry. Philip Larkin and a few American poets have approached it, but Wenderoth's instrument is sharper than theirs; he makes quick cuts in the meat of the ordinary, which is the meat of the impossible."-Cal Bedient
This clear-eyed new work from a favorite young poet is searching and solemn, dissatisfied with artificial condolences and pat maxims. Joe Wenderoth's determination in the face of harsh realities is what rescues us, and him, from hopelessness.
"Luck"
So a screaming woke you
just in time
An animal's scream, or animals'.
What kind of animal it was
doesn't matter, and cannot,
in any case, be determined.
The point is you are saved.
Your mouth has been opened.
Joe Wenderothgrew up near Baltimore and is the author of five books of prose and poetry. He teaches at the University of California, Davis.
Synopsis
Wave's most popular author presents his first poetry collection since Letters to Wendy's.
Synopsis
Poetry. One of America's most subversive cultural critics gives poetic form to his courageous and incisive voice. A clear-eyed fourth collection, searching and solemn, dissatisfied with artificial condolences and pat maxims. Wenderoth's determination in the face of harsh realities is what rescues us, and him, from hopelessness. "Joe Wenderoth is a brilliant writer, original and subversive, sensitive and strange. I read his work with awe and admiration"--Ben Marcus. Joe Wenderoth is a poet, fiction writer and essayist. He is the author of five books, including LETTERS TO WENDY'S (Verse Press, 2000) and THE HOLY SPIRIT OF LIFE: ESSAYS WRITTEN FOR JOHN ASHCROFT'S SECRET SELF (Verse Press, 2005). He grew up near Baltimore and is currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Davis.
About the Author
Joe Wenderoth is an American Poet from Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently an Associate Professor of English in the graduate Creative Writing Program at the University of California Davis. Wenderoth's work is widely anthologized, appearing in collections such as: The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories; Poetry 180; The Next American Essay; The Best American Prose Poems: From Poe To Present; The Body Electric; "The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology; American Poetry: Next Generation; Best American Poetry; The Best American Essays 2008. In 2003, the One Yellow Rabbit theater company performed an adaptation of Wenderoth's LETTERS TO WENDY'S. The adaptation was done by Bruce McCulloch (Kids In The Hall) and Blake Brooker, both of whom also starred in the production. In 2007, Wenderoth performed in collaboration with Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) in Brooklyn at the Issue Project Room. Other titles available from SPD are THE HOLY SPIRIT OF LIFE: ESSAYS WRITTEN FOR JOHN ASHCROFT'S SECRET SELF and NO REAL LIGHT.