"A dystopian poetic masterpiece. I read this book several years ago, but still think of it often, and recommend it always as one of my favorite poetry collections of all time. In this age of American Empire and rampant imperialist 'humanitarian' interventions that leave countries divided and ruined, this work is a necessary and poignant reminder of the horrors of wars past, and a warning of the wars yet to come."
Publisher Les Figues Press
Publication Date 2013-12-31
Section Poetry / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions / Kaleigh O.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9781934254509
Poetry. Stitching together a post-apocalyptic history from the scraps of fairy tales, war memorials, hunting songs, and disparate scholarship, Jessica Bozek's THE TALES traces the violence that humans inflict upon one another. As the central narrative of the Lone Survivor becomes revealed through the mouths of various perspectives, Bozek investigates the language that victims and perpetrators alike use to make sense of (and attempt to forget) the aftermath of violence. From ordinary objects—family photographs, sweaters that unravel, old batteries, and lightbulbs—to the remnants of destroyed art and architecture, an annihilated nation is brought into reality, and the Lone Survivor's story is simultaneously documented and invalidated, becoming "a memorial that will disintegrate over time, gray and fray as most of the dead did not have a chance to."
