poetry
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Review of Maldoror and Poems by Comte de Lautréamont
To read Lautréamont; one is mugged by him in a mental dark alley, beaten with a cudgel of heresy, left marveling at the strange, beautiful bruises. If Pascal was a mathematician of the spirit, Lautréamont is the original gangster edgelord of literature: a refuter of Pascal’s humble trembling before God,…
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Review of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
This book is heavy on the PTSD, bullying, and other trauma triggers. I try to shy away from reading peoples’ accounts of living in an unfair world. It’s not all about blaming the world for our individual struggles. However, there is legitimate pain that goes along with it. And you…
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Review of The Book of Dede Korkut by Anonymous
I like to collect rare and unusual Penguin Classics. This was one of my favorite I’ve come across. A strange and inconsistent series of tales from Medieval Turkey. The 13 tales, combined with the copious notes and introduction (which almost constitutes a 14th tale’s worth of material since it details…
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Review of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
While not as approachable as high school teacher’s would have you believe, the Canterbury Tales is an entertaining mix of history, lyricism, and satire. In my opinion Chaucer missed a major opportunity to add a pastoral component to his work. The tales either all take place in disparate locations and…
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Review of Instagrimoire//Fax Screen Sect: The Cancellation of Graham Greene, Volume 1: Tales from Orthographic Oceans, or: A Room with a View (Self-Portrait in a Concave Mirror with Interior Landscape & Key to the Scriptures) by Justin Isis
“The Ghost of Hana Kimura” is one of the finest poems I have read anywhere in a long time. These are utterly unique, rereadable, poignant statements about our times. Dissectable, dense glimpses into a mind steeped in the light of liminal “inner flame.” Landscapes of the cyber-dead, and the obsolete…
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Review of The Anthologist (The Paul Chowder Chronicles #1) by Nicholson Baker
Baker’s deep dive into poetry analysis and history succeeds on every level except for his audiobook narration, which is uneven, ranging from blasting your ear drums out to indecipherable murmurs. The whole book is a poetic interlude about an anthologist failing to write a poetry book introduction. The minutia of…
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Review of The Poems of Catullus by Catullus
Words and expressions the translator should have thought twice about using: “Treadmill,” “French poodle,” “syphilitic.” Catullus is the OG badass Roman poet. His polyamorous adventures and vicious satirical portraits amply flex his majorly ripped wit, status, and (professed) sexual prowess. Listen to him mic drop other statesmen and rapturously serenade…
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Review of The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems by Charles Simic
I’ve never understood the appeal of Selected Poetry or Stories collections, especially when an author releases multiple a la Bradbury and Harlan Ellison. The acceptable approach seems to be: Take your favorite ten poems from your favorite five previously published collections and slap on five new poems to justify the…
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Review of Complete Stories 1884–1891 by Henry James
This is 1 out of 5 volumes of James’ complete stories. He wrote 112 tales, and most of them are novella length. There are 17 in this volume. As always, the Library of America editions are well-made, readable, and collectible. I reiterate the complaint that their formatting and binding allows…
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Review of That Little Something by Charles Simic
I think Charles Simic’s poetry is for people who don’t like poetry. Of course, people who like poetry can also enjoy it. Like Billy Collins, I consider his small, one-sitting collections to be gateway drugs into the world of poetry. Analyzing poetry has never been fun for me, which is…
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Review of Requiem by Daniel Ståhl
The only other collection of Sonnets I’ve read is Shakespeare’s. One would think that any other would pale by comparison. But this is one impressive collection. A stand-out among all the poetry I’ve read. Flipping quickly through the book, you will see that the hands of a clock on the…
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Review of Hemming Flames by Patricia Colleen Murphy
A devastating collection of poems dealing with tough topics in a way that leaves a memorable impression, written by a contemporary poet unafraid to openly discuss humanity’s deepest fears. You would be hard-pressed to find a better debut collection published in recent years. The last lines of the book deliver…
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Review of The Unabridged Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
When choosing which single volume of Poe’s to keep in my collection I settled on this one. I decided against the Library of America edition of the tales due to conspicuous absences in the Table of Contents. This one has all of my favorite poems, stories and a few essays.…
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Loneliness, a poem
Red Fez published a new poem of mine. Check it out Click Here
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1st Quarterly Review 2019
2 Short Stories and 1 Poem were chosen for the 1st Quarterly Review 2019 in Bewildering Stories! Click Here
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The World Moves in Reverse, a poem
My new poem just came out in Bewildering Stories. Check it out. Click Here
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Stack of Sunsets, a poem
Here is the link to a new poem published in Bewildering Stories: Click Here:
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Buried, a poem
Here is the link to a new poem published in Bewildering Stories: Click Here
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Scarecrow Dreams, a poem
My new poem is now available from Bewildering Stories. Click Here
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Nostalgia, a poem
My new poem was published in Red Fez. Click Here
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Television Eyes, a poem
Another one of my poems was published in Bewildering Stories! Click Here
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Anthem of My American Youth, a poem
Check out my poem in this issue of Bewildering Stories! Click Here
L. S. Popovich 