— Things to Read —

it's a page for things I've read and enjoyed and would recommend - or maybe anti-recommendations too. let me read more things first and I'll get back to you on it!

Poetry

Autobiography of Red is a wonderful and beautifully written verse novel by Anne Carson about Geryon, the monster slain by Hercules, and his experience as a young gay boy out in the world. Her style is highly influential on a major long-form poetry project I'm working on and I don't think I could recommend it enough.

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, by contrast, is a verse novel very obviously written through the lens of a white man who has probably never discovered the wonders of intimate contact in his life. I really tried with this one, folks, but good grief I hate to say that I put it down midway through the book because I just couldn't take anymore of the weird comments about race. Please take this as an example of what not to do if you choose to write poetry.

Prose

Right now I'm reading Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. It feels like something very important to read and has been recommended to me several times by my friends. They've recommended me a number of things that I'll get around to as I'm able, but it's tough for me to focus on reading sometimes on account of my many problems and situations.