REVIEW - Fitting the Ocean in Your Mouth by Ally Malinenko

i often think the best poems invite you in, set the scene, beat you over the head and then send you on your way. in Ally Malinenko's new book, Fitting the Ocean in Your Mouth, there are about 120 pages of poems like that. if you have lived at all, you can find yourself in any of these poems. even if you have only lived a little, there's room for you in these poems. highlights from the book for me were: "Returning Your Things", "Angela", "The Flight to Madrid", "Suicide", "Movie Death", "Be Nicer", "Marble Soul", "Bleed Myself", "Orpheus", "Garage Sale" and "Sodden". i highly recommend getting a copy of this book and taking the time to enjoy these poems like a glass of fine wine.

here's a link to where you can get the book:
http://bluehourpressbookstore.bigcartel.com/product/fitting-the-ocean-in-your-mouth-by-ally-malinenko

and here is a link to Ally's site:
https://allymalinenko.com/

review of 50 EURO by Karina Bush

this book should come with a warning label. be careful reading in public, it works faster than Viagra.

it is no secret that Karina Bush has quickly become one of my favorites. her writing is so damn raw and real that you can't help but immerse yourself in that world.

50 EURO is a masterpiece. writing that clearly paints a picture and puts the reader inside the glass in Amsterdam's red light district. i can't give this book more praise than this...

i needed a towel afterwards.

my favorite pieces were "sadface", "ruler", "no roses", "ultraviolet" and "cleanse".

do yourself a favor and get this book and enjoy the fuck out of it.

50 EURO by Karina Bush
BareBackPress

http://www.barebackpress.com/
https://www.karinabush.com/

BUY 50 EURO at Amazon.com

Book Review: Maiden by Karina Bush (48th Street Press)

have you ever picked up a book, read a few pages, and then suddenly realized you can't put it down until you are finished? it's those rare moments, at least for me, that keep me from killing myself. so, in a way, if any of you are disappointed, send your complaints to Karina Bush.

Maiden is an incredible quick read that will make your panties wet as quickly as you will blush. the poems flow of sex and love and desire and romance. at first glance, you may simply think they are crude. but do yourself a favor and dig into the language and see the beauty of the mix of lust and love.

the poems that really stuck out to me were:
The Wettest Love
Into Your Air
War (which honestly is one of the best poems i have ever read)
Takes
Tender Night

43 pages of poems that will saunter into your dreams and... well, use your imagination.

i urge all of you to find this book and devour it. and remember the name Karina Bush, a raw talent that is unstoppable.

some links:
https://www.instagram.com/karinabushxx/
http://karina-bush.tumblr.com/
http://www.karinabush.com

another review of Maiden by Matthew J. Hall
http://www.screamingwithbrevity.com/review-maiden-karina-bush/

the publisher:
https://48thstreetpress.wordpress.com/

Arnold Skemer's review of Sofisticated White Trash

this review appears in ZYX #65.

SOFISTICATED WHITE TRASH
J.J. Campbell
Interior Noise Press
Austin, TX.
978-0-9816606-8-4
$15.00
2013

A tortured soul out of sync with others, a societal reject knowing unremitting mental torture, a man isolated from humanity and, in a sense, isolated from himself. When he walks down a street he sees a steaming turd on the sidewalk. He stops, considers it and walks right towards it, stomping his foot into it. Depressed though he is, primal urges surge through his body. Endless masturbatory activity is the result. He watches Soul Train reruns to get revved up, even engaging in "convict pussy." But when the ejaculation is spent he returns to the meaninglessness of his existence. Campbell is an honest man much more frank than the usual and in his misanthropy, nihilism and obscene disregard of social propriety, there is something very liberating. He's depressed, disgusted and alienated but his spirit thrives, rife with invective and disruptive power. He doesn't hold anything back. This is strong stuff, not for prissy people. He gets quite disgusting but there is a release in all this. There is a thrill rushing through the mind as one listens to the diatribes. Other poets treat of the underside of life but Campbell's spirit of revolt is imbued with outrageous humor that transcends the vile garbage of living and grants relief.

Christopher Byck's review of Sofisticated White Trash

J.J. Campbell's collection "Sofisticated White Trash" delivers exactly what the title promises. The collection, like most narrative-confessional poetry, is ripe with raw words, dire emotions, and truthfulness.  However, it manages to move the genre into a new semi-unexplored area. These poems are strong; the collection is a great introduction to the poet, his lifestyle, and worldview.

Campbell pays homage to the narrative-confessional style in poems like 'paralyze'. He disgusted me in 'another roadside cross'; a poem which stuck with me, angered me, but which likely proves true, at least according to Campbell. The imagery, as demonstrated in 'suicide watch' with lines like '... holes in walls shaped/ like frustrated fists', is ripe. Campbell has suffered and he is the first to point out his own fault in his suffering. His misgivings are many, his family life hellish, his self-pity evident.

The back roads of Ohio provide a poetic canvas, one that Campbell explores in his truck and reports about in sparse detail. This gives the reader a desire to know more and a conviction to stay away. I disagreed with Campbell a lot, although he is spot on at times, I appreciated hearing the perspective. I wholeheartedly agree that Ellen Barkin is wonderfully sexy.

The 'sofisticated' part of the collection comes about in the craftsmanship of many of the poems. These poems were written with a conscious effort to be artful in design, if not in content. This is demonstrated in 'american flag' which displays a unique perspective on 9/11.

There are occasional misplaced words and redundancies, but these shortcomings add to the authenticity of the poetry. He is a craftsman, but isn't afraid to vomit feelings onto the page and let it dry as it fell.

Christopher Byck @ 48th Street Press

a review of Sofisticated White Trash

here is the link to Paula Cary's review of my book, Sofisticated White Trash.

http://www.poethound.blogspot.com/2013/06/sofisticated-white-trash-by-jj-campbell.html


pick up your copy of Sofisticated White Trash at Interior Noise Press or at Amazon.com.