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jtth's review
5.0
“Conversations are best when private.” - Ken’s twitter bio for a long time.
Ken Baumann’s *Eat the Flowers* is a delight, and it’s the rare kind of book that feels like it offers some insight into the soul of the person who wrote it, and for whom that project was the point. It talks about fighting fascism both in body, in mind, and in the soul, and all of these resonate with me deeply. It talks about health, having a body, and the celebrations and limits that come with it. It deals a lot with grace, something that’s sidelined most of the time, or comes to mean non-combatant in most modern discussions, but has a deep and resonant meaning here.
The book is divided between poems, aphorisms, and essays. They’re all good. The poems straddle a kind of saddle-shape of imagery and abstraction that I really like; they are metaphorical and specific in a compound soup that runs together into a dream-like specificity. I really enjoyed reading them before bed. The aphorisms are vague enough in their reflection to be broad and encompassing without feeling vapid or meaningless: “Great empiricisms are rare; not many have the stamina for a ruthless fidelity of sense.” They can be sharp and specific: “Find power’s ends reprehensible and you’re a reformist. Find power’s means reprehensible and you’re a radical.” The essays are focused, mostly around what it means to live in a fascist society. Ken’s definition of fascism is “the routine and violent maintenance of the belief that groups of people are inferior to you.” Many of the essays focus the present and its problems through that lens. It’s a balm for the soul that burns with passion about stopping all this, even through violence, though it points out how short-sighted that probably (though not always) is. The essays (and poems) refocus you to your surroundings, your body, your local community, those things over which you likely have influence, or could most readily control for the better.
I found Ken’s work (and his press) at a time when I was starting to shy away from broad and performative gestures and claims, especially online, but still found myself making them because I wasn’t sure what else to do to communicate my feelings about myself and the world. This book feels like a conversation, one where argument and sides and anger can all retreat a little bit, where the point becomes the celebration and maintenance of one another’s humanity. His mantra, “conversations are best when private,” has borne so much fruit in my life. One of the warmest feelings is to interact with the vast infinitude of another person’s soul, that universe within each of us that aches to get out, or to at least reflect some of the glow within. That happens best in small, honest, and private conversations, and it’s shockingly easy to start them with the people you admire, the people you want to help, the people you don’t understand. “To understand what another means is the ultimate science.” “Understand, then moralize.”
Thanks, Ken.
(The book is pay-what-you-want. If you want it for free but can’t put in a couple bucks to cover shipping, hit me up on twitter or something and I’ll buy it for you.)
Ken Baumann’s *Eat the Flowers* is a delight, and it’s the rare kind of book that feels like it offers some insight into the soul of the person who wrote it, and for whom that project was the point. It talks about fighting fascism both in body, in mind, and in the soul, and all of these resonate with me deeply. It talks about health, having a body, and the celebrations and limits that come with it. It deals a lot with grace, something that’s sidelined most of the time, or comes to mean non-combatant in most modern discussions, but has a deep and resonant meaning here.
The book is divided between poems, aphorisms, and essays. They’re all good. The poems straddle a kind of saddle-shape of imagery and abstraction that I really like; they are metaphorical and specific in a compound soup that runs together into a dream-like specificity. I really enjoyed reading them before bed. The aphorisms are vague enough in their reflection to be broad and encompassing without feeling vapid or meaningless: “Great empiricisms are rare; not many have the stamina for a ruthless fidelity of sense.” They can be sharp and specific: “Find power’s ends reprehensible and you’re a reformist. Find power’s means reprehensible and you’re a radical.” The essays are focused, mostly around what it means to live in a fascist society. Ken’s definition of fascism is “the routine and violent maintenance of the belief that groups of people are inferior to you.” Many of the essays focus the present and its problems through that lens. It’s a balm for the soul that burns with passion about stopping all this, even through violence, though it points out how short-sighted that probably (though not always) is. The essays (and poems) refocus you to your surroundings, your body, your local community, those things over which you likely have influence, or could most readily control for the better.
I found Ken’s work (and his press) at a time when I was starting to shy away from broad and performative gestures and claims, especially online, but still found myself making them because I wasn’t sure what else to do to communicate my feelings about myself and the world. This book feels like a conversation, one where argument and sides and anger can all retreat a little bit, where the point becomes the celebration and maintenance of one another’s humanity. His mantra, “conversations are best when private,” has borne so much fruit in my life. One of the warmest feelings is to interact with the vast infinitude of another person’s soul, that universe within each of us that aches to get out, or to at least reflect some of the glow within. That happens best in small, honest, and private conversations, and it’s shockingly easy to start them with the people you admire, the people you want to help, the people you don’t understand. “To understand what another means is the ultimate science.” “Understand, then moralize.”
Thanks, Ken.
(The book is pay-what-you-want. If you want it for free but can’t put in a couple bucks to cover shipping, hit me up on twitter or something and I’ll buy it for you.)
abigailkokitus's review
5.0
In truth, I would’ve never heard about this book or about Ken Baumann if one of my best friends hadn’t mentioned “Eat the Flowers” to me. She sent me a link telling me about a book of poetry that was listed as “pay what you can” plus shipping. Intrigued, I looked at it, and grew increasingly excited the more I found out. Poetry and essays about subjects like life, death, justice, American society, and fascism? Written by a DSA organizer? Sounded awesome to me. After reading some of Baumann’s work on his website, I decided to buy “Eat the Flowers”, and I was certainly not disappointed. The whole book was beautiful and thought-provoking. I especially loved reading the essays. As a leftist, I can attest to the fact that sometimes it’s off-putting how there are many leftists who don’t speak or write very accessibly about leftist ideology, and it feels like a constant game of catch-up trying to be at the same level of understanding as peers that don’t want to bother explaining things they assume everyone should know simply because they do. All of this being said, I find Baumann’s essays on politics, capitalism, and fascism to be eloquent yet accessible, which I greatly appreciate. It’s so incredibly important to have conversations that are accessible, and to educate people on these paramount topics in language that’s understandable. That’s something I loved about this book. This book really spoke to me—as a leftist, as an artist, and simply as a human being.
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