A review by abigailkokitus
Eat the Flowers by Ken Baumann

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.