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A review by earlydecember
Bread and Circus by Airea Dee Matthews, Airea Dee Matthews
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Bread and Circus is a challenging and melancholic collection of poems that explores addiction, poverty, anti-black racism, and trauma through the lens of Guy Debord's The Society of Spectacle and in a critique of Adam Smith's economic theories.
I was captivated by how Matthews plays with poetic form and formatting. The style, tone, and structure are diverse: from concrete and blackout poems to lyric poems influenced by biblical verses and the dialogue in Greek dramas. It is impossible to anticipate what will be on the next page. The constantly changing style heightens the heavy subject matters by removing any potential sense of comfort that sometimes comes with a more consistent structure. Matthews is so precise with her artistic intentions; every detail enhances the next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital ARC.
I was captivated by how Matthews plays with poetic form and formatting. The style, tone, and structure are diverse: from concrete and blackout poems to lyric poems influenced by biblical verses and the dialogue in Greek dramas. It is impossible to anticipate what will be on the next page. The constantly changing style heightens the heavy subject matters by removing any potential sense of comfort that sometimes comes with a more consistent structure. Matthews is so precise with her artistic intentions; every detail enhances the next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Rape