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A review by flopzilla
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
4.0
Longer book that expands on 'Portrait of the Alcoholic.' It's not as seamless and concise–it felt like the book went on a for a little too long and was split into too many different parts. For the writing itself, there were definitely phrases and lines that I felt were trying way too hard to land and shot themselves in the foot, i.e. "oversoft", "The calculus of desperation yields everything in miniature."
There were a few moments that felt overtly self-pitying and made me roll my eyes, because they were so "I'm a poet and everything sucks. This is the Worst Life" like bro I totally agree being contemptuous of other people's pain is the worst evil etc etc but come on getting to do any sort of creative activity even as a hobby is a 1% kinda thing. It's okay for the life to be tough in its own way, everyone suffers, but It is Not the Worst Life.
Nit pick, I saw the word 'inconsolable' too many times in this poem. Siken used inconsolable perfectly that one time in Scheherazade, no one else should use it again. Also that one poem (can't remember which) about a man standing in silence and only silence remaining was a huge ripoff of Boot Theory. But all art is derivative so it's chill.
Okay! Now that I'm done complaining. This was still fantastic. When the writing hits, and it does very often, I feel that it's unparalleled. Kaveh Akbar is so so good at the unexpected and making it both subtle and devasting:
- "to walk in sincere wonder, like the first man to hear a parrot speak"
- "I worry sometimes there is no true wildness."
- "least favorite songs on favorite albums"
- "watching your beloved sink to the bottom of a lake and noting his absence in your log."
- "Or you arrive home / after a long day to discover your children have grown / suddenly hideous and unlovable."
-"two hounds will fight over a feather / because feathers are strange."
-"One way to bury / something is to bury it / forever."
He uses a lot of pretty esoteric words in his poems and sometimes, they really are just so freaking sick:
- "the dream, then: to interrupt into a sturdier form, like a wild lotus bursting into its tantrum of blades."
- "I believe in luck and am barely troubled by its volatility"
Even with all the flaws, it still hits harder than most poetry does.
There were a few moments that felt overtly self-pitying and made me roll my eyes, because they were so "I'm a poet and everything sucks. This is the Worst Life" like bro I totally agree being contemptuous of other people's pain is the worst evil etc etc but come on getting to do any sort of creative activity even as a hobby is a 1% kinda thing. It's okay for the life to be tough in its own way, everyone suffers, but It is Not the Worst Life.
Nit pick, I saw the word 'inconsolable' too many times in this poem. Siken used inconsolable perfectly that one time in Scheherazade, no one else should use it again. Also that one poem (can't remember which) about a man standing in silence and only silence remaining was a huge ripoff of Boot Theory. But all art is derivative so it's chill.
Okay! Now that I'm done complaining. This was still fantastic. When the writing hits, and it does very often, I feel that it's unparalleled. Kaveh Akbar is so so good at the unexpected and making it both subtle and devasting:
- "to walk in sincere wonder, like the first man to hear a parrot speak"
- "I worry sometimes there is no true wildness."
- "least favorite songs on favorite albums"
- "watching your beloved sink to the bottom of a lake and noting his absence in your log."
- "Or you arrive home / after a long day to discover your children have grown / suddenly hideous and unlovable."
-"two hounds will fight over a feather / because feathers are strange."
-"One way to bury / something is to bury it / forever."
He uses a lot of pretty esoteric words in his poems and sometimes, they really are just so freaking sick:
- "the dream, then: to interrupt into a sturdier form, like a wild lotus bursting into its tantrum of blades."
- "I believe in luck and am barely troubled by its volatility"
Even with all the flaws, it still hits harder than most poetry does.