Writhe. Waltz

Christian Anton Gerardauthor of t and I've just stepped through the exit of the popular culture curiosity shop that is John McDermott's but I just can't seem to close the door behind me. I keep ducking back inside to admire again how the poems there--whether about actors, grunge musicians, knick-knacks, killers and keepsakes, board games, or poets long dead--can begin in novelty and off-kilter perspective but always end up showing us something true about ourselves. It's all there: what we want. Why we hurt. How we try to medicate. These poems are smart, imaginative, sometimes idiosyncratic. I feel very lucky to have encountered them. Justin Hamm, author of and