Wildnewadventuresinword-infatuatedfl璽neriefromacelebratedliteraryprovocateur.Thisbookofthirty-sixpoeticbulletinsbythehumiliation-advice-giverWayneKoestenbaumwillteachyouhowtocruise,howtodream,howtodecodeacrowdedconsciousness,howtofindnuggetsofsatisfactioninunaccustomedcorners,andhowtosewalanguagegloveroomyenoughtocontainmaterialsgatheredwhilemeandering.KoestenbaumwrotemanyofthesepoemswhilewalkingaroundNewYorkCity.He’djotdownphrasesinanotebookordictatethemintohisphone.Athome,he’dincorporatethesefragmentedgleaningsintooverflowingquasisonnets.Thereforeeachpoemfunctionsasacodeddiaryentry,includingspecificreferencestosidewalkeventsandperipateticperceptions.Flirting,remembering,eavesdropping,gazing,squeezing,sequestering:Koestenbauminventsanovelwaytocramdirtylibertyintothetightyetcommodiousspaceofthesonnet,afourteen-linedcruiseshipthatcontainsamplesuitesforbehaviormodification,libidinalexperiment,aura-filledmemoryorgies,psychedelicBildungsromane,lapdissolves,archivalplunges,andothermentalsaunteringsthatconjuretheunlikelymarriageofKennethAngerandMarianneMoore.Carnalpudding,anyone?Theseengorgedlyricsdon’trhyme;andthougheachbuildsonacarapaceoffourteenlines,manyofthelinesspawnadditional,indentedtributaries,likehoopearringsdanglingfromthestanzas’lobes.Koestenbaum’spoemsarecomic,ribald,compressed,symphonic.Theytakelibertieswithordinarylanguage,andopenupnewpocketsforsensationinthesorrowingovercoatofthe“now.“Imagine:thetrainingwheelshavebeenremovedfrompoetry’sbicycle,andthewheelingfl璽neurisfinallyallowedawordpieequaltofantasy’sappetite.Stubble--alibidinaldetail--matterswhenyou’restrandedonthearchipelagoofyourmostunsanctionedyettenaciouslyharboredimpulses.
