 |
||||||||
| home | poetry
gallery |
prose backdrop | events |
submission guidelines | about
us |
book reviews | ||
Book
Reviews
Review by Caroline Zuschek Maggio writes, "(t)he time has come to talk" ("Shoptalk", ln 1), and this is exactly what he has done- by employing the language and the discourse of his corporate and governmental oppressors, he demonstrates how everything in this country is black and white and bought and sold. It is through a clever tension between the language of the poet and the language of the culture that DeMockracy emerges- a work that simultaneously epitomizes American capitalist society and politics while illuminating its hypocrisy and dangers. In "amerika the grate," Maggio manipulates the text of pornographic internet spam to create an irreverent plea from the citizen to his capitalist government that mimics a sexual act. The speaker implores: o amercka o dough jones ay loooooooooooong phor yr Midass tuch take me trance form inv aid my privates that i may bow down ‘n begg phor moor ay will willkommen U into mein arms (stanza 4). By the end of the poem, the reader feels dirty and used in exactly the way that Maggio intended, with "ay am Erica" emerging as the intrusive sexual aggressor in the world of sold and staged desire. While "amerika the grate" is perhaps the most extreme example of linguistic manipulation in DeMocKracy, the technique resonates through out. Maggio employs the language of job notices, weather broadcasts, the Declaration of Independence, advertisements, the Bible, gospel and blues music — anything that is distinctly or stereotypically American is up for grabs — to urge the reader to consider it, to question the foundations on which our culture is constructed. While I was most engaged in this book during its moments of scathing satire, as in "Biznes az youzhwul," "Sacrafishylamb," and "Weather Report," this book succeeds, in part, because of its occasional departure from more overt critique. DeMocKracy has a reflective side, one more emotional and lamenting, that serves to balance and even temper its more extreme flashes of anger and betrayal without apologizing for them. For example, in "Paper Cranes," Maggio writes, "some fall off and/ drop like tears/ mourning the charred earth/like wailing widows/ raining like silver tears" (lns. 12-16 ). Ultimately, this book is edgy, passionate, clever and well worth the discomfort of confronting your own complicity with American life. Read an excerpt from this book opens in new window About the Author Mike Maggio has
published fiction, poetry, travel and review in Potomac Review, Pleiades, Apalachee
Quarterly,
The L.A. Weekly,
The Washington
CityPaper, VOL. NO
MAGAZINE, Gypsy, Pig
Iron, DC
poets Against the War, of which he is an active member,
and many others. He is the author of Your Secret is Safe With Me
(Black Bear Publications, 1988), an audio collection of poetry, Oranges from Palestine,
(Mardi Gras Press, 1996), a chapbook of poetry, and , most recently, Sifting Through the Madness
(Xlibris, 2001), a collection of short fiction. His work has
been met with critical acclaim, with the Midwest Book Review,
recommending his short story collection as “a grippingly
written, sometimes frightening, but always deeply involving
anthology.” He is currently working on a new
collection of concrete, visual and collage poetry entitled Once Upon a Blank Page.
He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children.
 |
||||||||
