The Golden Age of Paraphernalia

Poetry. Radically comic, formally inventive, and ridiculously smart, every eight to ten years Kevin Davies releases a new book reminding us just how unexpected poetry can be. THE GOLDEN AGE OF PARAPHERNALIA will without doubt garner the applause his previous book COMP. (Edge Books, 2000) received. That garnering included The San Francisco Book Award in 2000 selected by Kevin Killian, write-ups in the New York Times, Village Voice, and Boston Review, translation into French by Xandaire Selene, and extended critical articles in American Literature, Jacket, and The Poker—i.e., Davies's work has met with more than a little enthusiasm. One example: Joshua Clover in the Village Voice: "Davies often writes long, tumbling sequences that gather force like a dream landslide, with each part standing out as an idiosyncratic scene charged by an alluring voice, or stance, not quite like anything else in contemporary poetry."

Cover photograph by Benjamin Friedlander.