Xbo

``I write by peeling the skin away from words,'' Fourcade says. This French art scholar and poet's writing style is akin to that of nonsyntactical American poets and experimental fiction writers. The textual descendant of Roland Barthes, he is philosophical and process-oriented to the extent that musings about the poem become the poem. Near the end of the book-length work, the poem's voice emerges in bodily form, and the female speaker hypothesizes about sexual relations. Perhaps this was intended to jolt the reader, since on the following page the speaker expresses concern that readers will not be interested in the writing. Whatever the intention, it does not work. The final pages describe the speaker/writer attempting to bring the poem to birth; no facilities with language or coined words can overcome a concept so cliched. The most impressive aspect of this volume is the fact that it's been rendered into English. One can guess at the enormous job the translator has done in attempting to find equivalents for made-up words and alphabetical wordplay. Despite this proficiency, Fourcade's writing proves little more than a technical exercise. (Jan.)