The Science of Things Familiar

It takes a special sort of reader to appreciate what poet and visual theorist Damm is trying to do in this hybrid. To say he has created a fusion of poetry, art, storytelling, and pulp comics doesn’t seem to do the work justice, principally because it’s a great deal more sophisticated and delightfully bizarre than that. There’s really no way to describe the experience of reading this book as it juxtaposes and repurposes textbook diagrams, prose poetry, and comics panel sequences while opining on the imagined comings and goings of literary giants, failed mid-20th-century filmmakers, and the history of the blues. Damm’s ideal reader is an open-minded culture junkie and fan of poetry, high art, and comics, someone with a penchant for everything from Dada to Derrida. The few who fall into that category will make this the centerpiece of their literary collections. (Feb.)