ode ode: (Salt Modern Poets)

A book that `does’ the subject: including pop fantasies of hares, fluteplayers, nudes, whores and Proust; (Marianne) Moore-style constructions of a gamut from Gosse to Guns ’n Roses; sequences inspired by the songs of DJ Shadow, Blur and Oasis. A poetry of phrases rather than lines, of a mind thinking (Stein’s `entity’) rather than a presentation of thought/identity. Following Brecht, suspense is held in high disregard; following Baudrillard, a democracy is offered: each poem a small celebration of the now, like a promiscuous Frank O’Hara with too many secrets. It’s about balancing: influences/sources; what’s written/what’s unwritten; resistances/acceptances of meaning. God gave us irony to trick the devil, but the devil was already inside.

Table of Contents:
codas ’ ... – ? * ! 97–98 living at the z vidcore aesthetic activity thors loomthing burlesque warmup boxy ey_s they asked for my death storey straw my sentiments exactly extension 34 manana at the fishhouses cape beautiful art nouveau citizen kane mays the earthquake & the cardinal phoenix odyssey what are ys 96–00 person with a flute call it the will of god chirp hare encounter nella casa di balla tutto balla john ashbery impersonator bullshit pretty pennies mrs robinson & a mango yet when we listen to their voices blood on the futon preludes bc far from ok comet preludes leaf toil extensions red cues informality flea school ethic my mind doesnt think so 21 “ ” who are you lions curtain a h at work st kilda morning poem in one part after jim showed his bum the evening slid bird in position lets dance hurts end m ode writing 2nd ave pts 1 & 2 track listing rented/ blurbug / nikes & dcs / marriage / 1989/ the middle _ i_sing the me to i phrasebook music by elton john twentyseven sorrows forty days in the daffodil pit view with a thiefs hand the tortoise who mistook a pickaxe for love vinyl inventor at a rodeo country sample when butterflies get tired fall between the two described by the dead ode ode metaphysique variations on a bridal march 96–97 nude descending a liftshaft proust aboard a doomed corvette the whores warm ride the singer blue money

About the Author :
Michael Farrell was born in Bombala, NSW in 1965. His poems have appeared in the anthologies Picador New Writing 3 and Calyx 30 Contemporary Poets (Paper Bark Press); he received the 1999 Harri Jones Memorial Prize. He has lived in Melbourne since 1990 and is the Australia editor for slope (www.slope.org). Email limecha@hotmail.com.

Review :
It's easy to see why Michael Farrell already has something of a reputation as a stylist, though this is his first collection. Inventive, sharp-witted, entertaining and meticulously made, the poems in ode ode offer a lower-case, unpunctuated take on style ('i perforce have metamorphosed / more than once for a ball at short / notice') in which style is energised, orchestrated substance. -- Chris Edwards Australian book Review ode ode should carry a 'very high sustainable-energy' rating decal. Gender is shed in a line - in a fresh take on a post-Duchamp readymade, Michael Farrell's nude descends a liftshaft. Unpunctuated, lowercase, streamlined and funny. Five stars! -- Pam Brown This is a collection to read and re-read for its obsessions, its bricolage, its loquacious speed, its moments of downplay and its ecstasy. Edgy, full, these poems' complex mixes and sharply intuited jump-cuts are the work of a young writer richly attuned to the temper and speed of his times. -- Martin Harrison