Candy - (Sewanee Poetry) by Dan Albergotti (Paperback)

About the Book

"Dan Albergotti's Candy is a book steeped in sound and silence. Sound in the form of song, of chaotic cacophony, and of the drone (sometimes natural, sometimes manufactured) that forms the ambient soundtrack of history and our seemingly apocalyptic present. And silence in the sense both of the void's natural silence and of the failure to speak-of people being either dumbstruck or in denial, not speaking because they cannot or will not. In the book's first poem, the "savanna's ambient song is interrupted // by a sharp crack that sounds like a gunshot, / the zebra's kick finding the lion's jaw." And in the poems that follow, we hear "a sibilant song that swims in the soil," the hiss of "a ventilator's rasp," "the interrogating song of a lark," "white noise coher[ing] into whispered names," a mule's bray sounding "like a peal of trumpet and kettledrum," and the chirps of cell phones mimicking birdsong--all of this set in relief against the persistent, relentless silence of the universe in the face of human suffering. And there are poems that examine sound crafted into art in the form of song--from the national anthem to tracks by Joy Division, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Sun Kil Moon--in which the speakers consider the capacity of song to deceive and placate, to tease with the ideas of comfort and possibility, to transcend, and ultimately to devastate. Throughout, these sounds and intermittent silences provide the soundtrack for poems that interrogate the nature of truth and myth, and that restlessly search for meaning in a reticent universe, ultimately unwilling to take no for an answer as they strive to find an ever-elusive yes"--

Book Synopsis

Dan Albergotti's Candy is a book steeped in sound and silence. Sound in the form of song, of chaotic cacophony, and of the drone (sometimes natural, sometimes manufactured) that creates the ambient soundtrack of history and the seemingly apocalyptic present. Silence in the sense both of the void's innate quietude and of the failure to speak--of people either dumbstruck or in denial, not speaking because they cannot or will not. Throughout this collection, these sounds and intermittent silences provide the rhythm for poems that question the nature of truth and myth, and that restlessly search for meaning in a reticent universe, ultimately unwilling to take no for an answer as they strive to find an ever-elusive yes.

Review Quotes

"Albergotti sees into things, both darkness and light together, without the slightest quaver, and he does so with unfailing grace. Even the most brooding passages here give forth the strong sense of an acute mind and sensibility at play with the possible shapes of words in concert. The music in these poems--both alluded to and actually present in the lines--impressed me greatly. This is poetry of the highest order."--Richard Bausch

"Candy is a jawbreaker: impossible to swallow but a pleasure to savor. In its layers are the flavors of Pope, Keats, Frost, Sagan, Joy Division's Ian Curtis, but it is Dan Albergotti's astonishing formal acumen, wit, and engagement with sound that make his examination of mortality and the complexities of forgiveness so sweet."--Ross White

"Albergotti crafts astute and thoughtful meditations on the imperfectness of life, language, and time, while skillfully displaying his natural ability to breathe new energy into established forms, including the sonnet and the abecedarian."--January Gill O'Neil

"Albergotti is one of the best practitioners of the most musical branch of contemporary poetry. His poems always rely heavily on, and use to the fullest advantage, a musician's ear for the phrase, the line, the stanza, and the close. This is the most accomplished book yet by one of my favorite poets to read."--Chad Davidson

About the Author

Dan Albergotti is the author of The Boatloads and Millennial Teeth. His poems have appeared in many literary journals and have been reprinted in Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize anthologies. He lives in Tampa, Florida.