Classic Crimes - by Sarah J Sloat (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The sophomore visual poetry collection from Sarah J. Sloat, whose Hotel Almighty was a 2020 NYT Editors' Choice pick.

Classic Crimes is a book of visual poetry sourced from William Roughead's true-crime 20th century classic of the same name. Roughead's text is known for its ghastly recountings of murder and deceit, though such gloom is barely detectable under Sloat's sharp eye and transformative hand. In these erasure poems, each adorned with its own colorful, meandering collage, "public opinion [is] always willing to wink at the picturesque," and "to sleep...[is] an interlude of little dinners." Where mayhem once lived, Sloat invites readers into a brand new world, one blooming with whimsy, play, delight, and cheeky, liberating poetics.

Review Quotes

"A true artist of the book, Sarah J. Sloat has transformed another text into one of her uniquely satisfying visual and literary works. Sloat is an artist of transformations who takes one literary artifact and transforms it into another. The results are surprising, witty, beautiful and strange--the way all good art is strange. Erasure and collage, in Sloat's hands, are a kind of radical archeology in which she discovers a story hidden within the original text and which she uncovers, draws out, illuminates and raises up. Classic Crimes is a work of genius from a bold and visionary writer."
--Mark Wunderlich, author of God of Nothingness

"What a crime it would be NOT to enter these crime scenes! The poetry echoes in what's been lifted, elevated out of the detritus of foregone misdeeds. Only Sarah J. Sloat can achieve such levitation. With surprising variations in their collage elements, these visual poems rise as small wonders, each a perfect little balancing act between its text and images."

--Nance Van Winckel, author of Sister Zero

Praise for Hotel Almighty:

"Absolutely marvelous."
--Mary Ruefle

"This book of erasure poems uses Stephen King's Misery as its source text, highlighting themes of captivity and imagination. Sloat reproduces the original pages she used, adorned with fanciful collages on the erased sections."

--The New York Times Book Review

"Sloat's brilliant erasures. . . are visual delights that transcend confinement."

--Kenyon Review

"Sarah J. Sloat's Hotel Almighty (Sarabande, Sept.) goes all out with erasure and mixed-media collage to reimagine Stephen King's Misery."

--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

"Hotel Almighty is a collection full of possibility and surprise. Of yes, misery and confinement, but also of playfulness and hope. It's worth noting how unusual and thrilling it is to encounter a book of poems infused with so much color. The sophistication of the erasure pairs with the illustrative nature of collage to create a distinct mood, at times, like a subversive picture book for the Future Adult version of the kid drawing in the back of the room, who is too smart or dark or witty for the rest of the class."

--J.M. Farkas, The Rumpus

"Sloat finds dreamy delight in King's suspenseful tale. . . . Each page is a poem revealed through erasure, strange word-flowers growing up from crayons, collage fragments, and loose threads that suggest a feminine hand."

--Electric Literature

About the Author

Sarah J. Sloat's poems, prose and collage have appeared in Seneca Review, Diagram, Shenandoah, and many other publications. She is the author of the visual poetry collection Hotel Almighty (Sarabande 2020), as well as five poetry chapbooks, including Heiress to a Small Ruin and Excuse me while I wring this long swim out of my hair (Dancing Girl Press). Born in New Jersey, Sarah has lived for many years in Europe, where she works in news and splits her time between Frankfurt and Barcelona.