Balance Act

by Cormier, Ken

• ISBN13: 9781895837674
• ISBN10: 1895837677
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Insomniac Pr

Summary

This is Ken Cormier's first published collection of prose and poetry. Ranging in mood from all-out hilarity to heart-stopping melancholy, this book utilises a consistent thread of music and rhythm to propel its language. Cormier's extensive background in percussion informs his writing at every level of the process. Simply put, Cormier brings performance to the page, and this is his one-man variety show. Cormier's stories peel back the layers of a bent suburban landscape, and his characters scratch and claw to find inspiration on the railroad tracks, to bear the absurdity of family dysfunction, to trade the bitterness of complacency for the thrill of total annihilation. The poems reinforce his over-arching themes, punctuating the text like rapid-fire epiphanies. The book's final and longest instalment, 'Havris and Malen', is the story of two brothers attempting to juggle fate, family, and friendship against a backdrop of unpredictable magic and a closet full of tired secrets. Similar in form to Gene Toomer's 1923 classic, 'Cane', Cormier's 'Balance Act' is a diverse blend of poetry and fiction, a hyper-speed, gear-shifting monologue for the schizophrenic masses.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: Songs & Stories
Christmas with Grandma	13	(2)
Monster Melville	15	(2)
Walking Home	17	(4)
you are a normal animal	21	(2)
Mark Time	23	(2)
Crazy Day	25	(4)
Recovery	29	(2)
Spring in Ohio	31	(2)
No One But Me & Gerard	33	(2)
We are still all want and need	35	(2)
In His Image	37	(2)
Isn't That Sweet?	39	(4)
Nail In M'Toe: A Jig	43	(2)
Putting Hats on Babies	45	(2)
Surprise Party	47	(2)
Haiku Mania	49	(2)
Looking For The Messiah	51	(2)
Wrecking Vision	53	(2)
The 17 Times You Told Me To Shut Up	55	(2)
Secret	57	(8)
Political	65	(2)
Wordlynch	67	(4)
Balance Act	71	(8)
PART TWO: Havris & Malen
Tragic Magic Havris	79	(4)
Out of All Worlds	83	(2)
Tulsa Oklahoma	85	(4)
Malen	89	(2)
About Crying	91	(2)
Havris & Eli	93	(2)
Sorting	95	(2)
Malen Is Dead	97	(6)
Dear Malen	103