Vivisection

Weinstein does a wonderful job in this chapbook. Though I myself am not a regular poetry reader, I find his book about life, death, and what happens in between deep and meaningful.He moves fluidly from serious prose to comical story telling in short sections that couldn't be done in any other format. Every time I read this, I see a different side of his work, and the minutiae never present themselves in the same way twice. His dissections of the heart (which vary from philosophical to surgical, depending on the page), from aspects of kindness and love, to loneliness, to hope and even disaster are breathtaking, starting with the first page with a heart's conversation to a near-death experience.In short, Eric Weinstein nails it. In 53 pages he is able to produce an enjoyable book of poetry that covers so many aspects of humanity. I cannot wait for his next book to come out.

Great book...great condition.

Buy this book! A must read. So piercing is the insight of the author, into the human condition. A book of poetry that you will treasure and feel drawn back to again and again.

Vivisection - Eric WeinsteinI found Eric's blog accidentally and read it here and there. His was the first in my newfound love of blogs by writers. Being a writer means I write a lot, obviously. But it also means I read a lot, and not just books. I subscribe to at least a dozen blogs, plus about a dozen or so more that don't have the option for a subscription. Anyway, I digress. Eric writes poetry and most of the poems in Vivisection have been published in other literary journals. Vivisection was the winner of the 2010 New Michigan Press/Diagram chapbook contest, and I can see why.Eric has pulled together a series of poems that are completely different, yet all work together to create a neat little package of poetry. This book was my first real foray into poetry and I'm glad I started here. It has sparked my curiosity to read more and learn more about poetry. I am inspired to try my hand at writing poetry again. I used to write in college, but gave it up. Unfortunately, I don't have those pieces anymore.In reading the poems, it's clear that each word and image is deliberate and has been chosen for a reason. I have often wished I could be inside another writer's head as they go through the process. I suppose people wish that about me as well. I don't know. His poem Open Heart Surgery won a poetry award at Duke University. Although it wasn't my favorite of the poems, I can see why it won. Duke is a very prestigious school and everyone I've met who has gone there has raved about it.That being said, I had two favorites in this collection: Persistence of Memory and Live! From the Mariana Trench.Persistence of Memory imagines burying a light bulb and having it grow into a blown glass tree. When the tree is cut down, the "you" in the poem develops a cough which leads to a trip to the emergency room, where They remove a filament from your tongue, a spun glass feather from your trachea. The doctors are fascinated when The fiberoptic bronchoscope proves otherwise: they find a miniature light bulb, glass sapling, copper wire nest & remove them from your lung. The imagery here is particularly strong because I can very clearly see the doctor removing the items and marveling at this medical anomaly, this thing that nobody believed possible.Live! From the Mariana Trench imagines going underwater and playing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds for the whales and the shrimp. My favorite line from this poem: And when they ask what the sky and diamonds are like, I will say They are like you, sparkling in the dark, waiting for the next song to start. I can just imagine the whales and shrimp sitting around waiting for the next song on the record to start.I am finding that one of my favorite things about poetry is the strong imagery. The author has a limited number of words in which to get his or her point across, therefore the images must be as strong as possible and stand on their own so that the reader can understand what is happening. I have a pretty vivid imagination, but reading poetry strengthens that and allows me to imagine things I never would have considered.Publisher: New Michigan PressPublisher's Webpage Address: thediagram.com/nmpISBN: 1934832251 and 978-1934832257

Weinstein hog-tied me and threw me into his world, a world so imaginative at times it was hard to escape it.The poem "Open Heart Surgery" was particularly entrancing, pulling me against my will into Weinstein's biopsy of the vices and virtues of man.Astute observations are piled skillfully upon barren honesty, an honesty which Weinstein exquisitely lenses past the superficial and vacant commonalities that plague lesser works. So penetrating are the highs and lows, no truly human man could deny their power.

I purchased this book on a Jordan Peterson spree after being elated from my red pilling, trying to buy anything written by anyone in the IDW space. I was pleasantly surprised with the depth and visceral simplicity of the poetry this author has conjured.