So I was scrolling through my “Blogs I Follow” page yesterday, and I found this post by Jason Alan. In the post, he mentions that he’s had his book of poetry, Poetry of a Madman, up on Amazon for over a year with no reviews. And I thought to myself, “I can review things”. Hence this post. Oh, and check out that link, because he’s offering the kindle edition for free (for a limited time), so snap up a copy before it’s too late!
The Book
Poetry of a Madman
The Genre
Poetry
The Author
I don’t know much about Jason, so instead I will quote the blurb on his WordPress blog: “Short stories, rants, poetry, unfinished novels, and look! Cows!”
The Plot
It’s a book of poetry. It doesn’t have a plot. Sheesh.
Basically, it’s a collection of poems, most of them by Jason, with the first section devoted to guest poets.
The Review
Poetry of a Madman was a very interesting read. My experience with poetry is mostly limited to what I read in English class, so I didn’t have any expectations going in. And I was quite impressed with what I found.
Many of the poems are about serious topics — current issues, the human state, etc. — but there are also a selection of more light-hearted pieces that really drew me in. One of my favourite poems was “i am, part one”, which Jason wrote years ago, lost, and is now trying to recreate. I loved the cadence of the poem and the imagery he used — when I read it, I found myself kind of singing along in my head. I think this poem would make an excellent song.
Another favourite was “digital heartache”. I don’t want to give away too much, but to give you a taste of the awesome:
“my farmville crop is sprouting weeds
these angry birds have too many needs
my mafia family has ceased to get paid
and my warcraft warrior never gets laid”
The book has a lovely blend of poetry. There are sad poems, happy poems, quirky poems, funny poems, and thought-provoking poems. I’m a bubbly person by nature, so I enjoyed the funny/quirky ones the most. But overall I thought Poetry of a Madman was a great poetry collection, and I definitely recommend it to all you poetry lovers out there.
The Rating
4 out of 5 stars
Click here to purchase a copy of Jason Alan’s Poetry of a Madman.
Michelle Proulx - Author 