Fast: Poems Hardcover – May 2, 2017

Graham's hallmarks are here: complexity, stream-of-consciousness, and philosophical rumination. The inhuman and death become focal points--which makes some sense given that Graham was recovering from a cancer diagnosis at the time it was written. The variety of speakers can be dizzying here: Graham uses bots, a holy shroud, ocean floor, to a medium, and even corpses as the source of the narrative voice. Thematically, Graham pairs mortality with the speed of information and the dizzying way life can rush past even the most observant. In this speed, Graham encourages us to let go of narrativity: "She will finish her business and let go of the stories. The stories are an/ impediment." While some of Graham's use of alternating long lines paired with shorter evocative dropped lines, here Graham lets the poems unfold often into quite long lines and poems.

excellent collection

Jorie Graham in her latest collection of poems,” Fast”, does a beautiful job at writing with a "stream of conciseness". The title” Fast” at first gives the reader the normal reaction to that word. We think about speed right away. And although her literary techniques do speed up her poems, not everything is about fast motion. She recreates a world with nature, words, her dad, and robots in her collection. For example, she makes us aware of passing of her beloved father and how the process was grieving him. How robots are designed with all of this technology and are less human than the rest of us. This collection does a great job at making you think about the natural and unnatural.

When I first flipped through this book I was intimidated by and thought it would be difficult to get through, it doesn't look like what you typically think of when you think of poetry. However, very quickly I realized that these poems were captivating and made me think about what it meant to be human. Jorie Graham uses different styles of placing the lines on the page to drag the reader into her thought-provoking content. This book provides an ignition into thinking about the limits of humans and our relationships with one another/robots. If you haven't read this collection before I highly recommend!

Jorie Graham's writing is unlike any other poet I've read from. Her style of writing pushes the reader out of their comfort zone- in a good way. It was definitely a challenging read for me at first. Her self-reflective stream of consciousness allows her to successfully flow between her own perspective and that of others. As an aspiring poet myself, it was very helpful and eye-opening to read such a unique style like Graham's. I'm thankful to have been exposed to her writing and I am inspired by her work! I encourage you to approach her writing with an open mind.

Jorie Graham in her latest collection of poems,” Fast”, does something particularly rare and difficult. The title” Fast” at first seems to assume the familiar meaning of the word with poems on the rapid privacy loss by “Bots” and the awful destruction of dragline fishing. These initial poems are classic Graham familiar and thought provoking work; but are simply preliminaries. The opening line of “Reading to My Father”, changes this. Here the title assumes its intended meaning, the wasting loss of bodily and emotional substance. Ms. Graham recreates the universal overwhelming that she as a grown child felt witnessing the passing of her beloved father. With her deft use of words, symbols, and layout, Ms. Graham recreates in an almost cinematic manner the emotional overwhelming that she experienced. “Fast” evokes an unexpected visceral reaction in the reader that sets it apart. "Fast" is a worthy read.

Probably the best book by one of our geniuses. Dramatic, emotional, soulful.

Focused and fast (oh fast), this is Graham's best book yet.

Best of Graham. Seering.