Almanac of Useless Talents

Fence poetry editor and rising star Michael Changs Almanac of Useless Talents is a must-read for poetry lovers and newbies alike. This is a useless Almanac. Theres no seasonal data, only poems good for leaving the club in haute couture with mid-level poets, for ambiguous sex, mouthy seductions, shoulder-turns of cold cock disrespect. Part confessional, part experimental, and completely original, Chang is a poet read in classrooms and on phone screens with equal fervor. Each poem deftly deforms self into outrageous performance. This poetry snaps and twists so fast youll miss things: the intricate formal craft, the bitchy wordplay. A dopamine rush delving into desires throbbing networks of flesh and circuit, identity, relationships, Aznness, queerdom, and more that would arouse Ashbery envy, Changs playful style is edgy, surprising, and delightful. In Changs world, sentiment is dcor: come face the amusing ever-ache of our desires or go ahead and try to outrun them.