Exclusions

What happens when a central part of life as we know it does not exist? Noah Falcks latest collection answers this question in a playfully gloomy way that reveals the strange edges of our reality. Anyone who has experienced that rug-pulling sensation of change, of strangeness, will relate to Noah Falks Exclusions. Each lyric poem excludes a common subject, including topics such as fiction, modern technology, answers, government, and romance. By setting these subjects against a backdrop of obscurity and strangeness, Falck skillfully keeps readers invested and off-balance. Exclusions brings readers into a world where the wind is nothing more than a brilliant collection of sighs and the sun flattens into a sort of messy bruise over the lake. Even excluding many of the things we take for granted, Falcks lyric poetry includes so much: death, smoke, shadows, sadness, history. This collection will leave readers with a changed perspective on what is necessary, and how to deal with immense change. A 2020 Believer Book Awards Finalist, Exclusions has been praised for its ability to [keep readers] off balance, stumbling forward, and absolutely alive with both the inventive possibilities of lyric poetry and that rare experience of watching the genre redefine itself in a pair of this arts most capable hands. This is a genre-defining book of poetry that allows us to look into the past, present, and future to understand the foundations of sadness beginning with the needs of children.