The Blue Demon

There is a hell on earth and you've probably been there: a place we learn is homesometimes-dangerous, mythical and real. It is 'the world you cannot love' saysPrevost and he means that as a challenge. Every poem in The Blue Demon sees theexact pitiful things that make living difficult or impossible, and every poem singswith such force that beauty comes. And hope is possible. How do you turn riverwater into whiskey strong enough to clear your head? This book is that ambitiousand that good. - Steve Scafidi, The Cabinetmaker's WindowI love Chad Prevost's The Blue Demon. I love its willingness to follow the muse,and I love the wild rides that pursuit takes us on, as it does in 'Letter to a FirstLove after a Cosmic Vision'-('I have seen the future, Melinda, and you are in it').And perhaps I love best of all Prevost's sense of humor that leads us back to ourown lives, enriched. - Arthur Smith, The Fortunate EraIn his previous books, Chad Prevost had shown a willingness to experiment andthat he had an ear for the idioms, speech patterns and vernacular of the contemporaryAmerican characters that populated those poems. He has now grown deeperand wider in his listening, the hard-won empathy for his underdogs has sharpened,and he has honed the music of these voices into his finest work, plowing forwardwith a sensitivity and purpose that will enlarge every interaction. The best poetryalways rewards us with the road maps that show the world's hidden webbing, andheals the wounds inflicted by too much reason, unveiling the Truth in its Sundayclothes. Prevost's characters share their brushes with grace and wonder, and remindus just how fragile this life can be, and how majestic, the repeated surprises of itsmusical offerings like a clean dose of salts to our senses. - Keith Flynn, Colony Collapse Disorder