Description
Book SynopsisDr. Mephisto is in the form of a long sequence of poems. It traces Mephistopheles as he ranges freely through time and space, at times a laconic observer, at others a thuggish participant, but always a presence wherever there is conflict and suffering and whenever there is work to be done. Far from being oppressive, this is an exciting and highly original work, whose exhilarating pace is set by Emery’s innovative use of language and form, and whose acerbic political edge keeps the vision sharp and fresh. Compelling, hard-hitting, and grimly funny, Dr Mephisto will be remembered long after being read, and a significant new poetic voice will have been recognised.
Trade ReviewChris Emery’s Dr. Mephisto lets the Devil have a little fun and reminds me that eternal damnation can be a Godsend.
-- Simon Barraclough * Magma *
These poems reimagine excruciatingly the ‘double life’ of the body itself, the life of nervous self-domination and subjection.
-- Keston Sutherland * Quid *
Recreating a goldmine, an apt circle of Hell, he’s also creating a trope for the destructive greed and wealth of the consumer West.
-- Herbert Lomas * Ambit *
A good first collection.
-- Tony Frazer * Shearsman Magazine *
Vivid, pungent stanzas.
-- M.C. Caseley * Stride Magazine *
Certainly you will not have read any other poetry book like this, and Goethe and Christopher Marlowe must surely have been looking approvingly over Chris Emery’s shoulder when he was writing, gasping at his command of language.
-- Anne Born * Leviathan Quarterly *
Table of Contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- The Pendulum
- The Gift
- The Levitation
- Hermes Lives
- Mephisto Sleeps
- The Evocation Speech of Asmoday
- Underground
- The Flight
- The Burial
- The End
- Sebastião
- Köpfe
- Mephisto’s Pockets
- The Moment
- The Scourge
- The Hippogriff
- The Crucifixion
- Mephisto Sweeps the Desert
- Mephisto Redivivus
- Mephisto Deals the Tarot
- The Prayer
- Shulamith
- The Mother
- Lullaby
- To Tease Contrariwise
- Boom Ballast
- Mattress Thought
- Udder Music
- Transformer
- Exterminator
- Pandemonium
- Cleaving
- Ariadne
- Quoit
- Melatonin
- Zion
- Dreck
- Shulamith’s Night Song
- Shulamith’s End Song
- Dream Bunions
- Bucket Elegy
- Germinator
- Generator
- Drum Song
- Zero Start Scenario
- Notes
