Description
Book SynopsisThe varying poetics of both ancient and modern Arabic poetry inflect this book-long exploration of the materiality of the body, negotiating the terrain of love—and its denials. Zaher explores the landscape of life fraught with disappointments and occasional triumphs through fragments, lyrics, metatextual pauses, stutterings, translations of ancient poetry, and the occasional late-night email. This epic foray into fraught emotional territory is alive with Zaher’s particular gift of keen observation, deft whimsy, and superb intelligence.
Trade Review"The shuttling between Seattle and Cairo allows Zaher to trace out a hybrid poetic genealogy for himself. The fifth section of Consequences contains a three-page manifesto, 'Aesthetics: A Personal Statement - Rated R', in which Zaher claims a joint affinity with the 'Udhri' Arabic love poets and North American L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry, his own work situating itself on the 'middle ground between the lyrical and the experimental'. Zaher seems to owe just as much to the slacker hedonism of the New York School which finds its way, rather appealingly, into the translations of classical Arabic love poetry strewn throughout this section."--James Jiang "Cordite Review"
"Totally alive, funny, sharp, shapely, and never dull."--Wayne Koestenbaum
"Maged Zaher uses his poetry and prose to tackle both traditional and new explorations of eros. His lyrical outbursts and stark, dry declarative statements illuminate romance in a way that clinical discussions cannot hope to duplicate."--Joseph Sills "Al Jadid"
