The Book of Goodbyes

WINNER OF THE 2013 JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARDWinner of the 2013Isabella Gardner Poetry AwardThe "Los Angeles Times" describedJillian Weise's debut poetry collection as "a fearless dissection of thetaboo and the hidden." In this second collection she forwards her bold,sexy poetics by chronicling an affair with a man she names "BigLogos." These poems throw into question sex, the law, identity, sentiment,and power, shifting between lyric and narrative, hyper-realism and magicalrealism, fact and fiction.I've Been Waiting All Night"I reckon you wereasleep with your girlbefore the phone rang. Make something up.""I'vebeen waiting all night to tell youabout the couple in post-War France, ""thewoman fresh in her graveand the man who didn't like his mistress dead,""no sir, and so exhumed her, to the dismayof his wife, who had himarrested""for the stink he made.She was reburied, returned to thedead.""After jail, he dug her up to fuck again.Attached suction cupsand crafted""a wig from a broom. You can go now.I'm more in the moodthan you're used to."Jillian Weise--an above-the-knee amputee with acomputerized prosthetic--identifies as a cyborg and has discussed the identityin essays for the "New York Times" and "Drunken Boat." Herbooks include "The Amputee's Guide to Sex" (Soft Skull Press, 2007)and "The Colony" (Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press, 2010). She is anassistant professor at Clemson University, a contributing editor at the"South Carolina Review," and co-director of the Annual ClemsonLiterary Festival.