Logorrhea Dementia

Dargan imagines parts of his body abandoning the whole, his heart walking out of his chest, but he always 'remain[s] beautiful in the event / of emergency.' His sneaky, cynical humor finds inspiration in sources as diverse as cartoons, bad movies, overheard cell phone conversations. Dargan titles one of my favorite poems 'I'll See It When I Believe It.' With vividness, with style, over and over: he's made a believer out of me.

Kyle Dargan has not let contemporary poetics fool him, so don't let Kyle Dargan fool you. He's a romantic (small r) with an insatiable desire to construct new meaning in order to heal old experiences. In Logorrhea Dementia, Dargan puts his foot not just into his mouth but also into his heart, worrying the reader into reading experiences that are as otherworldy as they are logical. You will either love this poet or be afraid of the way he integrates theory and prosody then pulls them apart again. Both hip and academic, serious and laid back, he seems never to exist on the page without the strength of both of his eyes doing different things in the name of all of his senses.

Kyle Dargan's new collection is an uprising--and an extremely artful one. These fierce and abrasive lyrics and jeremiads possess a visceral immediacy that makes much of the writing of his generational peers seem timid. Be forewarned--you should handle this book with asbestos gloves.

Kyle Dargan has already demonstrated that he is a good poet. With Logorrhea Dementia he has become an exceptional poet, and the sort of figure we will need in the future.