Nocturama

<p><b>A dazzling second collection from “an immensely gifted poet” (Eduardo C. Corral, author of <i>Guillotine</i>).</b></p><p>Spanning Appalachia to California, Will Brewer’s new poems attempt to make sense of some of life’s darkest turns: a father’s bout with leukemia, the slog of mental illness, a friend’s early death, and the rise of environmental catastrophes in the West.</p><p>Yet despite these difficult moments, strands of light emerge: the smell of an orange on a plane, the starburst of a car hitting a power line, a citrus tree in California sun. Mysterious hair loss prompts dermatologist visits and reveals “how dignified it felt / to be looked at like that, to be read, / a record of past exposures / becoming a map to possible futures.” It is the type of knowing in which “knowing nothing for sure feels like a special kind of freedom.” Over time, a seemingly endless night gives way and an aubade opens to a new possibility: love.</p><p>The second book of poems from this rising and lauded author, <i>Nocturama</i> offers a presence of mind and spirit that notices the mysterious, even in the wake of disaster.</p>