Flowers of Anti-Martyrdom

Dorian Geisler's beguiling debut collection of poetry solves the problems of audacity--with audacity. A darkly uncanny romp through the lives of others, Geisler's fast-moving poetry and understated/maximalist aesthetic manage to convey a burgeoning world filled with strangers whose identities are playfully--sometimes diabolically--half-revealed. Flowers of Anti-Martyrdom is Kafka mixed with Tarantino; it's Invisible Cities--except instead of beautiful, imaginary cities, the poet introduces us to disconcertingly realistic humans in all their outlandish, casual perversity, exalted banality, and moral questionability. With Flowers, Geisler has written a collection that's open to as many readings as there are readers--and yet that's always a genuine, unambiguous delight.