Pamela August Russell

'B IS FOR BAD POETRY' is a collection of Pamela August Russell’s unexalted (but thoroughly hysterical) poems that mock, accuse, defy, undermine, and point and laugh at the world around us—and at anything that takes itself too seriously. Her non-canonical oeuvre includes: “Tea For Two (A Tragedy)”; “Inappropriately Touched By An Angel”; “Love Is Like A Toilet Bowl” and many more. But don’t be fooled, these are well-crafted and intelligent poems. Miss Russell breathes new life into the genre by making it genuinely accessible without dumbing it down.

When the nightly news has you hiding under the covers, Pamela August Russell’s wry, sardonic wit is here to help navigate the delicate world around us. Miss Russell writes bittersweet, mercurial and very funny poems about the hazards of love and the economy: “Capitalism Can Fall Not Like I Fell for You”; love and commercialism: “But L’OREAL Said I Was Worth It.”; or love and failure: “A Beginners Guide To Mediocrity.” B IS FOR BAD POETRY is a collection of poems from a new voice that is supremely witty and delightfully engaging. Who knew bad poetry could be this good?

So forget Shakespeare. Don’t count on Donne. Shelley and Keats: banished! There’s absolutely no poet laureate from the golden or any other age. Fawning PhDs in love with little-understood verses by long-dead writers should go elsewhere, this is poetry for the rest of us. Look out Dorothy Parker, there’s a new girl on the chopping block!