Scott Abels's first book, Rambo Goes To Idaho (Blazevox 2011) conflates the identity of film character John Rambo and editor-poet Scott Abels, oftentimes with humorous results. In the opening poem "Screenplay," we find "Rambo, checking his email" (9) and "drawing diagrams / of sex moves with his knife in the sand"(10), among other activities, while he pursues an MFA at Boise State University. Later, we discover that Rambo "started a journal called Country Music" (Hey, just like Scott Abels). And so goes the collection: a quirky examination of self with poems that are "brutally / autobiographical" (19), all through the persona of a Hollywood-constructed action-hero who "is a product of the world" (9): the world and the individual as a singular farce.And if that's not reason enough to read Abels's debut collection, check out the trailer for First Blood to really get your juices flowing:
This sounds pretty epic--should I buy this? JA
ReplyDeleteJA, see if the SA will do a trade w/ you, this way you can get the book and get your own work out there.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where, but I've read some of these poems somewhere and liked them...though for my $$$, Rambos 2 & 3 were a little more engaging for the average viewer like myself. -tm
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