This review was first published in the print monthly
Entrepôt (Sept. 2011) published in New Orleans from Trembling Pillow Press.
Surprised by French
Fries by Joel Dailey
500 Limited Edition
Letterpress and Hand Bound
With poems set on an Olympia
typewriter (1971 edition), Joel Dailey delivers thirteen poems and one letter
that bemuse, ridicule, and occasionally poignantly deliver returns on
contemporary society and its popular preoccupations. Surprised by French Fries embodies a voice and a tone that subtly
undercuts the everyday state of disaster that most of American is awash in by
employing that age-old double punch of clever pun and wit to strip away the
veil without leaving anyone uncomfortably abashed. Dailey’s balance in his
repertoire allows the reader to feel as though they are part of the “club,” a
group who not only can volley his political innuendo but who also are able to
maneuver through Entertainment Weekly shout-out, “I know why Vince left Jen”
and advertisement pitches “Extend your outdoor living space” (The 3:10 to
Yuma). In the opening poem “What’s Wrong with Lou Dobbs? or Feel More at Home
in the Islands With Instant Hawaiian,” Dailey delivers his characteristic rapid
succession of hard hitting lines stacked up to carry (or push) you from image
to image, from geographic point to metaphorical conclusion: a commercial, a
phone message on your voicemail, Wall Street closing, an overheard
conversation, the Internet, writing students. The whole poem turns on the
making of poems and Dailey pulls the rug out, always having the last laugh:
“Ladies & G’s, the next generation of foam,” Echoed in the last word is
form, and rereading the poem the subject seems to align into an ars poetica or perhaps it’s a nod to poethical wagers, in direct contrast to Wall Street and economic
sustainability on the eve of America’s first 21st century
depression.
“The Ear Wax Removal System”
promises personal hygiene as it mocks the nation’s favorite past time: “I’ve
gone from Facebook to Assbook.” The poet assures us, “I’ve purchased the Ear
Wax Removal System/ So I’d be sure to hear the Muse.” Again at first glance,
these poems seem funny, self-deprecating even, but the underpinnings point to
our seemingly nonchalant attitude of being inundated with information and
technology. The removal system points directly to a much-needed national
cleanse, one in which the poet can hear the Muses now being drowned out by
promises of sex appeal and “sudden relief.” Some of Dailey’s poems read like
code, if you can break the cipher, you win the prize. A poem like “4 Things All
Guys Keep Private” has a title reminiscent of a ten thousand times rehashed
Cosmo article, but Dailey does deliver 4 things and quite possibly solving this
puzzle will finally put an end to gender disparity.
“30 Things to Put You in A Good
Mood” is another one that will feel familiar, riffing as it does on society’s
ever increasing need for easy steps to happiness and in collusion with the bite
size portions that the media has trained us to fetch. Couched in this poem are references to New
Orleans political scandals, “Never take a bribe from a guy nicknamed ‘Pampy,’”
in addition to language borrowed from the latest Victoria’s Secret catalogue.
Normally, you would ask yourself what these things have in common, but Dailey’s
stomping ground is surprise, the surprise of language, the quirkiness of
contrast and juxtaposition and like all good poets, he turns language on its
head in order to shock us out of our stasis so we can join him in:
“anticipating (eagerly) the post consumer environment.”
Dailey assures us, “Whatever you’re used to this ain’t it.” And that’s exactly why it
works.
