How to Flit

In this strange, funny, and fast-paced book, How to Flit, flitting is something like the opposite of counting: skipping from one phrasal unit to the next, without accumulation or consistent measure. These poems are filled with numbers, but they are not mathematical; the lines feel intuitively arranged, and they make a kind of intuitive sense. The unit of composition is surprise: the poems flit between discursive registers quickly. The dominant tone is one of dense colloquial erudition, although glimmers of many other recognizable and unrecognizable discourses continually interrupt. At once sculpted, ambient, and humorous, How to Flit is an interesting example of post-Language collage-based writing that uses a wide variety of source material to create odd and often beautiful linguistic textures. But more than that, it’ s a great read.— Steve Zultanski