Chemically Coated Personalities

I quite enjoyed this book of poetry. A lot of the imagery and symbolism was very fresh, making for evocative and interesting poems that kept my interest throughout the whole collection. There were a couple things about this collection that really stood out to me-- I was very drawn in by the foreword, which was the story of the two notebooks that the poetry came from. The second thing of note was the titles of the poems: they were often unexpected in ways that made you spend more time on each poem, helping direct you to see new and interesting levels of meaning that you otherwise would probably not know to seek out.

Lipscomb’s poetry is striking. Many poems land with something like an emotional punch. Even those that I may not have connected with, or enjoyed, contain an element, a line, or something that stood out. Especially striking is the foreword, and the open discussion of his process, his reliance on his notebooks. As a teacher, this is something I’d definitely share with my students - it’s revelatory and inspiring. One of the greatest strengths of these poems, however, is their titles. Each title demands you read the poem, just to see how the poem expands on that idea. Of course, it’s not always the case that that happens, but that’s okay, as the titles often serve as tiny poems of their own. Lipscomb’s first collection of poetry guarantees that you’ll be watching for more of his work.

Chemically Coated Personalities is an exploration of the layers we accumulate in life. Technology, social media, vice or love -- there is always something leaving its residue, altering our psyche and changing the person who looks back at us in the mirror.
This collection calls on all the emotions that go into making us human to lay bare the secrets and possibilities we regret not facing.
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🕭This book has been one of the most insightful read of 2018 (for me).
🕭It stands under Poetry genre(but it's more literature type poetry).
🕭I know it is said for most poetry and selfhelp books that they are to be read in parts, but this one, you NEED to take this one very slowly in order to really enjoy it. And even if you did try to take it fast it won't do justice to the words since the writing style is very complex hence making the read heavy.
🕭Not recommended for beginners especially if you are not open to all types of writing styles.
🕭All the peoms are exceptionally beautiful. It contains random conversations in between at times, more like excerpts but I didn't enjoy those as much as I did the poems.