There was Histrionic Laughter at the Clown’s Cadaver

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Pub Date 26 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 31 May 2021

Description

N. Alexsander Sidirov is without a doubt an original. Oscillating between lyrical poetry, dramatic, confessional, and abstract the only thing that seems consistent is the amount of surprise experienced every page. Calling this book a modern poetry collection feels like somewhat of a misnomer considering the novel and avant-garde imagery, its ominous and often omnipresent eye, and ultimately the transcendental climax that is difficult to compare to other works in the genre. Each poem in this book has a specific place along an emotional odyssey that blisters with novelty and an almost lynchian flare for the surreal and absurd. This is the matter that dreams are made of...

N. Alexsander Sidirov is without a doubt an original. Oscillating between lyrical poetry, dramatic, confessional, and abstract the only thing that seems consistent is the amount of surprise...


A Note From the Publisher

It must be noted, that the book is meant to be read in a physical format. From what I’ve heard from NetGalley readers the PDF is the format that works best. There seems to be some errors with the Mobi file on thé Netgalley App

It must be noted, that the book is meant to be read in a physical format. From what I’ve heard from NetGalley readers the PDF is the format that works best. There seems to be some errors with the...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9798669256005
PRICE US$11.99 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)

Average rating from 34 members


Featured Reviews

As a LGBTQ reader, the Queer themes in his poetry was relatable and very very real. In his poem, "Heteroassasins/When I was Fighting with Charlie", he discusses the fears of potentially becoming a victim of hate crime. I personally can connected with this because it's real. Another poem in this collections that deals with LGBT themes, is "s t o r m c h a s e r" and although it didn't need to be to press it theme, I liked the representation. The themes surrounding wanting to be a "fixer" in a relationship was relatable to me, again because it was a real experience to the poet. It might actually be one of my favorites from this collection.

Also, another poem that grabbed my attention was "HYPER(IMPER)EALITY", I really liked the line on page 94: "I know, that the lie can continue for as long as you choose to avoid staring at the teeth of the beast".

This collection of poems is very creative and interesting to read. There are no rules in poetry and Sidirov really showcases this through his intentional choices in typography (more on that later). For example, his use of key-smashes in "S h e l t e r M e l t e r" was actually quite clever. However, the spacing of the words seems to be intended to be artistic, but it's really incomprehensible at times and took away from his writing. (This may be a pdf error) I'm not going to lie, I really had a hard time reading this because of that (I'm not including this on my Goodreads because I ended up skipping a few pages because of it as well.)

Overall, this was a very well written collection of poems despite the typography errors!!!!

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“I should have known everything good died when blockbuster did.”
Man, this line got me. Like totally got me. Times were so much simpler then. So much more carefree. But no looking back. This work of art created by N. Alexsander Sidirov,
is to me, an ode to life and to learning and to moving forward. I’ll admit, some of it went past me or through me and I’m not sure I totally got the intended meaning but it meant something to me.
The formatting for the ebook was a bit off but that didn’t really matter to me. I would like to read the print book as the author intended it to be read, though. I read this work in one sitting and took it all in one big gulp. I think you should, too.
Definitely a unique voice I’m eager to read more from - thank you, N. Alexsander Sidirov, for sharing a bit of yourself with us.

“That suitcase is heavy and where you’re going you’ll need to pack light”

Thank you to N. Alexsander Sidirov and #NetGallery for an ebook of #ThereWasHistrionicLaughterattheClownsCadaver for an honest review. Review will be posted on NetGallery, Goodreads, and Facebook.

P.S. Love the cover art!

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poetic, lyrical and fascinating. It definitely needs to be read more than once to be pondered appreciatively, That can be a pain since I believe the more easily consumed and accessible your work is, the more beautiful the poetry but there's joy and freedom in seeing someone so freely express themself, even if others can't fully grasp its depth.

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This collection of poetry was UNREAL to say the least. Every single page filled me with new emotion. The secret poems and messages throughout made me feel like I was on a scavenger hunt.

As a gay trans man, the lgbt themes of this book hit hard. Specifically when he speaks of the people he met during his time in the shelters.

My favorite poems were We're all Just Dancing on Something's Grave, S h e l t e r M e l t e r, SIGNS, and God is on Their Death Bed and They've Requested You by Name.

The only downside I had was that due to the formatting, some of it was hard to read.

This is a must have for any poetry lover.

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While reading There was Histrionic Laughter at the Clowns Cadaver, I felt like I was riding a rollercoaster that was defying the laws of physics and gravity. Every poem slams you into a new emotional state and feeling. Sidirov switches between lyrical pieces to simple narratives explaining a moment in his life. I loved it! Every page was unexpected and nothing like the rest. I do believe I would need to read this many times to fully understand each poem, however, I believe that's the case with all poetry. Sidirov did a spectacular job placing a smattering of stories about his own experiences in the "modern poetry" language that provided relatable insight to his life. Specifically, the poems "This Land is not my Homeland and my Homeland is not my Home" and "T.S. ABRAXAS" hit me the hardest.

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{Digital copy provided by NetGallery}
This is a truly unique work of poetry, and literature in general. It questions the nature of life, love, and modern existence, all while being very queer in the best ways.

Parts like

“I still have dreams
Where you are tearing me apart
Quartered in the quarters
Putting horse before the cart
You are throwing all your pearls at the swine - -
I think that’s me
I am picking them all up
Because a girl has got to eat
Now I am throwing stones
at the locked window
of this guy I used to be”

and

“so I am sitting here on the edge of a park bench and oblivion
just waiting for the moment when the usher lets me in”

and

“and then briefly I shake myself
from the opiate high of apathy
to look for god again
in a jello pudding recipe”

will stay with me for a long time, and I have underlined and bookmarked countless more.

As others have commented, the formatting if the digital copy is hard to read, but with zooming in I was able to combat that a little.

While I enjoyed a lot of lines, passages and pages, this collection was vague and disconnected at times, with some things working for me and some distinctly not.
Some pages just seemed pointless and annoying, vulgar at times, not always in a tasteful way, or abstraction for abstraction’s sake. Definitely more than worth a read though!

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Really interesting poetry book I would definitely recommend for an AP Lit or Lang level high school student. Sidirov's strength is in their prose and sudden insights into life as an adoptee and life as a young queer person. If you like abstract poetry, this one is for you. I also really enjoyed (maybe the wrong word) their sections on homelessness. I think that passage in particular would be really useful to include when teaching about that and other social issues in the classroom.

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well i don't have clothes to talk about this book (brazilian meme)

First, thanks to NetGalley and the author and publisher for making it available :)

Second, I think that everything I'll try to write about the book will not live up to what it was.

He mixes poem, poetry, prose, metaphor, autobiography; talks about love, anger, friendship, insecurity; plays with the disposition of words, forming images that express feelings; and a lot other things.

As I said, I can't express what I felt reading some things, because they were so personal and represent so many thoughts that I already had that it is difficult to say that everyone will like the book, because it will be different for each person.

Anyway, it's a wonderful book and one of my favorites.

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I was drawn into the cover of this one firstly, and then by the description. I’m trying to read more by LGBTQ+ authors and I do enjoy poetry so this fit well with my current reads.
One thing is that it’s very experimental in style, which gaps between letters, sentences and on one occasion a page of overlapping text. This doesn’t bother me like some other reviews I’ve seen, it only adds to the emotion conveyed and the urgency of the words.
Exploring themes such as family dynamics, sexuality, mental health, and sexual assault there are some slight trigger warnings. I find it hard to review poetry because it’s so subjective, and with this being a memoir type book as well it’s double hard. I did enjoy it, I would definitely read more from the author.
My only downfall with it (and this is all on me), hence not a full five stars, is that it felt way too smart for me to be reading. I felt at times I needed a dictionary beside me to fully understand what was going on.
Thank you to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for a review!

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Imagery, emotion, and artistic relevance brim over in this collection. I found much to enjoy about the reflections of N. Alexsander Sidirov, and much to keep thinking about.

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