Burning the Bacon - Softcover

Johnson, L. Austen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0692055495 ISBN 13: 9780692055496

Publisher: GenZ Publishing, 2018

Synopsis

In Burning the Bacon, L. Austen Johnson navigates through deeply personal terrain, laying waste to it and watching its flowers regrow in the four sections of the collection: “Gravity,” “In Memoriam,” “Entropy,” and “Parthenogenesis.” She explores topics such as chronic illness, love, heartbreak, memory, and growing up with a blend of accessible language and rich metaphor.

About this title

About the Author:

L. Austen Johnson is a debut poet from Virginia and counts herself lucky to be from the lovers’ state. She studied English, Archaeology, and Astronomy in university, which may explain her love for stargazing and time travelling. She’s an avid reader, a sometimes writer, and an attempter of various art projects. When she’s not in class, you can find her searching for animals to pet, singing off-key in the shower, and learning the art of making the perfect cup of tea. Connect with her on www.laustenjohnson.com, on Twitter @laustenjohnson, or on Goodreads, where you can see what she’s reading.

Review:

I don't read a lot of poetry, but I read enough that I've come to expect a certain formula from contemporary poetry collections, which is why I was surprised (in the best way) by how refreshing and candid this writing style is. There's none of the repetition and slowness that I find in a lot of poetry collections, and for it to be such a short book, it tackles so many important topics that more readers than not will be able to relate to, I think.

I want to ask if he knows what it's like
to be known like this--by what needs fixing.
To be known as broken, perpetually waiting
for that man-made thing that can actually repair me.

While the collection is primarily composed of poems that relate to lost or unrequited love and being wounded by a romantic interest, the pieces that stuck out the most to me were actually the ones about chronic illness. I don't know what the author's daily life is like, and I won't pretend that I can relate perfectly to the things she experiences, but as someone who has suffered from chronic pain problems for many years, I loved how understood I felt by many of these pieces.To wonder what life would be like without our physical limitations is something that a great deal of people can relate to, but the author manages to put those feelings so perfectly into words--what would it be like to snuggle up with my own body? To love my body for everything it is, even when it causes me such heartache? These thoughts are bittersweet, but for such a widely known struggle, it's not talked about often enough, and I endlessly appreciate L. Austen Johnson's willingness to go there.


All in all, I definitely recommend this poetry collection, especially if the topics involved are familiar ones to you. I think the author is a natural and shows a delightful amount of potential, and I am very interested in seeing what she writes next!- howlinglibraries.com

About this edition

• Publisher: GenZ Publishing
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0692055495
• ISBN 13: 9780692055496
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 73
• Illustrator: Baker Henry, Serbanoiu Ruxandra