Universe, Disturbed Reviewed by The Barbaric Yawp

Universe, Disturbed by Janice Brabaw {is} a collection of poems written mostly during Brabaw's "raw and melodramatic" high school and college years in rural upstate New York. .... Universe, Disturbed is a wild, emotional roller coaster. Brabaw doesn't hold anything back - she gives you all of it, the highs and the lows, the lost loves, the suicide attempts, the fierce physical lust. I'm not crazy about poor-me literature - I mean, everyone has problems - but this is different. There is a strange blend of euphoria in this work, an unmistakable feeling of power. As she's gobbling down pills or slicing herself with a knife, Brabaw thinks about her parents, her friends, her loved ones - but it doesn't seem to matter. She's on this path of self-destruction, despite everything.

What's weird is the power I mentioned earlier. Towards the end of the book, when I'm exhausted by blistering accounts of mangled love and attempted suicide, we encounter a series of robust songs - a drinking song ("Drink it down ladies/drink it down gents/Another shot for love/ Another shot for hate"), a punk song ("You never loved me/you wanted what I had/You never loved me/such a nasty fucking lad"), a love song ("When your standards are low/You're never lonely"), a Riot Grrl song ("I could kick your ass/But I won't/I could break your heart/But I won't/I could end your life/But I won't"), an angry punk song ("Hid the knife in my pink panties/No one would doubt my sanity"), and some regular songs, five of them "Ooh I've been warned about/ Boys like you with their guitars/Close my eyes and drift into your song/Take me where I want to go/I'm all about the ride..../The ride... the ride....")

Another thing that saves this book from utter bathos is the sarcastic attitude Brabaw has toward herself. When in the mood, she winks at her own rants and furies, finishing off a suicide poem with 'maybe I should just take my damn anti-/depressants," as though the entire episode could have been easily avoided. When you are done with this book, you'll feel as though you've really been through the wringer.

by John Berbrich