spuytenduyvil

Ken Baron's debut collection Semi-Sleep ponders the quiet joys, the not-so-quiet humiliations, and the ceaseless quests for kinship and understanding that populate our daily lives. Fueled by desire, isolation, paternal duty, even alcohol, these extraordinary poems reflect the hopeful and disappointing elements of our existence that, in this poet’s hands, are both unbearable and beautiful to behold.

 

“DIRECT, RESONANT, UNAFFECTED, AND KEENLY OBSERVED, Kenneth Baron’s début poetry collection, Semi-Sleep, teases out the mysteries and realities of contemporary life. The subjects of his poems can be as ageless as the anticipation of the birth of a child or as time-specific as a sports fan’s dismay at the decline of an aging pro, or a jobseeker’s mingled relief and resentment on his first day back to work. Every one of these poems feels as if it could have been a short story, and each answers the question it suggests, which is as rare as it is affecting. With Semi-Sleep, Baron decodes the American everyday.”

                    —Liesl Schillinger