Best Selling Jewish Porn Films
by Wayne Koestenbaum
Turtle Point Press
So name some Jewish porn films already. How about Jewish Pizza Boy: He Delivers? Or the scandalous Tight Jewish Assets? Or even Diary of a Jewish Sex Fiend. All fictions, and the world is a poorer place for it. Wayne Koestenbaum writes poetry, novels, and nonfiction, and while I’ve yet to sample his other works, this collection of self-reflective poems reveals his soothing mid-life melancholy and sex life. Loaded with rhythm and meaning, Koestenbaum’s verses intermingle odd yet engaging sets of words, while the occasionally dropped article gently obscures meaning.
The opening lines “I used to be pretentious, then I grew simplistic” (“Stanza in my 39th year”) accurately captures the mood of the book. Few of the poems run more than a page or so, yet they convey a state of mind that may take multiple readings to grasp, an effort worth making with these pieces. There’s no iambic pentameter, no “moon – June – spoon” rhymes, but rather a structured set of lines and letters leading to…somewhere. My favorites include “John Wayne’s Perfumes,” which lists fragrances that propelled him to greatness in Hatari! and How the West Was Won. It’s not so much the details, but the idea that the Duke was confident enough to actually wear “Baby Doll.”
There’s some sex here, just enough to keep the book out of the Young Adults section but no more than a normal human might engage in. The title poem is merely a list of potential projects (and I claim Fair Use on the excerpts above); though none are as humorous as some Internet joke lists circulating via email. Occasional sex references appear, and you’ll know them when you see them. Still, it’s the reflections on aging and accomplishment that make this a worthwhile read. Yes, Dear Reader, this is a slim volume of free verse. But don’t hold that against it, Bubbee.
Turtle Point Press: http://www.turtlepoint.com
