The Lesser Tragedy of Death

December 15, 2009
In her lyrical fiction debut, "Dreaming in Cuban", Garcia beautifully conveyed the disjointed emotionsresentment, lament, despondencythat strike the loved ones of addicts. The poems in this first collection are separated into the years that the narrator's brother lives and, eventually, dies. The theme may be universal, but the story is far from common, as each poem paints a series of foreboding moments that compound with the anguish of the troubled brother seemingly doomed to failure: "The deluxe world we live in/ was crumbling. Who had time to welcome/ one small boy?" Garcia is at her strongest in the first half of the collection as she describes the roots of the addict's slow, pitiable descent. But the alienable voice and disengaged forms in the second half are still remarkable: "I don't know where he came from he doesn't feel apart of me I get so upset thinking about him." VERDICT While not as raw as "Last Call: Poems on Addiction, Alcoholism, and Deliverance", edited by Sarah Gorham, this work is more melodic and personal and will appeal to connoisseurs of contemporary poetry.Ashanti White, Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro

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