Death & Disaster Series

Book excerpt: Poetry. LGBTQIA Studies. Lonely Christopher's debut poetry collection was a controversial cris de coeur that attracted scorn and praise on its initial release for an unsparing portrayal of a young alcoholic gay writer struggling to find meaning in the loss of his mother to cancer. Inspired by Rimbaud's derangement of the senses, Christopher embraces an enfant terrible persona, unafraid of raw emotions, scrawling intense and devastating lyrics that push verse to its breaking point. In a combination of experimental and confessional modes, using a complex array of styles, personal bereavement is trapped between penury and hatred of capitalism. This notorious volume has been acclaimed as a contemporary classic of the queer avant-garde.