RaveLos Angeles Review of BooksIn the promotional copy for Pricks in the Tapestry, the queer poet Jameson Fitzpatrick forewarns his reader that he \'[does] not always identify with the speakers of these poems, even as I recognize their speech (and sometimes, their desires) as my own.\' Like many of the poems in this debut collection, the eloquence and candor of Fitzpatrick’s note works as a smokescreen. Which speech and desires does he claim, you might ask, and which does he reject? How often counts as not always? ... Fitzpatrick is at his harshest when he cuts through the smokescreen and addresses himself ... Fitzpatrick’s excesses feel authentic, his revelations glorious. Pricks in the Tapestry delivers few of the straightforward pleasures that the neoliberal queer movement asks of its writers. You might not understand Fitzpatrick’s intentions until the third or fourth read; his debut is heavy and rigorous and, yes, abrasive. But this summer, it’s a deeply urgent release. Smokescreens are barriers, of course, but Fitzpatrick happens to know the way out.
Paul Binding
MixedLamba LiteraryBinding too often relies on Martin’s journalism assignments to propel the plot forward instead of a palpable yearning to discover identity or belonging. At times, the intimate interactions between Martin and Hans lack emotional impact. One can’t help but wish our protagonist would oppose his circumstances more vigorously like Ibsen’s characters do ... Unlike Ibsen, Binding seems resistant to explore such norms beyond the surface level, much less violate them ... Binding is most renowned for his scholarly work and literary criticism ... The scope and rigor of his historical research is a true accomplishment. He renders 19th-century Dengate colorfully, and his period dialogue scans as believable, but it yields a tepid reading experience.
