RaveEntropyThere’s nothing flashy or exciting about the language. It’s simple and mundane, not trying to get in the way of itself. She’s not trying to entertain or manipulate the reader. She just wants to tell you what she remembers. It’s mostly horrific...at times tender...at times exciting...and occasionally funny ... she emphasizes the dailiness and almost ordinariness of anti-fascist action here ... It can be exciting but it’s not exceptional and that’s not a bad thing. We do it every day. We’ll keep doing it ... I think it’s intelligent and effective that Cruel Fiction, a book that aims to speak to leftist activists who come from differing backgrounds, talks about popular culture. It’s common ground ... The poems in Cruel Fiction have me asking questions. Sometimes they’re complex. Sometimes they’re simple. Sometimes they’re sad. Sometimes they’re funny. What connects them all is that they encourage me, and me as an activists and not necessarily as a poet, to question the cruel fiction of a government that insists on basing itself on hierarchical thinking and exploitation. Trevino’s new book helps leftist activists explore the context for our rage so our rage doesn’t destroy us, but helps us fight back.
