{"id":3346,"date":"2025-06-23T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3346"},"modified":"2025-06-23T12:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T12:04:00","slug":"starred-book-review-repeat-as-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=3346","title":{"rendered":"STARRED Book Review: Repeat As Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Repeat As Needed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Dustin Brookshire<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Poetry<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9781957248516<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 42 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Small Harbor Publishing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Bookshop<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Warren Maxwell<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Melding poetic forms, candid conversations, and calls against injustice, these poems are confessional, communal, rage-filled, compassionate, and above all, kind.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Melding poetic forms, candid conversations, and calls against injustice, these poems are confessional, communal, rage-filled, compassionate, and above all, kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cDustin\u2019s instinct is to argue against the compliment\u2014that\u2019s life with a narcissist parent. He (begrudgingly ) writes thank you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Zooming into the experiences, frustrations, and joys of modern life with a magnifying glass, the slim volume of poetry, Repeat As Needed<\/em>, offers validation, commiseration, and critique of the way we live our lives.<\/p>\n

In a fingerprint-like poetic voice that captures the unique cadences and peculiarities of the author, poems like \u201cThings That Definitely Suck\u201d list the myriad awfulnesses that one encounters on a day-to-day basis, or once in a lifetime, in one foreboding block of text .<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStuck on a Ferris wheel with a full bladder. Missing buttons. Chipping a tooth. A dust allergy. Misogyny.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, poems are minimalistic haikus, elegant villanelles, literal conversations traded back and forth with other poets, and quixotic repartees against the cliched comments that heterosexual people make about homosexuality. The diversity of form is thrilling, but it\u2019s the poetic voice winding through each piece that makes this an enthralling read.<\/p>\n

\u201cSob.
Sob until God fears
you\u2019ll one up His flood.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Each poem in Repeat As Needed<\/em> is accompanied by a subheading that name-checks an inspiration or literary jumping off point. This in itself creates a beautiful sense of poetic lineage and history\u2014it is a collection very much in touch with contemporaries and forbearers.<\/p>\n

When viewed in combination with the two explicit conversation poems (\u201cDustin Wants To Write A Poem With Caridad\u201d and \u201cDustin Wants To Write A Poem With Nicole\u201d) that trade block paragraphs between Brookshire and another poet\u2014each poet writing about themselves in the third person\u2014this collection takes on the aspect of a community. Many voices are drawn into contact with Brookshire\u2019s. The lively chatter between poets and thinkers actively performs some of the values that become apparent in the collection\u2019s denunciations of homophobia, misogyny, and discrimination of all stripes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was straight,
my father would say,
I\u2019d rather one of my sons
blow my brains out
than tell me he\u2019s gay.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the real pleasures of reading these poems is discovering the way poetic form and the uses of concrete space inflect a voice. Brookshire\u2019s voice doesn\u2019t falter in navigating brutalist blocks of text, slim lines of repetition, and meandering, minor epic stories of being frightened by religious tales as a child. Yet, each new structure on the page brings out another aspect of Brookshire\u2019s language. There is the heavy potency of a poem that can simply declare \u201cAll we had was lust\u201d<\/em><\/strong> and let those lines resonate alone on the page. Then there\u2019s the prolix excitement of a voice that loves speaking and free associating as we see in \u201cThings That Definitely Suck\u201d and the conversation poems. Through different forms, the different faces of the poet come into beautiful relief.<\/p>\n

A passionate, richly articulated snapshot of life, poetic community, and the many identities that are wrapped up in a single individual, Repeat As Needed<\/em> is a gorgeous poetry collection.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Bookshop<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading Warren Maxwell\u2019s book review of Repeat As Needed<\/em> by Dustin Brookshire! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Book Reviews<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>IBR Blog<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Resources for Writers<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post STARRED Book Review: Repeat As Needed<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repeat As Needed by Dustin Brookshire Genre: Poetry ISBN: 9781957248516 Print Length: 42 pages Publisher: Small Harbor Publishing Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Warren Maxwell Melding poetic forms, candid conversations, and calls against injustice, these poems are confessional, communal, rage-filled, compassionate, and above all, kind. Melding poetic forms, candid conversations, and calls against injustice, these poems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}