Roadside Attractions: a Poetic Guide to American Oddities
Parnilis Media
$20.00
You can purchase a copy here.
Reviewed by guest blogger, Anthony Palma
Have you ever been driving down the road, and seen something so outlandish, so out of place, that it made you stop and look? This type of experience is precisely what inspired Roadside Attractions: a Poetic Guide to American Oddities, the debut chapbook by Jersey native John Wojtowicz. This collection delicately balances absurd humor, emotion, and insight as it walks us through the real history of America.
First of all, this book is gorgeous. It is full color, with pictures of the roadside attractions alongside each poem. As we read about a twelve-foot prairie dog, a dilapidated UFO, or a Montana field full of statues of the Buddha, we see what these places look like. The images, largely devoid of people, are at times funny, at times almost apocalyptic in their emptiness, but they always capture the tone of the poems that they accompany.
The poems themselves are a blend of narrative and observation. Though they often describe the attraction, they focus on stories surrounding the objects or their creation. As we read about Cadillac Ranch in the poem of the same name, we experience it through the eyes of 3 teens “unload[ing] from a ’91 Chevy Starcraft,” as they walk amongst the cars and tag them with spray paint. This, like many poems in the collection, shows us a moment and place in time without judgment or insight. It paints the scene, and allows us to infer the meaning. I think that is one of the main things that stood out to me about these poems. They are almost Zen-like in their depiction of the real, presenting the art embedded in the world around us so that we can experience it on our own.
This belief about the nature of the poems was reinforced by a brief conversation I had with the author about the collection. I ran into John at a poetry reading in West Chester, and in our conversation he mentioned that he viewed the collection as a work of ekphrasis. Having read and pondered the collection myself, this assessment totally makes sense. These attractions are not viewed with ridicule or parody – that would be easy in such circumstances, but it also would belittle the true nature and meaning of these attractions. John’s poetry expertly paints them for what they are: homages to things we as humans care about. Nowhere in the book is this clearer than in “Blue Whale of Catoosa.” In this poem, we learn that this clownish, 80-foot long depiction of a blue whale with a sailor’s hat on its head was a 34th wedding anniversary gift, a year “a few past pearl and a year short of coral.” This knowledge, and the story that the poem tells, emphasizes the meaning of this statue. It was not done for attention, or for publicity. This, like many of the attractions discussed in this book, was made out of love.
Just like the attractions themselves, this book was made out of love: a love of history, a love of the individual stories that make up our collective consciousness as Americans. For most of us, the stories we are told in history books hold little meaning. This book reminds us that maybe a field full of old spray-painted Cadillacs might tell us more about ourselves than any war story or newsreel can.
Anthony Palma’s work attempts to bridge the gap between poetry and other forms while addressing issues of social justice, identity, and existence. His work has appeared in publications such as Rue Scribe, Oddball Magazine, and the Show Us Your Papers Anthology. His debut collection of poetry, flashes of light from the deep (Parnilis Media), is now available on Amazon. His latest project is Palmoetry, a YouTube channel of his poetry and performances that are sometimes enhanced with music. Be sure to look him up on social media at anthonypalmapoetry.