 Bowling Pin Fire
AUTHOR: Andy Quan In his second book of poems, Andy Quan recounts a series of firsts: first time listening to Joni Mitchell's Blue, first loss of a friend, first dance with a man. Building on earlier explorations of memory, sexuality, and culture that are the signatures of his best work, Bowling Pin Fire transcribes the arc of one man's life from growing up Chinese in Vancouver, to seeing the world through the lens of fearless, free-spirited youth, to arriving, as we all must, at the initial cautionary glimmerings of midlife. The rituals and rivalries of grade school, the later experiments with everything new, the close-knit dynamics of family and far-flung friends, the happenstances and fidelities of love, the elation and hangover of travel to unexpected quadrants of the globe all prompt the quality of reflection necessary to the leading of a truly examined, contemporary life. Andy Quan asks of himself and of everyone: how to be fully in and of the moment? Bowling Pin Fire is filled not with empty answers but with the good fortune of worldly insight. Check out Andy's website for more information: http://www.andyquan.com/bpf.htm REVIEWS: "In an era of
HIV/AIDS the fragility of life is omnipresent alongside the blossoming
and wilt of relationships. For a man of Chinese heritage to be candid
about his homosexuality and to describe that passion so tenderly and honestly
is reason alone to read Andy Quan, but he is in his own right, categories
aside, a gifted writer and one able to put observation into poetry as
easily as conversation whilst pricking conscience and memory simultaneously." "Bowling Pin
Fire is a fine example of how personal family stories and childhood
memories become political when they are articulated in such a way that
readers can't help but be affected… Quan articulates sentiments that
we would all do well to hear. Namely, that maturity is sexy. Self-awareness
is hot. Comfort in one's own life and personal relationships and in one's
own self is something that happens over time—with considerable struggle—and
it marks our bodies in one way or another." "Quan writes
with an enticing style whose conversational simplicity blossoms smoothly
into intricate, evocative imagery; the result is poetry both musical and
highly visual."
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