I think this collections speaks of a dying experience of the gay man so rarely found in the mainstream media today, a presentation where all gays want is marriage or acceptance from the school bullies. These boys sure as hell aren’t the boys from Modern Family or Glee. These are the boys who don’t even believe true love possible, the boys who believe that even if it does exist the only grace and possible attainment of it is in the almost unreachable hookup sex, the one night stands, or buried deep behind the abuse of a bad relationship. It’s the boys who watch their crushes from afar at school and who must wait eight years for their grace, which only comes as a lonely blowjob after meeting again in a seedy bar. The boys who are bored by love, don’t believe in its saving power, and wish to annihilate it.

Dennis Cooper scares me with his sexual abuse, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, pederasty, and murder, but there is no denying that his work portrays all the stuff that gay men feel that people are too afraid to touch--the dirty side of longing, the feelings men get when any feeling of love and self-worth is prohibited, it’s dream love (even in dreams restricted, policed), it’s lust, it’s self-hatred. It’s the loneliest poetry in the world. ( )

Cooper's poetry reflects on the revery of youth and the darker side of queer culture, with his finger on the pulse of Cold War America through a specifically gay lense. The poems about John F. Kennedy Jr. are a prime example of his keen acumen in that regard. Beneath his sparse style lie images of great emotional depth with often tragic and horrific implications. The ground Cooper forges here is important because it is a perspective often ignored that he inhabits with particular skill. This selection of his poetry is brimming with the familiar ennui of his fiction, but this would be more accessible to most readers unfamiliar with his work. ( )

Summary

Cooper’s The Dream Police is a collection of free verse poetry and short prose written between 1969-1993. The collection is separated into three parts, by time period, and titled “Dumb,” “Deaf,” and “Blind.” Many Cooper fans will be familiar with the subject matter, and will take delight in witnessing the growth and exploration of the author, from early 1960’s pieces to the later inquiries of the 1990’s.

The Good

The collection’s structure is the first positive here. As an avid Cooper reader, I appreciated the works being divided into parts, chronologically, so as to allow the reader a glimpse at the progression of Cooper’s thematic interests and artistic talents. It is interesting, too, to get small glimpses at the sociological and sexuality elements so prevalent in Cooper’s novels – tentative explorations into sadism and “deviant” intercourse; short, intimate reflections on George Miles, the character who later inspires Cooper’s most popular set of works, known as “The George Miles” cycle. There is also a more direct query into Art than in any other Cooper piece that I can recall; though, of course, each of his works does explore a form of art and, in a way, the dark underbelly of aesthetics. This is Cooper more revealed than we are used to – seeing him, the author and narrator, break off from a story when it’s just not right, and ending it in his own words after having dragged the reader along on one or another insane journey only to leave it un-ended, unfulfilled (almost as if Cooper was saying, “well – if I can’t reach a conclusion that I’m satisfied with, why should I try to pawn one off on you?”)

The Bad

For a collection described as “poetry,” I was a bit confused. Granted, I am not a poet or poet-scholar. I do not read much poetry, nor did I study much in college or graduate school. I do understand the point & purpose of free verse, and can usually recognize it, but the majority of this collection seemed more like flash fiction, short story, and/or creative journaling than it did poetry. Maybe that’s how it works and I’m just unaware? Still, there were not as many stand-out “poems” in this collection as I would have liked or expected. I did enjoy many pieces, such as the one which depicts Fred Flintstone as a vicious, conscienceless murderer but, in comparison, I found the collection to be somewhat struggling with itself. It could be that a lot of the entries are earlier works, which are understandably less developed, less graphic, and less impactful than Cooper’s later novels and short stories. I also found that, though certain themes were present throughout (these same themes I mention above, and which are later developed masterfully – if disturbingly- in Cooper’s novels) the overall feeling was one of disjointedness; there just wasn’t much connection from one piece to the next, even within chronological sections. The headings “Dumb,” “Deaf,” and “Blind” also didn’t seem much related to their respective poems/pieces – but I could be overlooking something.

The Final Verdict 3.5 out of 5.0

As a fan of Cooper’s work, I found this to be one of few disappointments. In fact, I am quite certain that I have thoroughly enjoyed all but two of Cooper’s works to-date. I am certainly open to re-reading this, perhaps a closer reading, at some point in the future, as I believe I could have missed something (such as the connective fibers from piece to piece, section to section) and it may be fit to also get a better understanding of poetry in general before trying to critique it; still, as a self-called “expert” in Cooper, I think the words and emotions would transcend the medium, but it just didn’t quite make it there for me. ( )

To me, the best collection of poetry. Almost entirely free-verse, the poems here are raw, often visceral, depraved, and grim. It is not for people who look for poetry trying to find charm and beauty, unless they are able to find it in some of the most dark and controversial subject matter. ( )

This is Dennis Cooper at his best. Raw and sometimes difficult to digest, these are poems that take on the darker side of humanity. Amazing and wonderful. ( )