Book Review of "Pure Lunacy: Poetry about Moon and Human Orbits"

Is it a coincidence that when the moon is "fullish", we are at our most "foolish"?

In Pure Lunacy, Pushcart Prize-nominated poet Stephen Schwei takes readers on a celestial journey through hundreds of different cultural lenses and raw personal prisms. Whether he is paying tribute to Neil Young'sHarvest Moon or finding the soul of the universe in a "cutout in an outhouse door," Schwei writes with a "mass of contradictions" that is both deeply moving and raucously funny.

Like a witty guide, the poet begins with clever, conversational verses and a linguistic wink for us to embrace the moon's playful and shifting nature. The heart of the collection is a masterful Crown of Sonnets, an interlocking cycle where each poem honors the various names given to the moon (e.g. Rainbow Fish, Hungry Ghost, and When Horns Are Broken Off) by diverse cultures around the globe. It then moves into an intimate memoir with riotous social commentary, and ends in the wonderfully erratic "lunacy" of the human experience. After all, it is us watching from below that gives the moon its meaning—

"The moon is a symbol. Maybe a cymbal. That's it. The moon is our soul."

Perfect for lovers of celestial wonder and earthbound wit who believe that poetry should be as smart as a lunar mission, and as funny as a family secret. Pure Lunacy invites you to look up at the night sky—and then look right back at the beautiful, messy people standing next to you.