Transistor

Book excerpt: Poetry. Drama. The transistor, a tiny device capable of amplification and control, is the foundation of our digital world. Now comes "Transistor, who is sage, / and who is never seen despite the live feed," to conduct us on a breathtaking journey through that world, in this audacious first full-length collection from Esteban Oloarte. "Transistor broadcasts traffic reports, / powers of suggestion, chances of allegory, / and everyone exits in headsets as exiles." To read this book is to join that parade of exiles, to hitch a ride on an electron, flashing through the circuitry of modern life. Written in the shape of a bible, it is part prophesy, part wisdom literature, part jeremiad, with a bit of Song of Solomon eroticism for good measure, a secular sacred and profane text of social and cultural criticism. A set of "footnotes" run throughout the book like a plainsong chant, offering contrapuntal perspective from philosophers, academics, artists, and critics. More than anything, this is a celebration of the pure incantatory power of words, from a poet mad-drunk on language, a modern-day Delphic oracle. This is new, this is news, this is poetry like you haven't read before, and won't soon forget.