The review title is borrowed from the blurb on the back of the paperback. It is as good a description of this unique writing style as you will get. The list of poems making up Drought is a bit misleading - in general the segments are prose poems ... or prose. However, there is a narrative line - a very powerful tale of the death of a relationship within the stress of drought.

The second piece "Say what you like" is less memorable than "Drought". In this case the relationship includes abuse - and when the relationship disolves the identity of the individuals is rendered uncertain in the best postmodern style.

A new poet/author's whose work is well worth watching.

Half prose, and half poetry, this story is hard to categorize as far as form. But it grabs you, as does the style and voice. It grips you and won't let you turn away. After finishing this story, and it is a short read, I started right back in on it, to see if what had just happened, actually happened.

Di Blasi's Drought set up expectations that few authors can fulfill - including Di Blasi. In this collection, however, the author has shown herself willing to experiment with a variety of styles, willing to stretch herself.

Several of the stories are memorable - An Obscure Geography and I Am Telling You Lies - are examples. An Obscure Geography is set in the eighth grade in a poor rural community; the author captures some of the more obscure nature of the students. I Am Telling You Lies reveals how a Latin American student deals with his family expectations and his physical appearance.

Two of the stories are "short shorts" - Fog misses the mark for this form while Chairman of the Board succeeds.

All in all this collection is worth reading. Di Blasi is an author worth watching. I await the day this is labeled one of her "lesser" works for she has proven herself to be very talented.