Dismantled Secrets

By: Maxianne Berger

April 2008
96 pages | ISBN 978-1-894987-24-0
$17.00

Dismantled Secrets confirms Berger's remarkable dexterity with language and poetic form. Drawing on Dylan Thomas's invitation to play with literary devices and inspired by the work of surrealist painter Rene Magritte, Berger juxtaposes ordinary objects with unusual contexts to achieve extraordinary and thought-provoking results. Each poem in this collection is a spectacle - whether of light or dark - that pulses with energy, drama and a true sense of the absurd. See a video of her reading at the Toronto launch here.

Reviews

• Poetry Review for the Year 2008 (David Creelman, Journal of Canadian Poetry Volume 25, 2/1/2011). “Dismantled Secrets is well-worth finding and can be read with pleasure.”
• Review (Maurice Maurieu, Winnepeg Free Press, 7/28/2008). “Berger has been writing haiku, tanka, light verse and formal parodies for many years. …What's impressive in Berger's new book is the tonal range.”
• Words and Music (Concordia University Magazine, 7/1/2008). “Berger displays her linguistic dexterity through diverse poetic forms—including haiku, tanka and palindrome—and her mix of the absurd and the emotional, the playful and the dramatic.”