book details

Book: Midnight Road by Jason Kessler

categories: Book, Travel, Death, Depression, Existentialism, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Poetry

Jason Kessler

about this book: Midnight Road is a poetry collection I was inspired to write by the at times painful works of Charles Bukowski. It covers approximately two years of extreme change in my life. I began writing it towards the end of a turbulent relationship with a woman I was dating in Italy. I had quite a bit of free time on my hand so it seemed like an interesting thing to do. Very quickly it became my new obsession. Poems of this period reflect my time overseas ("Amsterdam") & disillusionment with romance ("Pulp Diction"). On the plane ride back I wrote an epic fantasy about a man seeking revenge against a demon king for the murder of his lover ("City Beneath the Clouds").

When I returned home to America a familiar cycle of loneliness & claustrophobia set in. I wrote most of the poems in Midnight Road during this period. Some are intensely personal reflections on loss: loss of faith, loss of naivete, loss of love etc. ("The Victory", for instance"). In others I transferred these feelings into stories. There's an astronaut searching for meaning as he suffocates in outer space ("Annihilus"), a burned out single mother desperate for love, for a drug, for anything to take away her pain ("Where Have All the Good Men Gone?") & the reflections of a condemned criminal awaiting execution ("Lamentations of the Damned"). Finally I end the collection on a more uplifting note celebrating a city that has fully embraced debauchery ("Bangkok").

The title of the book comes from a poem within the collection, "Midnight Road". It also reflects my feeling that the book could represent the thoughts a tormented mind during a long, lonely drive through the dead of night.

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Reviews for Midnight Road:

• "Heartfelt and gritty, poems dealing with the disappointment of real life...I can recommend it to all fans of Bukowski or any realist with a heart."

• "Great collection of poems. Jason Kessler's lens of the emotional pain and vulnerability of life, love, and the dark side of cultures with depth and honesty. Definitely get this book!"