Venison

Percy and Mary Shelley, a window washer, a transvestite, a talking vending machine .... These are just some of the characters featured in "Venison", an eclectic selection of diverting, visually-charged poems. In addition to being a poet, James Mirarchi is a filmmaker, whose pictorial sensibility is evident in much of his writing.
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Reviewed by Staci Rae (Scene Magazine - Ontario)

"A school day´s remaining minutes would always sleepwalk toward their finale."

"A breeze runs finger down her back
On which sweat drops sleep
Like eggs of ex-lovers"
 
In this stunning collection, James Mirarchi, a San Francisco based poet, constructs a reality of images such as these - images that reach out of the page and animate themselves before the reader´s astonished eyes. Images of our everyday lives, seen through the eyes of someone who is one of us, but who has an acute sense of the everyday - and how extraordinary it can be.

A masterpiece of description, "Venison" is a sensory - and often sensual - journey through a kaleidoscope of themes, from a talking vending machine to a voyeuristic account of a sexy Sunday afternoon with a dead-ringer for Bridget Fonda to "a gory poem" about a seven year old child with a nosebleed.

Mirarchi uses description as a singer uses his voice: as an instrument to create nuance and vision, texture and emotion.

"Venison" is a collection worthy of attention. Its intelligent, witty and often sharp-tongued prose is the mark of a poet who knows his way around the human condition.
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Reviewed by Paige Lovitt (Reader Views)

"Venison" is the most interesting book of poetry that I have ever had the chance to read. Thank God! Because the typical flowery, love poems do nothing to pique my interest. James Mirarchi certainly knows how to use words to capture my attention. While each piece of work stands alone and has its own theme; they are all written in vivid detail with unique wording that made me stop and focus on what I was reading so that I could get the true meaning. In doing so, each piece of poetry is brought to life. The life that they are brought into is not a pretty one. The poems are gritty and focus on our imperfect world through the eyes of someone who notices everything down to the minute details.

My favorite piece is titled "Vending Machine." It is about a vending machine that compares itself to the prostitutes at work outside of the porn theater it is located in. The machine notes the similarities between its own job and the jobs of the working ladies. In the end, it discovers that in spite of the similarities, it has the better job. While this might sound very strange, because vending machines are not known to be capable of thought, it was still really interesting to read about something that comes from such a unique perspective. "The Pig Stall" was also another interesting one. It tells the tale of a transvestite who is harshly mistreated by men who are so twisted; they have no right to be judging anybody.

"Venison" by James Mirarchi consists of twenty-one pieces of unusual and sometimes outrageous poems. Mirarchi's work is unique, unsettling, quirky and interesting. While normally I would recommend a book of poetry to people who enjoy poetry, I believe that this book will be enjoyed by all, especially the people who don't typically enjoy it.