About Time

Description

DAVID DUCHOVNY’S SEVENTH PUBLISHED—AND FIRST POETIC—WORK covers a range of intimate themes and topics, including love, the loss of love, parenting, Duchovny’s own parents (in particular his father, who looms large throughout the work), alienation, and other emotional quandaries. Fans of Duchovny’s fiction will recognize the insightful and clever play of words that, in this new form, distill to an emotionally impactful portrayal of what the author holds most dear.

Duchovny’s approach to poetry is beautifully (and, typically, humorously) encapsulated in his introduction to the work, in which he writes:

Poetry is not useful. And that is exactly why we need it. It reminds us of two important things: our ultimate lack of agency (unpopular to say, I know) and our inability to say anything plain, our inability to capture what it means to be human with the imperfect tool of words; we come face-to-face with our shadow selves, for in the end we will all die and be forgotten, and come away with nothing, nothing in the way of utility anyway, no talking points, no bullet points, no propaganda, no resolutions, no policy, no knowledge. If anything, maybe we remember a few lines . . . something like a pop song from the collective unconscious, something like wisdom.

You see, I wanted to say it plain, but out comes that torrent of modifiers and adjustments, denials, double negatives, shading, stabs at wit, backpedaling, playing at capturing the lightning. Maybe this time. Maybe that’s what a poem is—that glorious feeling of Maybe this time I’ll get it right. If that’s the case, it seems a worthy enterprise to me. You see, I got somewhere, but the way back is unclear—that’s a good enough definition of poetry for now. No, it’s not.

Duchovny’s efforts at achieving such clarity range in this collection from laser-sharp, single-sentence poems to emotionally sweeping ruminations. With About Time—perhaps his most personal work to date—Duchovny continues his journey as one of the most prolific creators of his generation.

What people are saying…

“David Duchovny has written a helluva book of poems, a volume I suspect will adorn many shelves. The collection is smart, smart-assed, and moving enough to reward study. Buy this book!”
—Mary Karr, author of The Liars’ Club

“David Duchovny is known as one of the most talented, brightest, and wickedly funny actors in the entertainment business. He is also a wonderful writer, as evidenced by his many novels and this collection of intimate and humorous poetry.”
—Alec Baldwin, actor, author of Nevertheless

“Why should I be surprised that the soulful actor David Duchovny is not only an accomplished novelist but also possesses the heart of a true poet? His verse effortlessly charts a course through a landscape of melancholia so rich with irony and humor that I found myself reading his poems aloud just to savor the depth of his emotions.”
—Griffin Dunne, actor, author of The Friday Afternoon Club

“David Duchovny’s language is specific and surprising. Colloquial. In the tradition of Robert Frost and Vachel Lindsay, a tradition that has been eclipsed by Imagism. With modernist twists, he invigorates the tradition of storytelling poems.”
—David Black, award-winning writer, producer

“As a novelist, actor Duchovny has already shown readers that he’s . . . the real deal, and this poetry collection further establishes him as a talented writer, as capable of mining Milton as he is of reflecting on ephemera and incidentals . . . Duchovny approaches poetry as a uselessness that demands to be used, an unneeded form that he needs, and his poems clearly communicate the desire to make words of what is unspeakable by anchoring them to unconventionally and beautifully wrought poetic conventions.”
—Library Journal, STARRED review