Review: `There is nothing more dangerous than a character with no author.'
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 3, 2013
Non Nomen (`no name') is the moniker assigned by the author to provide his anonymity, but that at first seemingly gimmick to sell a book should in no way deter readers from delving into this collection of thoughts and images and poetry that has the courage to `unleash a full scale attack on all fronts of cultural and social decay.' What we learn from his introduction is that he grew up in a `very violent, ultra-nationalistic, drug-filled social environment. There was a military camp right nest to my school but not a single library within a 30 mile radius.' His family was warm and supportive in severe contrast to the outside world and he found solace in painting at a very young age. Impressed by the Alan Moore book `V for Vendetta' his perception of what world around him changed. `It sparked a need for justice and a thirst for knowledge and rebellion.' He combined his art with his writings and the ultimate result of many years of gestation was this book.To `review' a book of this nature borders on the impossible, other than to encourage people to read it for themselves and respond viscerally as well as artistically and intellectually. The design of the book is splendid; each page is covered with the author's art or manipulations of imagery that serve as the matrix for his words. The book is divided into three sections: Aesthetics, The Discipline of the Watch, and A Thankless Task. An excerpt from the first section follows:A smile,compressed and encrypted.A touch,password protected.You passed my by today.You went by me so swift,in such a hurry.like an empty promiseeager to be ignored;to be forgottenWhy won't you look at meand welcome me into your world?It's so easy.A smile, a split of a second a word...yet so expensive.I miss the kisses I haven't given you yet.I miss the memories we haven't shared yet.I still miss you...yet.This rather restrained and tender poem is like the match that lights the blaze that follows - poems of dissection of our moral fiber, our sense of emptiness we have created, our isolation.  The works are at times tough to read because they sting. But they deserve to be read and digested and Non Nomen presents that need. He serves attention. Grady Harp, October 13