The Comedown by Justin Marks

In The Comedown, each page builds on the last and informs the next, creating a unique unfolding, an enveloping reading experience. Taken altogether, the 80-page poem is a courageous exploration of the author’s own experiences, anxieties, failings … and hopes and (yes) redemptions. Justin Marks provides a window into his mind that effectively shines out onto our own—it’s a truly remarkable and generous gesture that bears re-reading, and rewards it.

“What a moving and unusual book The Comedown is! A long poem, or perhaps a memoir in verse, or a dramatic monologue, it is both playful and yet revealing, honest and philosophical, formally innovative and yet direct.” —Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa

“Justin Marks’ singular voice contends with the universality of existential dread without artifice or grandeur, but rather in the most intimate, nearly imperceptible moments that render us human—fallible, but full of grace.” —Su Hwang, author of Bodega

Read Sample Poems

Justin Marks’ other books are You’re Going to Miss Me When You’re Bored (Barrelhouse Books ), A Million in Prizes (New Issues), and the chapbook We Used to Have Parties (Dikembe Press). He is a co-founder of Birds, LLC, an independent poetry press, and lives in Queens, NY with his family. Read poems at Poets.org.