About Time
Poems
by David Duchovny
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Pub Date Sep 02 2025 | Archive Date Aug 31 2025
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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.
DAVID DUCHOVNY is an award-winning actor, director, New York Times best-selling author, and singer-songwriter. With an acting career spanning more than three decades, Duchovny is a two-time Golden Globe winner and four-time Emmy nominee. His novels include Truly Like Lightning, Holy Cow, The Reservoir (novella), Miss Subways, and Bucky F*cking Dent which Duchovny adapted into the film Reverse the Curse. The film, directed by Duchovny, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. As a musician, Duchovny has released three studio albums: Hell or Highwater, Every Third Thought, and Gestureland. He is the host of the podcast Fail Better.
Advance Praise
"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
"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
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781636142630 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 96 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
theresa h, Educator
About Time: Poems (Hardcover)
by David Duchovny
This phenomenal actor uses his fame as a platform to bring his thoughts to his fans. The poems are varied and thematically different. He uses imagery and word twists to bring a perspective to life. His poems are obscure and vivid.
Dan O, Bookseller
My thanks to NetGalley and Akashic Books, Ltd. for an advance copy of collection of poems dealing with time and its many enemies, regret, the past, the future, and what are place has meant to us and others.
I found poetry late in my reading career. After high school even after college. I think it is because poetry has always had the cachet of being difficult. Words have different meanings, poems come in styles like A,B, A,B C, and Z. This is this kind of poem, this is a classic poem. People tend to make things difficult, gatekeeping something that doesn't need gatekeeping. Meanwhile all around is is poetry. Advertising catch phrases, political slogans, song lyrics, rap lyrics and more. All convey emotion, make us feel a certain way. The writer of this work, David Duchovny talks about this in the introduction to his work. How he used to write poems to impress young ladies, it wasn't until writing song lyrics that he saw the power and the mystery that poems could have, and how we need to look for poems to help ourselves find our ways in this world. Which is something I agree with. Why poetry, why now. Why not. About Time: Poems, is written by the multi-talented actor, writer, singer, songwriter and offers views into his world, our world, and the world we wish we could have.
The introduction is very interesting a rundown of what poetry means to the author, and how writing song lyrics and poetry while sounding similar are totally different kinds of beasts. The poems that follow deal with a variety of subjects close to all of us. Walking with his child in the woods, and seeing a dead animal. Dealing with the death of his father in a few works. Dealing with family problems, divorce, detachment, divides, even a bit of jealousy. There are a few poems looking back at a world that seemed bright and full of promise, to a future with COVID and political uncertainty by the day. The poems range in size from very short to a few pages, to heartfelt and kind of funny. Even weird.
I enjoyed the collection quite a bit, and not because I have been a fan of the actor since his Red Shoe Diaries days. Yes that is a deep cut. Duchovny has a very nice writing style, familiar from his numerous books, which I recommend with a droll sense of humor, and a maturity that is allowing him to look at his life and comment on it. One can see the raw places, the talks about his family, his father, and yet there is a hope a feeling that even this shall pass, not forgotten, but maybe not painful at some point. Duchovny draws on a lot of things, the Bible, song lyrics, I never thought I would see who's zooming who in a book of poetry, to create his works. Quite a few of them I hope I can remember, including one about not remembering how a joke goes and screwing up a story over and over. I liked that one, as much about it spoke to me in these odd times of fake news, and being told what the truth is.
This is a short collection. As I said if one reads this, one should read his books, as they are equally good, weird, and thought provoking. I knew vaguely that Duchovny has a music career, now I will have to check that out, just to see how good Duchovny's lyrics are. A fine collection of works for fans of poems, and for fans of Duchovny.
Jennifer H, Reviewer
Let me start by saying I am not a poetry person. But I’ve been trying to connect with and appreciate it. I really enjoyed a number of the poems in this collection and re-read many to think about their imagery and/or meaning. I think it’s a lovely collection for those who enjoy poetry and those, like me, who are exploring it. Thank you to netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Stacy S, Librarian
Perhaps what the world needs now is a reminder that, every once in a while, it's okay to rest in uselessness and beauty. I'm a little surprised and delighted that it's David Duchovny who's giving us this reminder! :)
The book opens with an introduction by the author that focuses on all things poetry and how he came to be writing it in the first place. The poems themselves are surprisingly and delightfully inviting to everyone, they reek of real world, they recognize the humanity in everyday things. This doesn't read like a vanity project and I'll be honest, I'm a little surprised by that. This ended up being one of the best books of poetry that I've read all year.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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