Decline of the Animal Kingdom

by Laura Clarke

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Pub Date Oct 13 2015 | Archive Date Sep 17 2015

Description

A debut collection with a fresh approach

Decline of the Animal Kingdom investigates modern constructs of domesticity, freedom, wilderness, and artificiality to paint a portrait of what it means to be human, animal, or both in a society saturated with dog boutiques, trophy hunting, retro taxidermy, and eco-tourism. With brief forays into Algonquin Park and the heart of the 1980s jungle, the book largely draws its energy from the urban landscape, where the animals that interact with the environment have permanent effects on the land and human psyche. A wild deer wanders into the downtown core; the Galapagos and the ethics of conservation invade our Xbox; a mule grows weary of his unrewarding office job and unfulfilling relationships. Exploring the victories and defeats of an urban existence complete with 9-to-5 office angst, the claustrophobia of domestic partnerships in bachelor apartments, and party-and-pick-up culture, Decline of the Animal Kingdom is Laura Clarke’s love letter to the city of Toronto, and to extinct animals and office misfits alike.

A Note From the Publisher

AUTHOR: Laura Clarke’s work has appeared in a variety of publications including PRISM International, Grain, the National Post, and the Antigonish Review. She is the 2013 winner of the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers from the Writers’ Trust of Canada. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

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Available Editions

EDITION	Paperback
ISBN	9781770412828
PRICE	$18.95 (USD)

Additional Information

Average rating from 9 members

Featured Reviews

William F, Bookseller

Decline of the Animal Kingdom is a wonderful collection of poems that reads like a quilt feels. Textured, with patterns that start in one corner and end up somewhere you don't quite expect. Unlike a good quilt, though, DotAK is a thoroughly modern exercise: YouTube makes more than one appearance, for example (along with the drudgery of office work, land rights, and drainage issues). Despite disparate subjects – though mules stubbornly recur – the poems are neatly sewn together, weaving in and out of one another in a pleasing, referential way; a sort of coherence I haven't experienced before in my limited poetry reading.

I liked just about everything I read in the collection, though there were a few pieces I couldn't get a good grasp on. The experience was a bit like seeing a stained glass window from a half inch away: a vague awareness of intent, coupled with an inability to see any larger purpose and a few nice colours. That said, these bits of confusion were vastly outnumbered by poems I loved: John Picks Up, Three-Domain System, Bear Safety Tips for Semi-Regular Trips to a Cabin in Algonquin Park, and In Defense of My Buying Two Mules to Be Shot, Stuffed, and Exhibited at the American Museum of Agriculture in Lubbock, Teaxs stand out in particular.

I don't know if I'll read much more poetry – a lifetime of abstinence makes strong habits – but I can wholeheartedly recommend Decline of the Animal Kingdom.