Publishers Weekly
★ 11/20/2023
The contemplative latest from Pulitzer winner Pardlo (for Digest) explores fear as the basis for legal judgment. As Pardlo explains in the introduction, the fear-driven imaginings used by white men to condemn those accused in the Salem witch trials have been similarly employed against nonwhite people from America’s colonial era to the present. Beginning the collection with a long poem in sections titled “The Essay on Faith,” which is structured like a legal argument the speaker is having with himself, Pardlo lays bare the flimsy foundations of America’s justice system: “Dream, the via negativa that makes freedom ring. It/ is evidence of things not seen.” Other entries play on this concept of unseen evidence, such as “Sonnet,” which reproduces a table from a study of racial biases in the medical field. The title poem evokes the language of police perpetrators of violence against people of color to show how fear of the racialized “other” can be twisted to fit any legally excusable context: “Declares that on Harvest last, the Devil in the shape of a black man/ had the most aggressive face/ that his eyes were bugging out.” With characteristic intelligence, Pardlo confronts uncomfortable and enduring truths. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
When one of America’s foremost poets publishes a collection for the first time in nearly a decade it is a major event—particularly when that poet is uniquely suited to grappling with what’s been going on in America over the past nine years…. As ever Pardlo moves through poetic registers with ease, from high to low and back again, as he witnesses the world in all its terrible beauty. From fallen heroes of professional wrestling (seriously) to this country’s infinite hostility to its Black citizens, Pardlo’s is the poetic eye (and heart) we need right now.” —Jonny Diamond, Literary Hub
“Stunning. . . . [Pardlo] is adept at wordplay. . . . Each poem demands to be read on a granular level. . . . Form, lyricism, and imagery are expertly presented, and the result is a compelling, cohesive collection addressing timely topics. A beautiful addition to Pardlo's already impressive oeuvre.”
—Booklist, *starred review*
“[Spectral Evidence] lays bare the flimsy foundations of America’s justice system. . . . With characteristic intelligence, Pardlo confronts uncomfortable and enduring truths.”
—Publishers Weekly, *starred review*
“Infused with a scholar’s deep knowledge of literature, art, and history. . . . [Spectral Evidence is] complex, linguistically rich, and unsparing in its analysis of both the current national psyche as well as the poet’s own.”
—Library Journal, *starred review*
Library Journal
★ 11/01/2023
Drawing parallels between early American witch trials and contemporary racism, Pulitzer winner (for Digest) Pardlo's third collection explores the concept of self-knowledge by applying a kind of critical self-theory that considers how "spectral evidence"—dangerously false impressions conjured from fear of the Other—influences societal and individual perceptions of gender and race ("stand your ground against a black/ body and the courtroom says amen"). While his social criticism can be sharp, Pardlo recognizes that systemic injustice also requires personal complicity, unconsciously or not ("Just as I own my American way of/ leveling the playing field by separating others from their histories. Not all lives matter in this great republic.") Unlike much activist poetry, Pardlo's is infused with a scholar's deep knowledge of literature, art, and history ("The Marion Devotions") and a flair for unusual imagery ("With tango arms/ we hold the wedding knife"). VERDICT Complex, linguistically rich, and unsparing in its analysis of both the current national psyche as well as the poet's own, Pardlo's poetry dares to ask: "What if we didn't define ourselves according to our ability to know ourselves, but by our capacity to relate to others?"—Fred Muratori
