In his debut poetry chapbook, The Funny Thing About A Panic Attack, Ben Kassoy’s voice romps and sings, hungry for healing and interpersonal connection. Kassoy is the award-winning former Editor-in-Chief of DoSomething.org, a tech company built to support youth-led social change initiatives, and his compassion for others shows in his words. Compassion for himself, on the other hand, seems to be both a challenge for Kassoy, and the main driver of his deeply personal poems.
The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack
by Ben Kassoy
(Bottlecap Press, 2023)
Cover Price: $10.00
Length: 28 pages
In the opening piece, “Double Double,” the buoyancy in Kassoy’s lines is infectious: “teach me how to double fist this brief life,” his Speaker insists. The poems then descend to explore the depths of anxiety, guilt, and depression with a self-deprecating wit that speaks of a persistent, insistent love of life. In “I Found Some Of Papa’s Poetry, She Says,” the Speaker asks, “How many tears have my parents and my parents’ parents cried and dried / before I wandered in to ask for a Pop-Tart?” Readers can hear, behind such lines, the Speaker questioning the validity of his mental health struggles in the midst of relative comfort and good fortune.
Though eleven of the thirteen poems circle the drain of self-loathing, the collection ends on an optimistic note. In the final poem, “I Wish You Superblooms,” Kassoy writes, “I wish every darkness releases you / fearless into the winged and wild night” He returns to the joyful place from which he started, mapping a journey from peak to valley, and back to peak again. Kassoy leaves readers hopeful that we all may break free of past trauma, both personal and intergenerational, to spend more of our time on life’s peaks.
This chapbook was a delight to read, both in its darkest moments and its brightest. It will resonate with readers who have suffered from anxiety, panic attacks, and related ailments, especially. However, anyone who’s persisted through moments of self-doubt or despair by laughing at themselves should be able to relate, as well. That’s the funny thing about a panic attack.
About the Author
Ben Kassoy (he/him) is a strawberry spinning like a dreidel. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Sky Island Journal, JMWW, Ghost City Review, Human Parts, Defunct Magazine, 805 Lit, Pithead Chapel, Cobra Milk, Unbroken Journal, Sidereal Magazine, and One Sentence Poems.
Contributor Bio
Francesca Leader is a Montanan living elsewhere. Connect with her on Twitter/X (@mooninabucket) or IG (@moon.in.a.bucket), or find some of her published writing and artwork on her author page, inabucketthemoon.wordpress.com.
Contents
New Poetry Titles (1/2/24)
Preview new books from Michigan State University Press, Able Muse Press, and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
January ‘24: Welcome to Our Beginning
Welcome to the first issue of the Philly Poetry Chapbook Review, January/February 2024! Hear from our editor what we have in store for readers this issue.
New Poetry Titles (1/9/24)
Preview new poetry books from Seven Kitchens Press, Milkweed Editions, Bloodaxe Books, W. W. Norton, University of Pittsburgh Press, Phoneme Media, Coffeetown Books, Central Avenue Publishing, and Archipelago.
Father Figures: Books by Arthur Russell and CooXooEii Black
Aiden Hunt reviews Arthur Russell’s At the Car Wash and CooXooEii Black’s The Morning You Saw a Train of Stars Streaking Across the Sky in this essay, subtitled “Does the Rattle Chapbook Prize live up to the hype?”
New Poetry Titles (1/16/24)
Preview new poetry books from Milkweed Editions, Nightboat Books, Alice James Books, Phoneme Media, University of Arizona Press, The University Press of Kentucky, Madville Publishing, Clare Songbirds Publishing House and Tram Editons.
Chapbook Round-Up: Climate Crisis and Showbiz Blues
C.M. Crockford interviews poets Rae Armantrout, Justin Lacour, and James Croal Jackson and previews their recently published or forthcoming chapbooks.
New Poetry Titles (1/23/24)
Check out new poetry books published in English between 1/23 and 1/29 from Bottlecap Press, Stanchion Books, Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, Phoneme Media, Button Poetry, RIZE, Wayne State University Press, Carcanet Press, Fireside Industries and Texas Review Press.
Violence of Craft: Your Mouth is Moving Backwards by Juliet Cook
Contributor Mike Bagwell explores and reviews poet Juliet Cook’s new chapbook from Ethel Press, Your Mouth is Moving Backwards.
New Poetry Titles (1/30/24)
Check out new poetry books published in English between 1/30 and 2/5 from Scribner (Editor’s Pick), Texas Review Press, Bottlecap Press, Kith Books, Slant Books, University of Notre Dame Press, Knopf, Little, Brown and Company, Tupelo Press, LSU Press, Wesleyan University Press, Peepal Tree Press Ltd., Grayson Books and Sourcebooks.
Review: The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack by Ben Kassoy
Contributor Francesca Leader reviews Ben Kassoy’s debut chapbook from Bottlecap Press, The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack.
New Poetry Titles (2/6/24)
Check out new poetry books published in English between 2/6 and 2/13 from Wesleyan University Press, Belle Point Press, Bull City Press, Kith Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Coffee House Press, New Directions, Nightboat Books, CavanKerry Press, University of Queensland Press, Green Writers Press, LSU Press, Haymarket Books, Button Poetry, The University of Kentucky Press, Mercer University Press, Knopf, Persea Books and Peepal Tree Press Ltd.
February ’24: Of Conferences and Contributors
A note from editor and publisher, Aiden Hunt, about the AWP Conference, re-opening submissions, and looking for more contributors.
New Poetry Titles (2/13/24)
Check out new poetry books published in English between 2/13 and 2/19 from Kith Books, GASHER Press, Querencia Press, Bottlecap Press, Alice James Books, Penguin Books, Seagull Books, Mad Creek, Wayne State University Press, Deep Vellum Publishing, University of Chicago Press, The Lilliput Press, Able Muse Press, Washington State University Press, University of New Mexico Press and Mosaic Press.
Of War’s Seductions & Consequences: A Chapbook Review
Aiden Hunt reviews Amanda Newell’s I Will Pass Even to Acheron in this essay, the second part of his essay, “Does the Rattle Chapbook Prize live up to the hype?”
New Poetry Titles (2/20/24)
Check out new poetry books for the week of 2/20 from Bottlecap Press, University of Arizona Press, Carnegie Mellon University Press, University of Alberta Press, Nightboat Books, Signature Books, Mosaic Press and Small Harbor Publishing.