Michael Montlack's second collection of poems, Daddy, reminds us that many people in our lives are daddies to us in one way or another. With humbleness and affection, he pays homage to these many parents in his life while addressing his own role as an uncle and middle-aging gay man. Playful but poignant, his poems move from the personal to the political, from sorrowful to sexy to silly. Somehow in its darkest moments, Montlack's colorful cast--a dramatic twin sister, mysterious birth mother, aloof ex-boyfriend, even Stevie Nicks and Medusa--win your respect and maybe even your heart. |
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Daddy brilliantly captures the full spectrum of gay life from childhood through middle age: all its camp humor and devastating losses, its plentiful joy and wrenching pain, its isolating loneliness and tender friendships, its shame and (self)acceptance, its raw sexuality and sincere love. Through accessible yet immensely poetic language at its best, Montlack ultimately transcends his own story to convey and confirm the humanity of us all, regardless.
—Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet, author of How to Love a Country
There are many kinds of daddies in this book, many kinds of fathers and mothers—be they biological or adoptive, or a former therapist, or a sister, or a pop icon. Michael Montlack defines (and redefines) himself in relation to these authority figures, discovering, in the process, the parent within himself. I was struck by the guilelessness of Montlack's voice, and moved by the tenderness with which he renders intimate human moments. His poems not only earned my trust, they won my affection.
—David Trinidad, author of Notes on a Past Life
Daddy offers us poetry drenched in irony, humor, sexiness, and transformation. Michael Montlack is the ideal companion to guide us through contemporary maps of desire, identity, culture, and family. Vibrant in voice and imagery, Daddy shines with the well-earned, well-tended riches of memory. Montlack has achieved an unforgettably truthful body of power in language and depth. Prepare to listen and to be drawn into a world of which Montlack writes, "Someone's out there,/attempting in the dark distance/to tell us something, recognizing our capacity/to hear..."
—Rachel Eliza Griffiths, author of Seeing the Body
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