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Hello Serotonin 
Written by dsendecki   
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
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Hello Serotonin
By: Jon Paul Fiorentino ISBN: 1552451364 Buy Now and support The Small Press Exchange
Publisher: Coach House Books Format: Paperback
http://www.chbooks.com">Visit their website Pages: 83

Contemporary poetry got you down? Boost your serotonin uptake with the mood-enhancing poetic anti-depressants in Jon Paul Fiorentino’s latest collection. With equal doses of science and confessional lyricism, and a current of self-deprecating wit running through it all, Hello Serotonin maps out a synaptic syntax of Winnipeg life. This book will alter your perception of poetry—get your prescription filled today!

Editor's rating
4.8
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Reviewed by:
dsendecki
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Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Average user rating: 3.8 
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Editor review
I’ve been enjoying Jon Paul Fiorentino since his release of Transcona Fragments, a great collection about his youth in the suburban community of Transcona—a small railway town that has been stitched to the city of Winnipeg

His most recent work is a book of synaptic syntax entitled Hello Serotonin (Coach House Books, 2004). The metaphors contained herein purportedly reenact the nature of neural activity. Indeed, there are flashes of synaptic brilliance.

On the advice of Robert Kroetsch, Poetry MD, who writes that "Hello Serotonin is an exhilarating and magical potion. Take at night before going to bed", I took the recommended dosage of one copy of Hello Serotonin and further medicated myself with 3/5's of scotch. The problem with over the counter serotonin taken orally is that it does not pass into the pathways of the brain. This is due to the blood-brain barrier preventing serotonin in the blood stream from affecting serotonin levels in the brain.

However, these poems, in my non-clinical trials, solve this problem; they are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier.

While the efficacy of these poems on depression may be called into question—the mode of action of these flashes of lyrical brilliance on their direct target is nonetheless powerful

I wholeheartedly recommend Fiorentino's prescription, and remind the reader that a nice 12 year old scotch won’t hurt, either. Check out Fiorentino's website. Complete with ordering information.

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Average user rating from: 1 user(s)

Overall rating (weighted)
3.8
Artistic merit
4.0
Production values
4.0
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3.0
 

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

anthrasula
Tuesday, 14 November 2006

Written by anthrasula   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

I like Fiorentino, don't get me wrong. And this book succeeds in displaying his tremendous talents walking a tightrope between langpo and hanging on to the (displaced) lyric "I" of narrative. The poetry remains at once personal while delighting in words, meaning, et al. However, I'm lost as to why Fiorentino relies so heavily on the multi-syllabic generic names for drugs. Sure, I can enjoy the occasionally dropped six-syllable word for some generic anti-depressant as much as the next guy and delight in its sound, but I'm not gonna dig out a medical dictionary to figure out what he's trying to say! Call me lazy.
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