IT'S SO COLD IN ALASKA
In the stories, poems, and plays that make up It's So Cold in Alaska, love's myriad forms- romantic, spiritual, familial, platonic- are taken to task, along with the state itself. Journey into the mind of a cynical, middle-aged reality show director filming a bottom barrel assignment at the risk of his marriage ("Slice of Alaska.") Hear the inner thoughts of a hyper-conscious young woman leaving the state and her life ("Bloody Mary Sunday.") Witness a surreal 3AM discussion among bizarre mythic figures in a dilapidated dwelling ("Blue House.") Read parodies of ideology out of control ("How to be an Alpha Male"), an interview with insane musician Francis Keats, a short screenplay about a seiner in the depths of Ouroboros during a day in port ("Eternal Return"), and a comedic dialogue between two neurotics in "Games to Play in Cars."
With the poems one encounters hymns to women and love songs to God, eulogies for those lost and musings on the modern Alaskan experience. There are confessions, reminisces, dark hallucinations and holy visions, along with farewells and vows, dismissals and prayers.
All this adds up to a portrait of a state and its people far different than expected, with stories and poems ebbing and flowing into each other like crashing waves. A mosaic of dreams to wander through, It's So Cold in Alaska is a journey into the heart of the human endeavor.
