Mickey Mack knows that the internet has already made everyday life a joke, and yet he had the courage to write a book of satirical poetry anyway. He wields that medium like a man who has spent considerable time in a bar—looking at the spectacle of life in all of its absurdity, and, as he says to us, longing to join in the conversation.
From the opening pages, Mack makes his intentions bracingly clear. This is his take on the folly of everyday life: unfiltered, unapologetic, and frequently hilarious. The introduction alone acts as a delightful confession, issued with the humor of a man fascinated with watching a drunk pontificating one too many times: “Ubiquitous is the man who knows that he knows more than he knows. If you put two or more of those people in the same room, you’re in for a good show.” Mack decided that the only reasonable response was to write a poem about it. When an intro begins with "The Suffering Olympics" and competitive misery gets a skewering early on, readers know immediately they're in good hands.
Like all good satirists, Mack moves through his subjects (the drunk, the hot dog seller, medication, honest restaurants, dating apps, and plastic surgery) with fluency and wit. It’s clear he finds both everyday life and human vanity deliciously funny. The plastic surgery poem lands a particularly striking blow: "but all the money I had left is in my tits and ass / I got another model job, they're lucky to have me. / I'm hired by the Ringling brothers, Barnum and Bailey." It’s absurd, compassionate, and affectionate. A man laughing at the world because he cares about the impact it has on the people it shapes.
Each poem has a twist that will make readers laugh, then think. From the man who is so absorbed in his phone that he walks in front of a bus to the influencer who forgot his parachute, there is both punchline and message. Readers mourn for the bored and unappreciated worker who imagines traveling via the images on his computer screen. It’s funny until it isn’t. Then there’s the Halloween morning walk of shame, which results in never wanting to go out again—a feeling so universal that readers ache, too.
THE BRIC-A-BRAC OF MICKEY MACK is a short book, but satire doesn’t need to be bulky. The comedic illustrations deepen the wit, conversing with the poems to help readers see life with new, slightly incredulous eyes. Mack is funny, moving, and clever. He’ll make you want to spend a morning in a bar, listening to everything going on inside.
And then you’ll read a poem about alcohol, and you’ll be relieved you haven't.
Satire is always tricky, but Mickey Mack's THE BRIC-A-BRAC OF MICKEY MACK makes you laugh, pause, and think. Along with the illustrations, this one is a must-read for sure.
~ Nicci Attfield for IndieReader