Colin Rafferty’s Execute the Office uses lyric prose and formal invention to explore the humanity, or lack thereof, that thrived in each of the forty-five American presidents. Whether these powerful individuals were celebrated for infamous deeds and heroism, or forgotten as placeholders in the annals of American history, too often presidents are commemorated by the sterility of simple fact. Execute the Office builds upon factual accuracy with essays that are equally invested in lyrical writing and experimental forms. To balance these factions, Execute the Office uses constraint, metaphor, allusion, and epiphany to explore not just the facts and artifacts of history, but describe the connections between those facts and human nature in thought-provoking and inventive ways. These essays discuss the modes in which we remember. Through death songs, footnotes, infinite rooms, evacuation routes, and nomenclatures, to name a few examples, these diverse essays engage with history from fresh perspectives. Execute the Office contains histories in and of unusual objects. While unfamiliar at first, they soon become distinct, unforgettable, profound, human.
PRAISE FOR EXECUTE THE OFFICE
Colin in the news:
- The Rumpus – January 18, 2021 – Excerpts from Execute the Office: Essays with Presidents
- Foreword Reviews– Reviewed by Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
- Brevity’s Non-Fiction Blog – February 9, 2021 – reviewed by Susannah Clark
- The Rumpus -February 13, 2021 – “What to Read When It’s Time to Celebrate Commemorate Observe Presidents Day”
- The Radiant Sundance Books And Music – March 11, 2021 – Baobab Press Winter 2021 Title Book Launch with Tiffany Cates
- Ernest and Hadley Booksellers – April 2, 2021 – with Jesse DeLong
- Hidden Timber Books’ Small Press Reading Series – May 8th, 2021
Book Details
Title: Execute the Office: Essays with Presidents
Author: Colin Rafferty
Publication Date: February 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-936097-32-6
$14.95
Dist. by Publishers Group West
www.pgw.com, 800-788-2123
Available at your favorite local bookstore or on Bookshop.org