Calling a Wolf a Wolf

"Mr. Akbar's poems give language and form to many experiences I thought too abstract for expression. They are at once deeply personal and about all of us."

-John Green, The Wall Street Journal


"...Akbar proves what books can do in his exceptional debut, which brings us along on his struggle with addiction, a dangerous comfort and soul-eating monster he addresses boldly..."

-Library Journal, STARRED review


"At times conversational, at times oratorical, Akbar seems to understand that he is moving through the intimate and the cosmic with the same lingering eye for detail."

-Angel City Review


"[Calling a Wolf a Wolf] is a welcome testimony to how the deeply personal can seep into and even shape our national consciousness. This is the work of great poetry."

-Seattle Review of Books


"[Calling a Wolf a Wolf] is a book that whispers, that longs for connection..."

-Rain Taxi Review of Books


"These are meditations on life as viewed through the color-saturated prism of a self-admitted alcoholic-addict, who finds beauty in even the ugliest of experiences."

-VOGUE

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100 pages

Average rating: 10

1 RATING

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1 REVIEW

Community Reviews

meledden
Dec 31, 2022
10/10 stars
This is a stunning collection of gorgeously emotive poems. Dark, desperate, real and surreal at the same time, Akbar’s poems are flooded with sensual and visual images.

Calling A Wolf A Wolf is a tour of the complex mind of an addict, but it is also so much more. It is about a man who is split between cultures (America and Persia), who has had a passion for words and language since he was a small boy, and who is continuously exploring the meaning of love of others and of himself.

I was very inspired by Akbar’s use of space instead of punctuation and I have been experimenting with them in my own poetry.

My favourite poems were: Soot; Portrait of the Alcoholic with Home Invasion and House Fly; Desunt Nonnulla; Exciting The Canvas; Being in this World Makes Me Feel Like A Time Traveller.

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