Every page of Lyndsay Rush's debut poetry collection, A Bit Much, sparkles with the same clever energy and sly sense of humor she brings to her popular Instagram account, @maryoliversdrunkcousin. "This is a book about fun and feelings," she writes in the introduction, "and, occasionally, potato chips." A Bit Much delivers on that promise--and then some--with poems that invite joy and reflection on every page, delivered with a wink, a nod, and a bit of wordplay sure to delight as much as it will inspire.
Rush's work is accessible (and funny), with the title of each poem providing the key necessary to unlock deeper meaning. Rush plays with form, too, as much as words. "Wet n Wild Geese (After Mary Oliver)" is imbued with Rush's sense of the world: "You do not have to be good/ at makeup./ You do not have to walk on your knees/ for a hundred miles through a Sephora, repenting." Rush experiments with erasure poetry, poems without traditional line breaks, lists as poetry, and more.
A Bit Much is loosely organized by theme (love, revelations, confidence, comfort); across this structure, Rush ruminates on body image, self-care, leaving a dogmatic religion. She encourages a reframe ("It's not a vending machine,/ it's an arcade game/ you always win") and invites presence ("Sounds holy, if you ask me,/ to be sold on life as-is/ to just exist"). Individually, each poem here is packed with wit and wisdom; collectively, A Bit Much is a tribute to finding the fun and the funny in the hard parts of life--and to the ways poetry can facilitate that discovery. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer