exercises
A new book that I've made.
exercises | 72 pages | Paperback | Perfect bound | April 2026
I’ve written another book. If you’re a new subscriber, or, since it’s been longer than I planned since I last released something like this, you’ve just forgotten how this works, here’s the deal: these are short, experimental texts published as both physical, print-on-demand books, available to anyone who wishes to purchase them (see link above), and as downloadable PDFs exclusively for paid Garden Scenery subscribers (see paywall below). Probably I don’t need to spell this out, but the idea is to incentivize said subscriptions, while also providing those of you who are burned out on that sort of patronage model an alternative means of supporting my work, one which still gets you something tangible in return. Here, for reference, are the last two books I published this way:
exercises is distinct from these in that it’s significantly longer, but similar in that it’s more or less entirely focused around the development of a single formal/conceptual conceit – in this case, that of a repeating sequence of written instructions for physical actions, or an “exercise.” I wouldn’t call these sequences poems, exactly, but I would say they are something adjacent to it. While some of them describe essentially ordinary, mundane activities, some are much stranger, more disquieting, drifting into fraught psychological territory or intimations of surreal violence. The language, furthermore, has been pared back to a minimal level of bare functionality, equally cold and mechanistic regardless of what it seems to describe. Not to insist too strongly on the relevancy of a work of experimental literature, but I feel it’s become routine, in these ever-darkening times, when it seems no one can agree on what constitutes an apocalypse, and whether or not you’ll still have to go to work during it, for many people to spend large portions of their lives in a state of low-level dissociation, “running on autopilot” is one way you’ll often hear it described, and I think these sequences speak to this condition quite pointedly.
These are my thoughts about the book, anyways – they’re as preliminary as an author’s always are about his own work. I would, of course, love to hear yours. Below you’ll find some pictures of exercises, interior and exterior. Beneath this can be found the paywall, and behind it the link to the full PDF. If you’d like to read it, and you haven’t subscribed yet, just type your email into the box below, or buy a physical copy here. Thank you very much for your support. Godspeed.
