THUGWISE CAT

TENEBRAED TO HELLER: MR. LEVINSON’S HINGE
THEORY
EXPANDS AND COMPLEXIFIES
Book Review By Alison Ross
Heller Levinson's philosophy of poetics is something that can only be described as
"accessibly elusive." Or is that "elusively accessible"? Either way, this paradox
encapsulates Heller's approach, which on the surface seems overly cerebral but in
actuality is intuitively ascertainable. His is a paragon of experimental verse, aloof and
excessively premised on the tenets of logos ... and yet, at its core, his Hinge Theory and
the execution thereof (via his verse) have a playful pathos. Heller may or may not agree
with this interpretation, but the way I read his poetry, there is a palpable sense of fierce
ebullience, of good old fashioned frenzied FUN.
Heller's Hinge Theory is both rigid and unhinged. Words "hinge" on other words, but
then the associations they spawn lead to an unhinged spewing of ideas, that nonetheless
circle back to the original idea. Sometimes the associations are overtly obvious ("bellyfull.
belly-ache") and sometimes they are much less explicit. As I said, you can intuitively
grasp his process, but try to lucidly explicate it - good luck.
In his latest collection, Tenebraed, Heller takes the Latin word, "tenebrae," signifying
darkness, and mutates it into a verb, then welds it to a noun or concept in order to invert
that idea's connotations and turn the entire enterprise inside out. Or something like that.
(As I said, his poetry and philosophy are accessible yet elusive, meaning that I get it, but
then I don't. As soon as I think I have it, I have to backtrack. For in order to truly know
something, you have to be able to capably explain it. In this case, it remains to be seen
whether I have done so.)
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