Reviewed By Allison Williams
The Wanting Way by Adam Wolfond is just merely a book on poetry, rather it lures readers into a newfound form of communication. He focuses on simple phrases with elaborate meanings making each poem hold its own story, its own purpose, its own reason for having been written. In diving into the way Wolfond shares his work he becomes vulnerable welcoming all to feel comfortable in the work that is set out before them by every page that touches their fingers. Within every word, phrase, and poem holds a unique play on words and pushes us to understand the tunes to which the author is singing so beautifully.
Every story has a protagonist, a main character that draws us in to want to know more of what is to come of them. In this story Wolfond writes in the protagonist to be every reader who wants to journey with his mind on where desire is found and held within a wanting way of life’s longings. All throughout we can grasp a hold of what he is trying to say, how we are able to relate, and what tunes our desires play to. From the flow of musically inclined lessons, Wolfond exilities a flow of music from the sways of nature and conforms them to his wants in life, making them not seem much different than our own.
What a reader can gain from a novel is an interesting few days to dive into the story that has been written for those particular characters. But this is different. What readers can gain from the work of poetry found in this book is an unfinished story that’s purpose is to gather up confidence for the protagonist that is the reader, all for the benefit of gaining a new understanding for communication. An understanding that pierces us to want to attain growth within our own wanting way.
They poetry techniques are not only found within the words but through the light design of each page it leaves a trail for one’s imagination to run wild. Whereas the words resemble the same thing, in leaving us just enough room for our imaginations to flow without ever missing the purpose held deep behind each word. Wolfond’s writing finds a way to meet us where we are and to teach us about his ways. This book is truly revelational to the art of poetry.
Wolfond references nature time and time again to draw us into the ways of wanting he is after, and how we can understand such a passion. A passion that encourages us to apply it to our lives. Nature is all around us, just like our desires are. They both surround us and are consistently reminding us of the beauty and power they hold within. This is what The Wanting Way zones in on in using natures fastness to compare humans wants to that same level, it is truly inspirational.
Adam Wolfond is the youngest writer to appear in the Academy of American Poets’ “Poem-A-Day” series and is the author of two chapbooks, There Is Too Music in My Ears and In Way of Music Water Answers Toward Questions Other Than What Is Autism, both published by Unrestricted Editions. He is also a founding member of dis assembly, a neurodiverse artist collective based in Toronto. In him being a nonspeaking autistic artist, poet, and university lecturer, whose work has been featured in multimedia exhibitions, documentary films, academic journals, and philosophical treatises, this book speaks for his well-deserved accomplishments in his writing career. Wolford’s writing masterfully extends a choreography type feel, including many kinds of thought, inviting the reader to move with and through navigations of language, time and space. With implementing surprising intense thought through the ways language sways, the author is clearly making it know that he wants to be understood and heard by all. Overall, this book, challenges, critics’, and communicates a fascinating approach to new levels of desires being portrayed from the lenses of one to that of another’s.
