Today, I bought Infinite Jest
and lodged it between Ulysses and Lolita on my bookshelf,
along with a handful of books.
I have yet to read a single one.
The idea of reading them is absurd. Hell,
the idea of reading is absurd.
People will look at my bookshelf,
filled with literary classics and say
"wow, he must be really smart."
It's all a(n?) attempt
to be more smart,
or seem like it.
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139,534 Literary Works • 672,600 Reviews
Hello, darling! This review is probably going to be a little sparser, but let's see about tackling this piece. Nitpicks first, just because.
I have a small issue with this line, as it's underhandedly implying that the three books you mentioned before are not, in fact, books—it's quantifying what you have on your bookshelf as "Infinite Jest, Ulysses, Lolita, and books". While this may be acceptable considering your uneducated narrator, I think it's a little distracting, and I don't think the flow would suffer if you added a little "other" before "books".This one is a little more excusable by the uneducated narrator, but I am dying for at least one comma in this line. It's killing me, Will. You're tearing me apart. I mean, you could at least add a comma after "classics" so it doesn't feel so grammatically bare, considering I keep reading it in one breath without a pause, implying "filled with say "wow"".
Now an overall review. I do like that you're playing off the fact that this actually does happen, and I'm sure most of us on this site have been guilty of this at one point or another. (Uh, not me. Totally not me. Let me go hide that Atlas Britannica...) But in all seriousness, this poem has a very human element in its satire, and I think that's why I keep coming back to your writing: You manage to strike these little things at their core, and that makes people uncomfortable to face the truth because they know it casts an unfavorable light on them. I'll admit, some of your poetry has made me a little uncomfortable (mostly when it goes overtly sexual, hah), but you make people think about these things they wouldn't normally contemplate.
In short, four for you, Will. You go, Will. It could flow better—see my above points—but I don't think I have much in the way of a content review. Keep on writing!
THANK YOU FOR KNOCKING THIS OUT! <3
Heya Strange.
I love this. I told you in chat. But I'm going to say it again.
To be honest, I do this. I stock my bookshelf with classics, but I really don't know if I like the classics. This poem made me realize that I'm a horribly pretentious person. Good job. Make the readers face the uncomfortable truth. The only difference between the narrator and me is that I have read the books. I just don't like them, and pretend to.
I love that you make the choice of "a(n?)" in your poem. It adds an unsophisticated air to the narrator that really only makes the poem more sophisticated. Ironically.
I don't really have any suggestions for this, as I'm not really a humor writer. But I'm stopping in to tell you that it really did strike a chord in me, and I hope that you continue to churn out these hilarious and truthful works. Good job, Strange.
Agh, poetry that doesn't rhyme!
But seriously, I know the feeling of having too many books to read. I've got a collection of 200+ books and haven't even read half of them. I should read what I have but I never do and just buy a new book to read which either gets put up with the rest forever or is read and then tossed aside.
Anyway, good poem...?
I don't know what good poetry is. All I know is that I can't stand poetry without rhythm.
Yes. The N does go there.
I think he did that for poetic purposes (I could be wrong, but he probably knows whether it goes there or not
) 
Because he's saying "it's an attempt to be smart" and I mean it doesn't take rocket science to know when to use 'an' but, I think you see where I'm going
XD Yup, I know. He made a remark in chat that he was waiting for someone to point that out... so I went for it!