Synopsis "Soft boy (in English)"
"soft boy." takes an intimate look at the absurdities of toxic masculinity and attempts to illustrate the need to abandon patriarchy and misogynoir as urgent, essential to Black liberation and, ultimately, in everyone’s best interests. Humorous and introspective, "soft boy." is the echoing cry of a Black man desperately searching for authenticity in a world that champions performance. This is Dave’s first published collection of poems and the fourth book to be released by the Black-owned publishing house, Black Minds Publishing, LLC. ADVANCED PRAISE: "This collection took me back to childhood Sundays spent balancing duty and passion on the pews of a church. These poems slay demons of toxic masculinity, racism, and generational trauma. In this work, there is a yearning to be as free from social constructs as the goldfish that has leapt out of the bowl. And in the yearning is a voice that is coming home as much as it is breaking away.” - Yolanda Wisher, Philadelphia Poet Laureate, Author of "Monk Eats An Afro". "The beauty of David A. Gaines’ "soft boy." resides in its thematic and tonal variety. Over 88 pages, topics such as religious indoctrination, masculinity, consent, interminable loss, and self-actualization are woven together effortlessly to create one of the most fascinating contemporary projects examining manhood that I have read. The collection begins with an invitation to be present and if this challenge is accepted, the reader will be challenged not only by the numerous approaches Dave uses to show the harm done to men by other men but also to identify with an author who is still in the process of diagnosing his own demons. On stage, exceptional charisma is Dave’s superpower. He has the uncanny ability to draw the listener in with his voice, disarm the audience with levity and then level everyone with some unearthed truth. That arc can be seen in this book. Poems chronicling the loss of a sister, in the beautiful and haunting suite ‘birthday wishes, are flanked by roasts and comedic advertisements. Each poem requiring a reset of expectations of what constitutes a man. "soft boy." is so timely because of its insistence on highlighting general cycles as an origin point of instability and these cycles, these “heirlooms” that are passed down don’t just rot the inheritor, they infect the community. "soft boy." is so essential because its interrogation of how a community of men can manage to heal never relents, the mirror never leaves.” - Kirwyn Sutherland, Author of "Jump Ship".
