REVIEW BY NOAH ELI GORDON FROM THE POETRY PROJECT NEWSLETTER

"Speaking of reiteration, Mark Lamoureux’s 29 Cheeseburgers (Pressed Wafer, 2004) uses the conceit of this quick — if not too health-conscious — meal to construct a seemingly autobiographical account of a life led in greasy diners, hovering around family grills, art museum cafeterias and chain restaurants. As in one’s actual life, the meals here — each is assigned a specific location — function as a backdrop of sorts for the poems, which progress from Lamoureux’s childhood in Connecticut, through his college years in Vermont, trips to New York, and current home in Boston.

Lamoureux’s range as a poet is evident via comparison to another recent chapbook of his City/ Temple (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2003), which narrates a third-person account of Jin, an enigmatic figure, who, like the Jin (or Djin) of the Koran, occupies a mortal space partway between human and that of the divine."

--Noah Eli Gordon, from The Poetry Project Newsletter No. 200.