Odalisque

Author: Mark Salerno

Publisher: Salt Publishing (2007)

Mark Salerno's compelling poem sequence interweaves scenes and stories in an intimate soundtrack that sweeps through modern Los Angeles. A cop and a hooker become a "scrivener" and an "odalisque"—a lover and a beloved, who, line by line, scene by scene, reveal their affair in a bitter script that tours the city streets, taking in actresses and immigrants, beauty school students, dreamers and discontents. Sexy, intriguing and expertly realized, this book raids our auditory memory, like cultural outtakes of a dark collective unconscious, and as we listen in and watch the pieces fall perfectly into place.