Precordial Thump

This is a gutsy, gritty, urban, urbane, and sleek selection by a poet evocatively skilled in her craft!A "precordial thump" is a single punch to the center of the sternum, an attempt to start the heart. In Zoe Whittall's third book of poetry, lies erode a relationship, romance blooms in the back of an ambulance and the poet examines the implied sincerity in confessional poetry. At the intersection of emergency medicine and emergency poetry, Whittall aims to break down the larger lies of poetic form and the smaller dishonesties within ourselves.

Zoe Whittall is the author of the poetry collections The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life and The Emily Valentine Poems and the novel Bottle Rocket Hearts, which was named one of the Best Books of 2007 by both the Globe and Mail and Quill & Quire. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.