Adult
Nonfiction
Poetry collection 

4 stars

I’m not sure if I’ve ever read anything by Oates in my life and it’s a name I’ve seen on books and whatnot for decades but I didn’t know what I was going into with this one.

These poems include heinous bits of American history, some so disturbing that I had to put my e-reader down temporarily  to either look up the full story behind the poem or because the content was so shocking and discomforting that I needed a moment before continuing. Topics include psychological experiments with babies and animals, abortion, war, and more.