About Time
Poems
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DAVID DUCHOVNY'S SEVENTH PUBLISHED--AND FIRST POETIC--WORK covers a range of intimate themes and topics, including love, the loss of love, parenting, Duchovny's own parents (in particular his father, who looms large throughout the work), alienation, and other emotional quandaries. Fans of Duchovny's fiction will recognize the insightful and clever play of words that, in this new form, distill to an emotionally impactful portrayal of what the author holds most dear. Duchovny's approach to poetry is beautifully (and, typically, humorously) encapsulated in his introduction to the work, in which he writes: Poetry is not useful. And that is exactly why we need it. It reminds us of two important things: our ultimate lack of agency (unpopular to say, I know) and our inability to say anything plain, our inability to capture what it means to be human with the imperfect tool of words; we come face-to-face with our shadow selves, for in the end we will all die and be forgotten, and come away with nothing, nothing in the way of utility anyway, no talking points, no bullet points, no propaganda, no resolutions, no policy, no knowledge. If anything, maybe we remember a few lines . . . something like a pop song from the collective unconscious, something like wisdom. You see, I wanted to say it plain, but out comes that torrent of modifiers and adjustments, denials, double negatives, shading, stabs at wit, backpedaling, playing at capturing the lightning. Maybe this time. Maybe that's what a poem is--that glorious feeling of Maybe this time I'll get it right. If that's the case, it seems a worthy enterprise to me. You see, I got somewhere, but the way back is unclear--that's a good enough definition of poetry for now. No, it's not. Duchovny's efforts at achieving such clarity range in this collection from laser-sharp, single-sentence poems to emotionally sweeping ruminations. With About Time--perhaps his most personal work to date--Duchovny continues his journey as one of the most prolific creators of his generation. Front cover photo © Stefan Sappert
About this Author
DAVID DUCHOVNY is an award-winning actor, director, New York Times best-selling author, and singer-songwriter. With an acting career spanning more than three decades, Duchovny is a two-time Golden Globe winner and four-time Emmy nominee. His novels include Truly Like Lightning, Holy Cow, The Reservoir (novella), Miss Subways, and Bucky F*cking Dent which Duchovny adapted into the film Reverse the Curse. The film, directed by Duchovny, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. As a musician, Duchovny has released three studio albums: Hell or Highwater, Every Third Thought, and Gestureland. He is the host of the podcast Fail Better.
Reviews
"David Duchovny has written a helluva book of poems, a volume I suspect will adorn many shelves. The collection is smart, smart-assed, and moving enough to reward study. Buy this book!"
"David Duchovny is known as one of the most talented, brightest, and wickedly funny actors in the entertainment business. He is also a wonderful writer, as evidenced by his many novels and this collection of intimate and humorous poetry."
"Why should I be surprised that the soulful actor David Duchovny is not only an accomplished novelist but also possesses the heart of a true poet? His verse effortlessly charts a course through a landscape of melancholia so rich with irony and humor that I found myself reading his poems aloud just to savor the depth of his emotions."
"David Duchovny's language is specific and surprising. Colloquial. In the tradition of Robert Frost and Vachel Lindsay, a tradition that has been eclipsed by Imagism. With modernist twists, he invigorates the tradition of storytelling poems."
"In the former X-Files actor's fifth [book], a lonely ex-financier stuck in his apartment during the Covid-19 pandemic becomes obsessed with the Central Park Reservoir and slowly goes mad."
"Evocative, chilly prose that wouldn't be out of place in a late Don DeLillo novel. Like his previous novels Bucky F*cking Dent and Miss Subways, it's a love letter to Duchovny's native New York. But it's also a smart story about obsession. A slim, compelling tale of a man on the brink."
"This swift and unnerving fever-dream of a novella, Duchovny's fifth work of fiction, is saturated with mythic and literary allusions and shaped by resonant riffs on Poe and Mann. At once philosophical and suspenseful, grandly imaginative and sharply funny, this mind-bending story of delusion and longing is a dark reflection of New York's countless crimes and tragedies and much-tested resilience, emblematic of the suffering and tenacity of all of humanity."
"Inspired by Duchovny's self-reflection while sequestered in his own aerie above Central Park at the height of the pandemic, this work is provocative, challenging, and not without its moments of dark humor."
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