{"id":14554,"date":"2020-08-07T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=14554"},"modified":"2020-08-03T22:53:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-04T02:53:52","slug":"review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"14555\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/complexaccident\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"324,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"complexaccident\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-14555\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?resize=227%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"227\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?resize=227%2C350&amp;ssl=1 227w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?w=324&amp;ssl=1 324w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 85vw, 227px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apokrupha.com\/product\/a-complex-accident-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley&#8217;s Frankenstein <\/em>by Jessica McHugh<\/a><br \/>\nApokrupha (June 2020)<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>104 pages; $18.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AntonCancre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anton Cancre<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Writing poetry is a tough gig. Trying to put together poems from someone else&#8217;s words, even tougher. Putting together personal, meaningful poems from someone else&#8217;s words and using their location to make for impactful, visually appealing art seems nigh impossible. So, of course the inimitable Jessica McHugh has done just that.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>A Complex Accident of Life<\/em> takes the original text of Mary Shelley&#8217;s <em>Frankenstein<\/em> and, through selective deletion, molds those words and ideas into something solely Jess. The resulting poems are sometimes playful, sometimes heartbreaking, and always incisive. Take &#8220;A Blessed House&#8221; for example. It&#8217;s simple and short but cuts right to the heart of our issues of past and poverty.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Not only that, but Jess manages to use the unused space to create wonderful, vivid images of and along with the poems. This is one of those situations where I am going to highly suggest the physical copy, as it has both the altered text pages and the simplified poems side by side; you really want to see the art she has put into this.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>A Complex Accident of Life<\/em> feels just as much like a conversation between writers as it does an independent collection of poems. You can see the themes and ideas of Shelley&#8217;s work shining through, but they do not overshadow what McHugh brings to the table. Instead, both shine clearly and work together to create something altogether new and special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley&#8217;s Frankenstein by Jessica McHugh Apokrupha (June 2020) 104 pages; $18.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book Reviewed by\u00a0Anton Cancre Writing poetry is a tough gig. Trying to put together poems from someone else&#8217;s words, even tougher. Putting together personal, meaningful poems from someone else&#8217;s words and using &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80],"tags":[2093,399,2094,953,1091,79],"class_list":["post-14554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-a-complex-accident-of-life","tag-anton-cancre","tag-frankenstein","tag-jessica-mchugh","tag-mary-shelley","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh - Cemetery Dance Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anton Cancre reviews A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley&#039;s Frankenstein, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cemetery Dance Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"headline\":\"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-07T11:00:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/complexaccident-227x350.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"A Complex Accident of Life\",\"Anton Cancre\",\"Frankenstein\",\"Jessica McHugh\",\"Mary Shelley\",\"Reviews\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh - Cemetery Dance Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/complexaccident-227x350.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-07T11:00:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"description\":\"Anton Cancre reviews A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&ssl=1\",\"width\":324,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/reviews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"description\":\"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh - Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Anton Cancre reviews A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cemetery Dance Online","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/"},"author":{"name":"Cemetery Dance Online","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"headline":"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh","datePublished":"2020-08-07T11:00:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/"},"wordCount":274,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident-227x350.jpg","keywords":["A Complex Accident of Life","Anton Cancre","Frankenstein","Jessica McHugh","Mary Shelley","Reviews"],"articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/","name":"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh - Cemetery Dance Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident-227x350.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-07T11:00:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"description":"Anton Cancre reviews A Complex Accident of Life: Blackout Poetry Inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/complexaccident.jpg?fit=324%2C500&ssl=1","width":324,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-a-complex-accident-of-life-jessica-mchugh\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Review: A Complex Accident of Life by Jessica McHugh"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Cemetery Dance Online"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p81cXa-3MK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14556,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14554\/revisions\/14556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}