Under the Influence: Shoutin’ Out to Walt

Every poet has a voice, some thin and some strong. J.C. Ellefson has an honest-to-God howl - the long, musical kind that breaks hearts for miles in any direction. His inspiration here is Whitman, but Ellefson isn’t satisfied with simple literary allusion. He’s out to contain actual multitudes - intelligent collies, drunken horse wranglers, old women who burn with wisdom, hole-in-the-wall pot farmers, blacksmiths left bereft when their day is done. And that’s one way to say it - Under the Influence is genuinely large. Does J.C. Ellefson care if his book of poems bursts out in prose, and tells here and there a short story with the authentic power of a novel? Spoiler alert: J.C. Ellefson does not give one rat’s ass. And another: after reading this book, you will have learned to love everybody in the world. Everybody. Everybody. - Philip Baruth, author of Senator Leahy and The Brothers Boswell