Dear Leader [book, audiobook, nonfiction]

 Dear Leader [book, audiobook, nonfiction]

THIS IS A BOOK BY A MAN WHO ESCAPED NORTH KOREA. HE HAD THE VERY FUNNY JOB OF PRETENDING TO BE SOUTH KOREAN AND WRITING 'SOUTH KOREAN' POEMS ABOUT HOW GREAT NORTH KOREA IS TO 'LEAK' TO NORTH KOREANS. HE GOT NAMED THE POET LAUREATE OF NORTH KOREA WHEN EVERY COUNTRY SUBMITTED A POEM FOR THE OLYMPICS AND HE GOT TO BE NORTH KOREA'S POET.  THE BOOK IS REALLY GOOD. HE'S A GOOD WRITER. PARTS FELT VAGUELY MADE UP. BUT THAT FEELS UNDERSTANDABLE.

PS. OKAY, SO I SPUN ALL YEAR ON THE 'POET LAUREATE' CATEGORY STARTING AND DROPPING LIKE 4 DIFFERENT BOOKS AND I HAVE THE MOST PRETENTIOUS CLAIM I'VE EVER MADE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE: A POET LAUREATE INHERENTLY CAN NOT BE A GOOD POET.  AN ARTS PROGRAM THAT BROADLY FUNDS POETS CAN CREATE GOOD POETRY BUT I THINK A DIRECTLY HIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT POET JUST CAN NOT BE A GOOD POET.  

LIKE, IN MY EXTREMELY BAD TAKE HIPSTER MIND THE USE OF A POEM IS EITHER AS A THING FOR SOMEONE SO MARGINALIZED THEY HAVE NO VOICE TO MAKE A THING BECAUSE A POEM HAS ZERO INHERENT BUDGET, BUT THE GOVERNMENT WON'T BE FUNDING THAT. ITS LIKE IF JOE BIDEN STARTED PUBLISHING A ZINE 

BUT FOR ME, THE REAL ACTUAL USE OF A POEM IS 'THING THAT SOMEHOW DESCRIBES A WEIRD HYPER SPECIFIC EMOTION THAT NOTHING ELSE BUT THE VAGUENESS OF A POEM COULD EVER CAPTURE" TO THE POINT I THINK THE ONLY ACTUALLY GOOD POEMS ARE SOME SORT OF OUTSIDER ART NONSENSE FOUND MATERIAL THING. SO LIKE, IN MY MIND THE ONLY WORTHWHILE POEMS ON EARTH ARE LIKE:  "MY CAT IS SAD" , "PAY ATTENTION-A DRAGON IS", "THE TIGER IS OUT", "ALLOWANCES/A SPIDER/THAT OTHER SPIDER POEM THAT WASN'T AS GOOD BUT MADE PEOPLE WRITE SPIDER POEMS", OR STUFF THAT ISN'T EVEN REALLY A POEM LIKE "WHAT ARE GNATS FOR", GOD, I'D EVEN SAY I'M SO HIPSTER ONE OF THE POEMS I THINK OF THE MOST IS JUST A POEM A KID WROTE I FOUND ON THE GROUND CALLED "I NEED LOVE TO LIVE". LIKE EVERY TRUELY GOOD POEM IS A WEIRD HALF FORMED BLANK CANVAS TYPE THING THAT CAN RESONATE WITH SOMEONE ABOUT SOME IMPOSSIBLE TO DESCRIBE THOUGHT OR FEELING. AND BARELY ANY PROFESSIONAL POET AT ALL WILL EVEN BE ABLE TO DO THAT BETTER THAN RANDOM GARBAGE POEMS, LET ALONE ONE HIRED BY THE PRESIDENT. IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING PROFOUND ABOUT FREEDOM IT'S GOING TO BE A KID TRYING TO WRITE ABOUT BOBCATS OR SOMETHING, NOT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.