The Zombie Stance of the Technological Idiotby S. MintzPublished by JackPine PressReview by Toby A. Welch$20.00 ISBN 9781927035412 What a fascinating gem this book is! JackPine Press, the publisher, explains this book as “a lyrical probe into contemporary media, with focus on the inextricability of media from culture. Its playful, challenging, and satirizing verses throw comical punches, while the book’s analog zine design juxtaposes themes of the work with ideas about communication and alternative media in a pre-internet world.” Huh? I’ll be honest – I had no idea what any of that meant. That is until I got my hands on a copy of the 30 page book. More a piece of funky art in parts than a book, this soft cover read is short but awesome! When you crack into the book, the preface explains Mintz’s thinking behind this dive into post-internet art, lyrics in the technological age, internet authority, the post-internet self, and numerous other issues. Once through the preface, you are treated to an assortment of drawings, poetry, and lyrics. It’s a delight for all of your senses.  My favourite work in the book is News of Them. The poem shares the story of someone sitting in…

The Zombie Stance of the Technological Idiotby s. mintzPublished by JackPine PressReview by Elena Bentley$20.00 ISBN 9781927035412 I imagine you’re reading this review on your phone. You were likely scrolling through Twitter or Facebook, then you clicked the link, and now you’re here. Most of us spend hours staring down these days, existing in a state of “‘psychic rigor mortis’”—sluggish and numb from the “‘effects of new media.’” “Wavering between shock and stupor,” s. mintz’s debut poetry chapbook, The Zombie Stance of the Technological Idiot, “is a lyrical probe on media in the contemporary moment given the inextricability of media from the contemporary.” JackPine Press specializes in beautifully handmade chapbooks, and The Zombie Stance of the Technological Idiot is no exception. Accompanied by a bookmark that doubles as a pair of 3D glasses (the red and blue film kind), this chapbook invites participation with the interior images using a nostalgic piece of technology. A few poems also include web addresses, further compelling the reader to search the internet and participate in exactly the type of questions the chapbook considers: “how [do] we know what we know on the internet [and] [w]here does [that] authority come from?” Right from the opening…