The Good Parts by Eric Blanchard

In these closely observed and wildly imagined poems, Eric Blanchard leans in for the good parts without discarding the not-so-good parts. All points of view are welcome when you open your mind, listen to your neighbors’ complaints, walk the dogs, and maybe drink too much. Eric uses self-deprecating humor touched with a bit of melancholy to bring these down-to-earth portraits to life. Here are the foibles of domesticated manhood, lighthearted conversations with animals, and dreamy romantic fantasies.  As it should be, every good part is shadowed by the longings and failures of characters we feel like we already know.

–Risa Denenberg

These poems will knock you over with their quirky insight, intensity, humor, and beauty. In them, Jesus delivers pizza, the Sun rotates around a flat Earth, a lover “holds her beer bottle like a teacup,” and the heart’s replacement parts come with instructions in three languages (but you must supply the love). The good and the bad parts of life are here, and Eric Blanchard’s reflections on them tell you why we go on living.

–David Lee Garrison, author of Playing Bach in the DC Metro and Carpeing the Diem: Poems about High School

Anyone who appreciates the efforts of a wordsmith, recognizes the craft that goes into the honing of any one poem, let alone a collection. Offered in three sections, Eric Blanchard has created The Good Parts. It’s like a fine literary tapestry, worthy of display anywhere pilgrimages are made to appreciate the creative efforts of the masters. Each poem stands well on its own, but Eric has woven emotional threads from a broad spectrum of textures, materials, and colors into a work of progressive scenes that reflect the all-encompassing experiences of life.

Using social commentary and self-analysis, selections like “Opening the Mind,” “Sweet Tea,” “Indiana Memories,” “The Little Nun That Could,” “The Honeymoon That Was Not,” “I give myself permission,” and the stunningly poignant “Missing Pieces” reveal his portrayal of relationships, heartache, loss, self-actualization, and ultimately an acceptance that one is not in complete control of the world around him. It brings me much joy to share The Good Parts with you. I cannot recommend it enough.

–O.P.W. Fredericks, Former Editor, Touch: The Journal of Healing