Book Review: Jupiter Works on Commission
Jupiter Works on Commission. Jack Phillips Lowe. West Union, West Virginia: Middle Island Press, August 1, 2015, Trade Paperback, 60 pages.
Reviewed by Gail Galvan.
Jack Philips Lowe is an easy-to-read, narrative poet with a knack for details and a penchant for writing about the working class. He’s also a talented storyteller. His collection of twenty-four poems delivers delightful insights on topics as varied as a workplace breakroom, a boardroom, and the troubled minds of the unemployed. Lowe's narration lets the reader feel as if he/she is walking in the shoes of the workers he describes.
The cover graphic of a blue-collar worker sitting on a scaffold introduces us to the subject matter: the working class. I love the titles, themes, and punchlines throughout. Lowe delivers stories about everyday people living their hardworking lives. We see their honor, we hear their complaints, and we enjoy their humor.
In The Breadman, for instance, Calvin brings loaves of bread from his church’s soup kitchen to work to share with his colleagues. His co-workers just snicker at the thought until one day their company enacts payroll cuts. Suddenly, the laughing stops and the bread goes home with others instead of being thrown in the trash.
The other poems tell stories, too. Snapped deals with the endless questions on a job application form. Crash Course studies a worker who is succumbing to sneezing and flu-like symptoms. Survivor’s Stripes refers to older applicants pondering whether to wear the gray hair they have earned by surviving or to cover the gray before the job interview. Open Availability is about part-time workers who must be available at all hours, so they cannot have other jobs or additional income. The Night Hoss Kiboshed the King tells of a night in 1969 when the TV show Bonanza trumped a chance to see Elvis in person because Dad wanted to see the episode when Hoss meets a leprechaun.
My favorite in this collection is Coo-Coo-Cachew. It’s about a man named Buchman who handles customer complaints at a department store. To deal with rude customers, Buchman invents backstories for the complainers based on their looks and demeanor. He decides one guy looks like Benjamin Braddock, the character Dustin Hoffman plays in the movie, The Graduate. When the customer demands Buchman's name, he refuses to give it, saying, “I never liked what you did to Mrs. Robinson.” Lowe's wry humor surfaces again in the title work, Jupiter Works on Commission. In this scenario, two laid off welders get frustrated when their prayers to St. Jude for jobs go unanswered. They decide to pray to the Roman god Jupiter instead and must decide upon a suitable sacrifice because Jupiter never worked for free. Over and over, Lowe examines the lives and thoughts of everyday workers with humor and profound insight.
My single regret is that there aren't more poems in this collection. It’s that good.