GET ME THROUGH THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES

A collection of short pieces encompassing the whimsical, the meditative, and the tragicomic.

Is the world a big place full of small things, or a small place stuffed with big things? Parker, a staff writer for the Atlantic and author of a biography of Henry Rollins, would probably say it is both, judging from this compilation of his essays and poems. His subjects veer from the philosophical to the very strange, from quantum physics to “the psychedelic locusts that run the universe.” The author explains why Jason Bourne ("poor human suffering the essential questions") is better than James Bond and discusses which movie star has the best running style—he settles on Tom Cruise, who runs "with the face of an angry Christ.” Parker is not shy about getting personal. He might be the only person to have written a poem about constipation, which includes a cat. He admits to a misspent youth, with too many party drugs and too much literature. However, both gave him odd insights into the way the world works. Is it possible that the hum of a refrigerator, heard in the insomniac hours, is really the hidden song of the eternal? What do hypervigilant squirrels know that we don’t? Parker’s writing is carefully polished, with the humor often hiding dark undertones, which in turn obscure deeper absurdities. (Consider a mixture of Cormac McCarthy’s shade and Steve Martin’s offbeat comedic spirit.) It all makes for enjoyable reading that can be consumed at once or piecemeal; many of Parker’s essays deserve serious contemplation. Among numerous other topics, he pens odes to the “Farting Horse,” “Crying Babies,” “Bad Reviews,” “My Dog’s Balls,” “Being Dead,” and “Wanting to Be a Great Poet.”

Parker is articulate and provocative, seeing the poetry in the ordinary and the wonderful in the world.