Mixology

Adrian Matejka's Mixology is well titled, in that it is a complex blend of references to music, cultural icons and literary works. These all largely pertain to the poet's conflict with his identity as a half-African American, half-Caucasian male. Mixology is flavored with allusions to music and musicians alike, including George Clinton, Public Enemy, and Hendrix right alongside other cultural icons such as Spike Lee and the Black Panthers. The book remains true to what the poet himself said, that he tried to "fit in as many of [his] favorite things as possible," and therefore gives us both a picture of the poet and the world he inhabits.

Adrian Matejka uses language to create a collage effect, mixing urban lingo with lyrical, more traditional diction. The opening poem of his book, "Seven Days of Falling" prepares us for this with it's first line, "Today, I'm assimilating like margarine/into hotcakes." True, throughout the entire book, we see phrases prefaced with "Man," and profanity, slang like, "dub" and "yo" blending in with references to The Cantos, biblical passages and William S. Burroughs. We are here given the impression of Matejkas "world," one of pop culture and urban grit, making its way into literary, traditional and stereotypically "white" culture. Matejka's lines are generally of short to medium length, relying heavily on the dialects of slang and pop culture in order to deliver lines that reflect the blending of the music they speak of.

i believe Matejka is very successful in his blending of cultures in Mixology. He speaks of all his references with an ease and a familiarity that makes the quick jumps between cultural icons brings us through the book with the sense that he easily navigates both of these worlds. The way he is able to seamlessly bring together utterly different musical references, pop culture icons, etc., makes the book a smooth read. Even though I often found myself looking up name after name in order to educate myself as to what he was talking about, more than anything, I was comfortable with not necessarily knowing what he was talking about, as I was comforted by the fact that Matejka clearly knew what he was talking about. The overall effect I gained from reading the book was what it is like to navigate between various different facets of a culture, to live between them.