I sat down to read Edwin Torres’ book The PoPedology of an Ambient Language after seeing him read at a radio show recording. I enjoyed his reading style. His performance had strong melopoesis, but did not convey meaning or stylistic choices as well as the written word. Torres’ work is sometimes associated with both the Russian futurists and the Beat Poets. His use of space and short one or two word stanzas that fill a page is also an intriguing part of his technique.
    Torres often creates words in his work. These words include “interupt,” “intellooneries,” and “PoPedology.” This is very similar to the word creation and resulting idea combination of Rodrigo Toscano and less similar to that of Kenneth Patchen. It has also been speculated that his creation of words has the same objective as that of the Russian Futurists although Torres did not confirm it.
    In his written work, Torres shows the melopoetic power of the Beats, when read aloud his work flows off the tongue. He also shares another interesting quality with Patchen. For the second half of his book he writes with and around illustrations. This is markedly Patchen-esque.
    Torres’ use of spacing and form are unusual. There are portions of his book devoted to the unconventional use of space. This has an interesting effect on the mind. It emphasizes phrases and suggests a pause for interpretation of the text. In these sections he uses one or two word stanzas to take advantage of this effect.
    The PoPedology of an Ambient Language is a great read for poets and readers of all skill levels. His aesthetic is accessible, but also has some deeper and more skillfully hidden meaning for those ready to do some mining.