The third book in a trilogy that explores the limits of individual expression,
Honestly is an intimate, quiet, and unresolved little book about talking and listening.
It begins with research into a forgotten relative who was kicked out of the author's family after he was jailed for conscientious objection to WWII, and who then moved to New York to become a composer. From there the poem swerves into a series of minor-key personal anecdotes, interlaced with conversations with friends about work and relationships. Throughout, communication is framed by the economics and psychology of the home. Dialogue takes place in close quarters--constrained by money, space, ego, and empathy.
