Parlance is an accomplished first book. Zelazo crafts succinct prose poems that wear the influence of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E school but owe more to Gertrude Stein. At its best, Zelazo's prose is biting, possessed of a sharp, confident grace, but from time to time the poems are so cold and carefully wrought they appear bloodless and lack a certain visceral acuity.
