FOR A SINGLE MOMENT MY VOICE IS EVERYTHING - David Berman's 'Actual Air' and the experience of time stopping

A literary analysis of David Berman's 'Actual Air', exploring the peculiarly arresting effects of his poetry, featuring never-before-seen excerpts from conversations with David himself.

In a 2003 interview, David Berman was asked what he wanted the reader to get out of his poetry. He replied ‘I want them to have the experience of time stopping when their eyes hit a phrase that stops time’. This unique essay develops the notion of the time stopping experience before applying it to Berman’s 'Actual Air' in terms of language, content, and form.