This first collection of poemsunveils the magician's trick: an illusion only works if we believe that whatwe've just seen is exactly what happened. With a hairsplitting sense of detailand spellbinding language, Joel Brouwer's poems consider characters and eventsboth real and imagined, seeking to expose the deceptions we live with daily.Belief is at stake in every poem. A boy discovers his mail-order magic kit isfake. Astronomers find water in a distant galaxy and wonder if life might existthere. A photojournalist manipulates his pictures to maximize their drama.Harry Houdini explains that his illusions came not from magic but labor, from "thesefingers, cut callused stalks." In these and many other poems, Exactly What Happened reflects on theincidents and accidents that make up the enchanting, painful, and quirky worldin which we live in. Written with the scrutiny of a reporter and a conjurer'ssympathy for mystery, Brouwer's poems help us find the dignity in belief'sdeceit.
