By Tim Z. Hernandez
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
Tim Z. Hernandez is a critically acclaimed poet, author, and performance artist. With his newest endeavor, Natural Takeover of Small Things, he gives us a glimpse into the world of the San Joaquin Valley and the people that reside in this locality. The author uses his unique use of prose poetry to entice the reader into his view of that world. 
The message in this book is guided by the careful layout of his words for effectiveness and his mastery of waking up all your senses as you read through each poem. His writing is far from conventional and that is what sets him apart – he is unique!
He does an excellent job of putting you in the San Joaquin Valley and capturing the essence of people from a particular locality; ordinary citizens, farm workers, their way of life, and how they survive from day to day. He takes some simple daily experiences and makes you feel as if you were right there.
His strategy for effectiveness is sometimes strewn with descriptions that encase the not so obvious and bring the reader in. Other times, he uses pure parody to make his point such as in his first poem called Home. It is the irony of illegal immigrants running to avoid the Feds as their children in school recite “This is the House that Jack Built.” It is my favorite.
The theme throughout the book appears to capture slices of life into the people living in the San Joaquin Valley; however, it really is more than this. His poetry makes us sit up and see not only the unfairness of life, the poverty that exists, and the various ethnicity groups that surround us, but it lets us also reflect upon the everyday life that exists through the author’s distinctive and substantial choice of words.
The author’s style is not your average poetry using the standard assonance, but rather uses line length and rhythm in more abstract form to get his message across. It is rather effective and definitely a great book to have on your bookshelf.
Source: Book was provided by author for review. It was reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
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