Rotten Fruit in an Unkempt Garden by Michael Nanfito

A raw, unusual, and unforgettable memoir, Rotten Fruit in an Unkempt Garden by Michael Nanfito is a collection of personal essays, poetry, art, quotes, and reflections that encapsulate a remarkable life and an inspiring worldview.

Exploring outlaw living, alternative perspectives, and universal themes of lost love and opportunity, this patchwork offering of thoughts and memories is powerful and intimate. The opening section focuses heavily on religion, and Nanfito’s experience with patriarchal betrayals, both psychological and physical, and closes on a damning note: “We’ve yet to evict these faithless landlords / from the spaces that were always ours.” The writing then moves into the bulk of the story, an “ode to the street,” and the poet’s life as a rebel wanderer, a lover of adventurous minds, of filling station romance, and unpredictable forks in the endless road.

Regarding style, Nanfito’s writing resembles the road-weary recollections of Salinger, the flophouse dreams of Kerouac, the brilliant nihilism of Bukowski, and even Pirsig’s poignant eye for deeper meaning. Peppered with quotes from everyone from Plato to Bob Dylan, readers come to understand the artist’s “time on the road as a crucible,” and are welcomed without restriction into the grittiest and most painful moments of his past. Though the tangential nature of styles and subjects is occasionally distracting, Nanfito’s mastery of language is clear.

Functioning as a road novel, a confessional diary, and a manifesto of personal freedom, this memoir is like no other – a raucous and poetic ride through a decade of revelation.