July 15, 2003

Chances are Few

Lorenzo Thomas' Chances are Few has recently been republished by George Mattingly's Blue Wind Press. Originally published in 1979, this edition is expanded with an intoduction by the author. Here's "Inauguration:"

The land was there before us
Was the land. then things
Began happening fast. Because
The bombs us have always work
Sometimes it makes me think
God must be one of us. Because
Us has saved the world. Us gave it
A particular set of regulations
Based on 1) undisputable acuman.
2) carnivorous fortunes, delicatley
Referred to here as "bull markets"
And (of course) other irrational factors
Deadly smoke thick over the icecaps,
Our man in Saigon Lima Tokyo etc etc

It's available at SPD. Or from Blue Wind: 820 Miramar Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94707. $19.95.

Posted by Dale at 05:26 PM | Comments (241)

July 06, 2003

Kyger Reviewed at Bookslut

Here's my recent review of Joanne Kyger's As Ever: http://www.bookslut.com/reviews/2003_07_000126.php

In the same issue is a review of Elaine Equi's The Cloud of Knowable Things. It and other pieces are available at www.bookslut.com.

Posted by Dale at 04:09 AM | Comments (246)

July 04, 2003

Cento Mag on Ed Dorn

Centomag.org has a new section of writing devoted to the work of Edward Dorn. There are poems by Creeley, Baraka, Pickard and Frym, and essays by Charles Potts, Joe Safdie, myself and others. Check it out.

*

Despite some bitching and moaning by people who think Tom Clark's Dorn bio is incomplete, it remains the single best intro and memoir of the late poet's early years as a working-class poet in the western United States. From what I can tell, the limitations of the book are the fault of North Atlantic (who wouldn't even pay for the inclusion of an index). With stretched resources, Clark accomplished an incredible book at 400+ pages. What's upsetting to some, I think, is that Clark does not write about Slinger, but about the education, poetic practice and travails of the man who would come to write that heroic mock epic. The work on the later life remains to be done. Hopefully, someone will take it on with the same rigor, critical analysis and empathy as Clark's initial study.

Posted by Dale at 07:13 PM | Comments (897)