Pro Femina by Carolyn Kizer (2000)

Pro Femina
Carolyn Kizer
BkMk Press/University of Missouri Press
(c)2000

I have seen many copies of this chapbook around and while not really enjoying the cover, I have thought it important enough to mention here. Probably not surprisingly there are no review of this chapbook on Amazon; after all, who reviews chapbooks?

This one has a bit of history to it that ought to be brought out. There are 5 parts to this piece and they had not been published together in 35 years. This 30 page chapbook represents a period of time when Feminism was emerging in the US and women were still feeling their way. Kizer wrote part of this piece as an homage to Fanny Stevenson, the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and noting the years she spent in his shadow; caring for him, etc.

There is a depth in these 30 pages that belie the thinness of the work. It is merely thin in number, not in substance. It's worth a careful reading.

The Story of the Campaign and Siege of Yorktown (1931)

The Story of the Campaign and Siege of Yorktown
H. J. Eckenrode
Presented by Mr. Swanson on Feb. 17, 1931
71st Congress, 3rd Session
United States Government Printing Office
Washington, DC

54 page historical document with illustrations. Wonderful copy of a document entered into the Senate (Senate document 318) in 1931. Great slice of American history.

down spooky by shanna compton (2003)

down spooky
Shanna Compton
self published
(c)2003

Shanna Compton has become a known commodity. This brief chapbook isn't. If one ventures over to Ms. Compton's website there is no mention of it. There is a good deal written about the full-length version of a collection of poetry with the same name as this, Down Spooky, which was published by Bloof Books in 2005 but this is an earlier (and I assume more rare) version. The cover is unique to the chapbook.

The chapbook is 16 pages. It begins with an empty crossword puzzle and ends with a now full crossword puzzle. There's a concept to this chapbook that was mothballed by Bloof once a full collection was forthcoming. I find it curious when the original version of a work is "reinvented" by a larger publisher, sometimes despite the effort and thought-process that went into the earlier version.

In some respects a chapbook is a more pure form for a concept piece than a full length book. The making a book of 70-some pages is like making sausage. It's a grind. The end product doesn't represent the sum of the individual poems but the thickness of its spine. Unless poems are arranged in the original order as they appeared in the chapbook, the uniqueness of the chapbook is lost. Completely.

To most people, and to most poets themselves unless they also published their chapbook "in-house" this all might be academic but as a publisher who has seen entire chapbooks swallowed whole into larger books with none of the images or uniqueness that went into the chapbook, it's awfully depressing to see one's ideas flushed for "uniformity" as defined by the Big Fish Press which has published the whole Big Book of poet (whomever)

The Big Book is the brass ring, I understand that. At the same time, what makes a chapbook special is what large books don't attempt to do. Whether that is alternating colored pages, or covers, or illustrations which will never be attempted to be recreated, or any number of other "bells and whistles" and have them in hand so much quicker than books with spines. In some respects, I find big books to be BORING visually because it's "costly" to be otherwise. Okay, then boring it is!

This chapbook is not boring. This chapbook is a priceless example of the little sliver of nothing that compels me onward to seeking out chapbooks wherever I can.

Words & Food by Robie Liscomb (1981)

Words & Food
Robie Liscomb
Fathom Press
Chicago, IL
(c)1981

There was some kind of magic happening with Michael Tarachow and his associates, as in this case with Robie Liscomb. I have had to the good fortune to be able to communicate with Michael and through him understood the near-gyspy manner of his Press (they had many homes). One thing that travel did not diminish was the quality of the books that were made. Liscomb himself was a publisher, Fathom Press, at the time. Both men are happily still alive and have multiple copies of their (and their presses') books.

Words & Food is a beautifully made chapbook done on hand-made paper in an edition of 200 copies. Without offending anyone involved, there is great craftsmanship involved in the production of this book. For those in the biz, and collectors in general, all I can say is that it feels like something. You can feel the cover, the pages. Nothing slick. Nothing plastic. It feels, and reads, very REAL.

Google these guys, they are worth getting in touch with. I know that Michael was selling off some of his inventory. Maybe you can still get some of the wonderful Fathom Press chapbooks. Completely worth the effort. (blogger made correction on 5/6/16)

The Hotel Wentley Poems by John Wieners (2006)

The Hotel Wentley Poems
John Wieners
Joy Street Press
Boston, MA
(c)2006

This is a recreation of the 1965 publication of The Hotel Wentley Poems that was published by Dave Haselwood. I have read a critique of this particular reproduction as somehow misleading or left wanting since the complaining person thought that any reproduction should offer something new, different, or some such thing. I am glad that additional copies have been created for general readers. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about? Getting books into the hands of readers?

The front cover photo was by Wallace Berman with details by Robert LaVigne. Unpaginated. Staple-bound.

Poetry Is Not a Project by Dorothea Lasky (2010)

Poetry Is Not a Project
Dorothea Lasky
Ugly Duckling Press
Brooklyn, NY
(c)2010

a handsome 6" X 5 1/4" hand-sewn chapbook. Great little chap. Completely worthwhile.

Trees were felled for these?

Trees were felled for these? Seriously?

I was sent some chapbooks that really ought to be have pulped. I will list them only to attempt to warn others:

North/South
Josh Cotter & Shafer Hall
Self-published
©2004

I Want to Fuck a Redneck
Shane Allison
Scintillating Publications
Burlington, VT
©2006

Exit 2
Moonshine Shorey
little vanity press
New York, NY
©2002

The Day Reagan Died
Chris Martin
boku books
New York, NY

Kiss Me With the Mouth of Your Country
Amy King
Dusie Chapbook
©2007

reflector by Roberto Harrison (2008)

reflector
Roberto Harrison
House Press
(c)2008

reflector is a hand-sewn chapbook by House Press. Unpaginated. A few short weeks ago I had no idea who Harrison was nor his Bronze Skull Press. That has changed. I have become familiar with Harrison, his press, and House Press (the publisher of this chapbook) since they also have published work by Michael Carr and Dana Ward. Layers upon layers, peeling back the onion skin. Learning about one press and those published by it leads to discovering others. And that leads to more discoveries as well.

Here's a voice deserving to be heard on a Press worth watching.

Strongest of the Litter by James Franco (2012)

Strongest of the Litter
James Franco
Hollyridge Press
Venice, CA
(c)2012

I get it: James Franco is a name. It's like a book of poetry by Jewel. Except that Franco isn't a female singer-songwriter. He's an actor (and more) but a poet? No, he isn't. This book proves that. Oh, he has an MFA from a well known college that has MFAs of worth? How nice. The "poems" in this collection are not worth the hype that the publisher had hoped his name recognition would bring forth. The poems are crap. Any publisher/editor worth their salt would have passed on this manuscript. I think it's telling that this one didn't.

The book looks exactly like every other book I have ever seen by Hollyridge Press. It's print-on-demand garbage. It's a waste of a tree. I won't speak of it again.

Maybe A Painter by Christina Fisher (2009)

Maybe A Painter
Christina Fisher
Auguste Press
San Francisco, CA
(c)2009


9 3/4" X 8" mimeo throwback. Cover image by Sunnylyn Thibodeaux. Single sided. Unpaginated.

As observed by the dimensions and appearance of this book, the publisher is attempting to revive the "classic" mimeo form. It does beef up the heft of the book without providing additional work. It's alright. Heft doesn't equal depth. I do like the cover image.

one person's literary masterpiece.....

.....is another person's junk. I knew this for years, but it has really come back like a steel tipped boomerang recently when a poet/friend of mine from NY state sent me a large trove of goodies, which on closer inspection didn't seem so tasty. A fair amount of it was absolute garbage and it made me wonder about the collector's etiquette. I assume this is such a thing.

Specifically, I was thinking about how it is inappropriate to throw away something just given to you (be it pamphlet, booklet, chapbook, or flier) by "an artist" within eyeshot of that person. But why would one keep the item for years before deciding to purge it particularly if one knew it was garbage from the first moment they flipped through it? Are we by nature hoarders? Do we hoard things we like to collect simply because they managed to land in our hands?

How long, once you have identified a piece of tripe for what it is, must you keep it before the eventual PURGE? Why send something you have thought of as garbage to someone you know? Do you not think they would also believe it to be shite?

For me, any chapbook or booklet that contains pages of rejection slips from magazines or journals is in itself a good indication of being complete CRAP. If others have thought so, but the author doesn't, whose judgment are we supposed to trust?

I have a motto here on this blog, SAVE A TREE, and I felt that any number of the "authors" are so arrogant that their shitty poems were more important than the life of any number of trees that they are blind to the possibility (or reality) that they were in fact terrible at what they did. Just because a person possesses the technology or ability to publish doesn't mean they ought to. But this doesn't stop someone determined to make the world love their horrid poems. It should allow for people interested in the craft of chapbooks, or collectors in general, to recycle these items as soon as humanly possible.

Ash by David Pavelich (2004)

Ash by David Pavelich
Bronze Skull Press
Milwaukee, WI
(c)2004


Bronze Skull Press is the brainchild of Andrew Levy and Roberto Harrison. It hails from Harrison's hometown of Milwaukee. This particular chapbook has coverwork by Harrison. Staple-bound chapbook. Unpaginated.

Following a path of snippets (accredited), these pieces are wafer thin. More blank space than text. Almost a celebration of white emptiness.

Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy (1993)

Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy
Thomas Lux
Ampersand Press
Creative Writing Program
Roger Williams University
Bristol, RI


Originally published in 1983, this copy was published ten years later. It is a 6th printing. For any chapbook to be printed that often is remarkable. 23 pages. Staple-bound chapbook. Cover is grey. Nothing but text on front. A fairly boring cover, I have to say. The poems are good. Redeeming quality for certain. I do find it curious that these poems held together in chapbook form for a dozen years and 6 printings. I might have thought they would have been sucked up into a bigger work.

Man Joanne Kyger / Women Michael Rothenberg (1987)

Man by Joanne Kyger
Women by Michael Rothenberg
Twowindows Press
Berkeley, CA
(c)1987
Second Printing
Illustrated by Nancy Davis

2 years before Davis and Rothenberg started Big Bridge Press, this tiny chapbook appeared. Twowindows Press may have been a forerunner to Big Bridge. This handsome chap is extremely rare.

Prognosis by Ellen Aronofsky Cole (2011)

Prognosis
Ellen Arnonsky Cole
Finishing Line Press
Georgetown, KY
(c) 2011

If ever a book deserved a different publisher! There is much discussion these days about Finishing Line, much of it having to do with its status as a Vanity Press (which it seems to be) and the recent death of its Publisher.

I have long wondered about the business operation of a Press that had a cookie-cutter approach to the DOZENS upon DOZENS of chapbooks that it publishes each season (or is it month?)

The tell-tale bit of ribbon in each book was enough to make me cringe. That said, the work in this chapbook should be read. It's strong, poignant, and heart-felt. The "prognosis" here is Cancer and the way the author deals with the entire process is remarkable. At the same time, I don't know that the cover image has anything to do with the contents.

It's a good read of well crafted poems, I just wish someone else had published it.

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

A Child's Christmas in Wales
Dylan Thomas
New Directions
first printing - 1954. This is the 12th printing

As often happens when I volunteer at the library, I find interesting items at the bottom of the donation bins; like this book! Designed like a kids book but far too nice, this handsome book with woodcuts by Ellen Raskin is stunning. A joy to hold and read. Mind-boggling to think that New Directions could, when it felt like it, make beautiful near-letter press quality books. This is an example of it. I could hardly believe it, yet there it was.

Unpaginated. 5 1/2" X 5 3/4". Designed and illustrated by Ms. Raskin. A great and rare find.

Elyria:Point A in Ohio Triangle by Alex Gildzen (2009)

Elyria: Point A in Ohio Triangle
Alex Gildzen
Crisis Chronicle Press
Elyria, OH
(c)2009

I first learned of Alex Gildzen in 2008 when a poet/friend of mine sent me a copy of one of his earlier chapbooks. I was somewhat surprised to see this particular chapbook listed on Paperback Book Swap website since I don't think of chapbooks are items one can swap from there. I was not familiar with the Press but they seem to be pretty active in the North Central part of the state.

Staple-bound, unpaginated on copy paper (bleed-through) with a drawing by author (at age 6) on front.

Cocoon by Lindley Bhanji (1988)

Cocoon
Lindley Bhanji
Platonium Press
Seattle, WA
(c) 1988

Those of you who have read these many entries about chapbooks know that when I don't believe a book should have been printed, I say "SAVE A TREE". I am saying this as way of introduction to Lindley Bhanji's chapbook, COCOON. The first piece, tree's epitaph presents it all quite well:


please spend five minutes mourning
at this page, for the tree which
was killed to make the paper from
which you are reading this epitaph,
and from which you will read
the following pages.

The book contains poems and graphics by Lindley Bhanji and was designed by Chris Winkler. Unpaginated. Staple-bound. Interesting blending of image with text. I haven't found out very much about the Press or the artist. It's a well done chapbook.

New Hampshire in the American Revolution (2010)

New Hampshire in the American Revolution
An Exhibition by the Society of the Cincinnati
Anderson House
Washington, D.C.
Nov. 13, 2010-May 7, 2011

Every once in awhile I find a chapbook that begs to be taken seriously. For it's factual content. This is one of those chapbooks. It's the most recent booklet in a series pertaining to the histories of each state that formed the original colonies at the time of the Revolutionary War and how citizens of each state made a significant contribution to the War effort, where important battles might have taken place, etc.

If you are a history buff, this is the perfect find. Complete with maps and other objects from the Exhibition.

House by the Sea by Penny Bihler (1975)

House by the Sea
Penny Bihler
From Here Press
Paterson, NJ
(c)1975

35 pages staple-bound chapbook. Penny Bihler was the romantic interest of William J. Higginson. Together they were intimately involved with the operation of From Here Press and Old Plate Press in the Paterson, NJ area from the mid-1970s till as recently as 2007. The cover stock and font are quite recognizable. Penny Bihler also was published as Penny Harter. A unique slice of New Jersey poetics.