television soup by Anthony Vitale (1995)

television soup
Anthony Vitale
Good Doggie Press
Brooklyn, NY
(c)1995

Not every tree should be felled for every cockamamie idea that passes through one's brain. Even if that idea is well intended, like - say a memorial for a beloved grandparent. This young man's grandfather died in 1994. In his grief, Mr. Vitale decided to write a book in honor of his grandfather. Unfortunately, he produced this book instead. It's not trashy. It's simply bad. Bad poetry. Bad cover design. It should never have left the bosom of the Vitale family. I regret the trees fallen for this absolute fiasco.

And if Good Doggie Press still exists : shame on you!

Three Dreams and an Old Poem by Paul Blackburn (1970)

Three Dreams and an Old Poem
Paul Blackburn
The Beau Fleuve Series
Number One
(c)1970

Staple-bound chapbook. Edited by Allen De Loach. Printed at SUNY Buffalo, where De Loach was teaching at the time. Unpaginated. Photo of poet by De Loach on back cover. One of 1,000 printed. Number one in the series. Great way to start off the series!

A Veil in the Sand by Susan Smith Nash (1994)

A Veil in the Sand
Susan Smith Nash
Room Press
White Plains, NY
(c)1994

This staple-bound chapbook contains poetry about Lawrence of Arabia. (T.E. Lawrence). Unpaginated. A bibliography printed on the last page is the only hint of what the book is about. The poems are okay. There ought to have been an explanation, an intro - something. Alas, not. The copy I have is signed by the author. That doesn't make it any more revealing than an unsigned copy though. Did I mention that the poems were okay?

Not familiar with the press either, Room Press, nor it's editor, John Perlman. But it's another day of learning.

after a trip to The Title Page in Rosemont, PA

I got a number of chapbooks there:

The Juggler of Our Lady (illustrated by Gus Uhlman), The Rose Valley Press, 1977. Hand sewn booklet.

Desert Sequence by Miguel Gonzalez Gerth. Nonpareil Press, 1956. Staple-bound chapbook.

television soup by Anthony Vitale. Self-published chapbook, 1995.

Blue Horses by a.m. ingram. Vagabond Press, 1976. Staple-bound chapbook.

Wyoming by William Stafford. Ampersand Press, 1985. Staple-bound chapbook.

The Tears of the Blind Lion by Thomas Merton. New Directions, 1949. Staple-bound chapbook.
more details to follow

Diet Pepsi & Nacho Cheese by Nila NorthSun (1977)

Diet Pepsi & Nacho Cheese
Nila NorthSun
Duck Down Press
Fallon, NV
(c)1977

Pop quiz. Name 10 Native American writers. Any kind of Native American writers, how about just poets? How about naming 10 FEMALE Native American poets? Okay, how about 5? Can you name five? How about three? Can you name just 3? Oh, come on now. They have been here longer than European settlers who somehow created the "American Literary Canon". Of course they didn't write in English. They didn't write at all the way we have told that "writing" is.

Yeah, okay, you cheat and can name one - this one - Nila NorthSun. Not very difficult when it's staring you in the face. And that's part of the issue with having the ability to name Native American writers: they have been so marginalized that we seldom stare them in the face. Or see them at all. Unlike Afro-Americans or Hispanics, or any other minority in this country, Natives don't live among us. They were put onto 'reservations' a long time ago. And frankly I don't know how calling them 'reservations' instead of Concentration Camps allows us to sleep better at night.

That's part of the issue with Native American voices. They are different. Their experience in this country is that of a number of nations that were defeated and removed from their lands and their way of life, their religions, their very language by a relentless 500 year campaign by determined Europeans for the entire continent and everything that was here before their lily-white behinds landed here.

Native Americans' relationship with the Conquerors is complicated. And it's different for all three North American experiences. The peoples who lived in what is now Canada had a different experience than those in what is now the United States, and still different from what the Natives who lived in had been New Spain experienced even earlier.

I have read several Native American writers and poets including Alexie, Silko, Vine Deloria, Jr, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo (among the better known Native voices) but also Cheryl Savageau (Abenaki), Margaret Cesa, and Luci Tapahonso (Navajo). Nila's work is right there with them. Brilliant in its simplistic use of English while presenting the constant tension of being Native-born in a country that would rather forget you are even here.

This was Nila's first book. It was published in Fallon, Nevada which is significant since The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Indian Reservation is located there. A quick look into the back of this chapbook shows that Duck Down Press also published Gerald Locklin, Steve Richmond, John Bennett, and others.

Ms. NorthSun's only book of non-fiction is a history of that reservation and the peoples who live there. Diet Pepsi.. is a fantastic beginning to a well written life. Am honored to have it in my collection!

Civil Poems by Josephine Miles (1966)

Civil Poems
Josephine Miles
oyez press
(c) 1966

Staple-bound chapbook. oyez press which had a proud history and an ignominious end (so I have heard). Robert Hawley and Stevens van Strum started the Oyez Press in 1964. The last known book published came out in 1989. Josephine Miles was one of the forerunners of the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. She was influential and a champion of younger poets. This thin volume gives a taste of her worth and work.

The Magdalene Syndrome Gazette Number Three (1967)

The Magdalene Syndrome Gazette Number Three
The Magdalene Syndrome Press
David Tammer & Nick Chavin, ed.
San Francisco, CA
(c)1967

This gem contains work by Clifford Burke, Eugene Lesser, Ho Chi Minh (hey it was 1967), Keith Wilson, Charles Potts and a slew of others. With some B&W photos. Blurred images. Staple-bound. Unpaginated. Great find. Complete with ads at the end of the book. One for Eugene Lesser's first mimeo-chapbook, Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack, another for the I/Thou Coffeehouse in the Haight, and two from other small presses.

Whetstone Almanac by Charles Tilder (1975)

Whetstone Almanac
Charles Tilder
Pulp Press
Vancouver, British Columbia
(c)1975

This is the other chapbook that I know of by Charles Tilder. It was published in 1975 in Vancouver. There are 12 poems here. Similar in theme and content as the earlier chapbook. Very good poems. The story here in the small Vancouver Press, Pulp. It seems that this press evolved into Arsenal Pulp Press in the 1980s although there is no trace of Tilder on the Wikipage. It was the 11th thing they published. I especially liked the 8th thing they published: a chapbook entitled Crimes, or I'm Sorry but We Do Not Sell Handguns to Junkies. The title alone makes me want to read it.

Straw Things by Charles Tidler (1972)

Straw Things
Charles Tilder
The Crossing Press
Trumansburg, NY
(c)1972

I had previously THOUGHT that I had written about The Crossing Press - but actually had not. The Crossing Press was located in Trumansburg, NY from the early 1970s until about 1980 or so. A press called Crossing Press came into existence on the west coast and published feminist literature from the 1980s on. One of the books that was published by THE Crossing Press was a book by Harold Norse.

This staple-bound chapbook was by an ex-pat hiding out in British Columbia instead of dying in the rice fields of Vietnam. I enjoy the naturalist tone of the work here. A poet in nature. The beauty of that experience. Very fine writing here. I know that Tilder had another chapbook out; maybe that's all he was able to get out. Pity if that were true.

Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack by Eugene Lesser (1967)

Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack
Eugene Lesser
The Magdalene Syndrome Press
San Francisco, CA
(c)1967

mimeo! I love mimeos. This is a great example of the form. The only copies of this particular item that I found on the net were in institutional collections. The poetry in this mimeo is quite GOOD. I am impressed. He has not published much. The does have a new collection out of his work entitled The Eugene Lesser or current resident Story: Poems 1976-2015, San Francisco, Marin, Los Angeles and if it's anything like this first published work of his, it's got to be marvelous. (will be ordering a copy as soon as I post this entry) The Magdalene Syndrome Press deserves further investigation - so stay tuned! But, YES, read Eugene Lesser!!!

Dump Truck by Keith Abbott (1967)

Dump Truck
Keith Abbott
Polygon Paperbounds
Monterey, CA
(c)1967

The most important thing to know about this chapbook is that Clifford Burke designed and printed it. Burke was involved in the San Francisco area publishing community immediately after the Beat Generation explosion through his Cranium Press. He is a well known and established writer and printer. Currently he runs Desert Rose Press out of San Jose, NM.

There is a bit of confusion about this publication history, according to Abbott this first published work of his was published by Cranium. According to the chapbook I am holding, it was published by Polygon Paperbounds which could have been one of Burke's imprints. One of 500 printed.
The writing shows great promise which has, over the decades, become fulfilled by many published works. As this is Abbott's first book, it is both rare and valuable. Worth finding. Worth reading. Worth having.

Poems from My Mother's Womb by Preston Webster (1967)

Poems from the Womb
Preston Webster
The Willow Press
Sausalito, CA
(c)1967

Cover image by Ann-Marie Webster, and quite a cover it is! With additional images throughout. 32 pages. Staple-bound. Commenting primarily on the fact of this book's existence since I don't favor the work. It exists! There was a press once in Sausalito - I am sure that there have been many, actually. Hurrah and all that.

The Wedding and other poems of war by Carolyn S. Scarr (1991)

The Wedding and other poems of war
Carolyn S. Scarr
self-published
Berkeley, CA
(c) 1991

This is an even thinner than a typical chapbook. Self published affair. 6 poems.

The poet has a number of small chapbooks self-published over the years. These days she can be found on Twitter.

grundig : a zine

Another space loop back through the DIY sphere; this one leading to Portland, Oregon. To a store called "Q is for choir" and a time distant enough past that the dust only appears on the hand of the holder and not the pages themselves. Michael, whoever Michael was, made this zine happen. This is #2. At the beginning of this grand adventure. Into collage and zinedom. Into traveling and consequences. The world is a roadmap, a compass to follow, a north star to find. Zines like these need an archive too. Need to be collected. Replaced in the 21st century with blogs and twitter and "every-which-kinda-next-new-format-mattcha-you" but zines like these, staple-bound physical somethings are going quick into the heap of time. Like wall posters in busy city make overs. One week there and the next plastered over or stripped bare and painted over.All the same, "over" they are. Whatever was inside is forgotten by the end of the next news cycle. Our attention spans shrink to nothing. A zine like this, gone without notice. Someone lands a stash - posts on ebay - and a dunderhead like me decides to collect more relics of the past. 1980's - 2000's. Like I collect mimeos. Like I collect mix tape cassettes. Like I collect Punk/grunge era zines.

Letters to Proust by Barry Gifford (1976)

Letters to Proust
Barry Gifford
White Pine Press
Buffalo, NY
(c)1976

I have written before about White Pine via the trove of material I received from poet Steve Lewandowski. The Press had been in Buffalo and then moved. It's interesting to me that while most of the country thinks of Buffalo as a frozen waste, because of the college there - it really is the opposite of a wasteland for literary types. A number of small presses and well known poets have spent time there. Robert Creeley and then Charles Bernstein were there as teachers. Influential in their own ways.

This particular item was illustrated by Mike Neff. It's the 4th chapbook that White Pine put out. Unpaginated. Handsome little "sliver of nothing". Now it's quite possible that the name Barry Gifford is not unknown to you - he's a screenwriter and novelist. He wrote David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' as well as the Sailor and Lula novels. This had to be an early work of his. Highly collectible.

Deeper Into Woody Chaos by Walt McLaughlin (1997)

Deeper into Woody Chaos
Walt McLaughlin
Wood Thrust Books
Burlington, VT
(c)1997

This 24 page chapbook by the guru of Wood Thrush, Walt McLaughin, shows all the promise of this small press. Glad to know that they are still around and doing great work. It's refreshing to write about a book so dedicated to the earth on Earth Day!

Life is a Joke by Joe Franke

Recently I noticed a listing on ebay for some punk zines and to me that's about as cool as it gets because the entire realm of punk zines is entirely DIY and the DIY universe is extremely awesome. This cat, Joe Franke, started his zine in 1989 while living in Northern California. He was in a punk band (he still is) and he formed Axis Records. He moved from Northern California to San Francisco to Southern Maryland to Las Vegas. Now, Punks in Vegas to me is just weird but hey - he made at least 10 issues of Life is a Joke, plus other one-timers or knock-offs.

Zines, especially the work of an individual. The lay-out, the content, the name and images are all the work of one person. Twisted, illogical, awesome or scary: one person! These are the work of one person who delved in black humor. What writer of punk songs doesn't delve into black humor, I ask you? Well, Mr. Franke certainly does. Keep on keepin' on, Joe Franke. Kewl that.

Mountain Walks by Richard Hartigan (1979)

Mountain Walks
(images)
Richard Hartigan
Rootdrinker
Canton, NY
(c) 1979

A small chapbook of images of mountain terrane with haiku-like text(poems?) on opposite page. Beautiful little book.

Dragons of Mist and Torrent by Teo Savory (1974)

Dragons of Mist and Torrent
Teo Savory
Unicorn Press
Greenboro, NC
(c)1974

Unicorn Press has a storied past which I have to admit not being aware of until I went through a trove of chapbooks that I got last year and just am now researching. Any small press that began 60 years ago and is still going gets the tip of my hat, for certain. Al Brilliant and Teo Savory were the linchpins to this operation which began in Santa Barbara before moving to Greensboro, NC in 1972. What an incredible run of stellar work this tiny press has presented to the world! (Including work by Raymond Queneau!)

This chapbook is no exception. Japanese binding. Should be subtitled "The Canons of Hsieh Ho". Unpaginated. #278 of 450 pages (without signature). Beautiful chapbook.

3 books that got away (from Plan B Press)

I want to look like Henry Bataille
Michael K. Gause
Little Poem Press
Falls Church, VA
(c) 2006

I mentioned on the Facebook webpage that is associated with this blog that in addition to blogging ABOUT chapbooks, I run Plan B Press and in that capacity we read a lot of manuscripts. Some are incredibly good and some of are simply terrible. And some simply get away from us. We pass on them even though they are good or the poet has submitted to other presses as well as ours and someone else agreed to publish them before we even read the work - ah, simultaneous submissions! Here are three examples of some that got away from us.

First, I want to look like Henry Bataille which was published in 2006 by Little Poem Press. Apparently that press is now "misappeared" as my daughter would say. While I am happy that Michael Gause found a publisher for his book, I am disappointed with the appearance of it. The cover image is a pixelated mess. It has the feel of a Print-on-demand job which I can not find rewarding at all. And, as a publisher myself, having 15 completely empty pages at the end of the books is really unforgivable. So now the book is not a chapbook, per se, because it has a "spine". But there is no writing ON the spine, so why exactly did you create one? It's a little thicker "sliver of nothing".

The writing I liked very much. I still do. But the "it" of it? We could have done better.

Freaking Out the Neighborhood
Benjamin DeVos
Flutter Press
(c)2015

Okay, this one is more my fault since I didn't leap on the mss. the second I got it from Temple-grad Ben DeVos; my bad. He's a Philly boy and this book reeks of the city. Not in a bad way either. Just a great slice of the city. Like any book by Ryan Eckes or A Whole Armada of Loss by Blaine Martin, for instance. And there's the first line from his poem, The Painter, "A neighbor is not a nearby friend, but bystander" which is so deadly accurate to anyone who lives in a city (or for that matter in the burbs as well) Yet here again, the book is just wrong. The cover images does not reflect the book title or the work inside. It's another slick POD production (the cover is already curling and the book was printed in 2015) STILL, I can't complain because I am happy that he found a publisher right out of the shoot and, well, his second collection will be published by Plan B Press this season. If we screw it up, he has permission to kick my ass! I will have deserved nothing less.

Honey & Bandages
Katie Longofono & Mary Stone
Folded Word
Meredith, NH
(c)2015

This is a handsome chapbook that Plan B Press did not act on in a timely manner and the authors, a number of years later, found a better home for it at Folded Words. The work is very good. The presentation is lovely. My only observation is that the chapbook size was reduced to bulk it out a bit in order to justify a spine. Of course it is a spine with no text on it. Book title does not appear on the spine. But that's a minor grievance for a wonderful little chapbook. Something that only a publisher might note. It's a great little book.