Sunday, January 23, 2022

pile of reading

As I described in my last pile of reading post, I have piles going in different places. 

Windowseat pile:


How to Kill a City: gentrification, inequality, and the fight for the neighborhood

by Peter Moskowitz

2017. Nation Books, New York

I’ve heard much angst over gentrification, which seems to be the transformation of funky city neighborhoods into YUPPY-favored high-rent zones. Long-time residents bemoan the destruction of community, being priced out, and the disappearance of what made the neighborhood livable. The blame for gentrification tends to fall on gays (who renovate historic houses) and artists (who favor warehouse work/live spaces) and speculators (who flip properties for profit). Peter Moskowitz sees the real culprits as big money interests (developers, mainly) and government policies (which subsidize the big money interests). Yes, socialism works — for the people who don’t need it. I’m not far enough into the book to have a full sense of Moskowitz’s argument, but it certainly rings true that government caters to the powerful and prefers to ignore (or chase away) the poor. 


The Blithedale Romance

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

1852/1960. Dell Publishing, New York

I read Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in grade school. And was surprised that I liked it. Is it a little weird that they teach a novel about adultery to kids? Since I liked Scarlet Letter I’ve always had Hawthorne on my radar. But this is the first time I’ve tackled one of his other novels. Blithedale seems to be a utopian community, and the narrator one of its founders — a poet, too, so no doubt impractical and a dreamer. We’ll see. Hawthorne likes long and complex sentences, so you have to be ready to give the reading your full attention. Says our narrator: “let us acknowledge it wiser, if not more sagacious, to follow out one’s day-dream to its natural consummation, although, if the vision have been worth the having, it is certain never to be consummated otherwise than by a failure. And what of that?”


Artifacts

by Britta Austin

2009. Watchword Press, Berkeley, California

This handsome paperback was published by a Berkeley-based press. I bought issues of their Watchword magazine; if I recall aright I invited one of the contributors to read as part of the Poetry & Pizza series. I don’t remember whether I ever sent anything to Watchword or if I’ve just banished the memory of rejection. Artifacts is a collection of flash fiction; stories or fragments often no longer than a paragraph, occasionally as long as two pages. This genre requires constant inventiveness — and it helps to have a unique style. “People are hard,” goes #67 (the pieces are numbered, not titled). “People are odd and beautiful and strange and people touch each other & kiss each other & pinch each other & give each other gifts …”


Harper’s Magazine

August 2020, v. 341, whole no. 2043

This issue has been sitting on the windowseat for more than a year. Yes, I was always reading something else. But once I got started it was easy to keep going. I’m in the midst of a poet’s covid diary. “I beg her not to go out; she says she’s protected — mask, gloves, hat, glasses. But no one else at the laundromat or grocery store does the same. They cough, and don’t care who inhales it."


Bedside pile:


The Ticket That Exploded: the restored text

by William S. Burroughs; edited and with an introduction by Oliver Harris

1962/2014. Grove Press, New York

Burroughs has obsessions that I don’t relate to. But reading him is actually rather fun — gross, often, but surprisingly absurd.


Usagi Yojimbo, v.28: Red Scorpion

by Stan Sakai

2014. Dark Horse, Milwaukie, Oregon

I am working my way through collections of Usagi Yojimbo, the ronin rabbit. I last did an Usagi binge almost twenty years ago. I have always enjoyed Stan Sakai’s art, but the stories get repetitive. It’s been long enough that the stories seem fresher — and, like I said, the art’s great. 


Modern Poetry of Pakistan

edited by Iftikhar Arif; translations edited by Waqas Khwaja

2010. Dalkey Archive Press, Champaign, Illinois

I briefly had input into what the Berkeley Public Library bought for its poetry collection. This was one that looked good to me. I’m finally reading it. Waqas Khwaja has stringent notions of what constitutes acceptable translation, according to his introduction. I don’t know whether that improved the poetry for me. Middle Eastern poetry tends not to be to my taste, yet this is quite readable. 


Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: my life doing dumb stuff with animals

by Richard Conniff

2009. W. W. Norton & Co., New York

I like reading about animals. This book is a collection of essays mostly written for magazines. They are breezy and fun on the whole (you’d get that idea from the title), with the caveat that, as with all naturalist writings these days, doom is hovering — climate change, exploitation, pollution, indifference, war.


Sky Island: a Trot & Cap’n Bill adventure

by Amy Chu and Janet K. Lee

2020. Viking/Penguin/Random House, New York

Sky Island is a sequel to Chu & Lee’s Sea Sirens. Both are graphic novels and loose adaptations of L. Frank Baum novels. I was charmed by Sea Sirens. This one’s fun, too. Love the art.


Pile at work:


Mississippi in Africa: the saga of the slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and their legacy in Liberia today

by Alan Huffman

2005. Gotham, New York

I read this one on breaks. It’s a bit of a muddle. I get that historical resources for telling the story of the “return” to Africa of freed American slaves are difficult to find — so much has been destroyed, or not recorded in the first place, both in America and in Liberia — but the story would have been helped by a clearer chronological through-line. A lot of the text describes Huffman’s troubles with the research. I’m fine with that, except I would be happier if Huffman himself were more colorful. Still, the story of the (reverse?) colonizing of Africa by African Americans is a story rarely told, and it’s certainly a fascinating chapter of history. 

Sunday, January 02, 2022

Best Poems of 2021

Maw Shein Win …. Water Space (one)


Owl Woman …. How shall I begin my song?


Roberta Hill …. Dream of Rebirth


Richard Littlebear …. We Are the Spirits of These Bones


Natalie Diaz …. When My Brother Was an Aztec


James Cagney …. my dr says


Dan O. …. Half Moon


Robert Hass …. John Muir, a Dream, a Waterfall …


Bruce Bond …. Bells


***

Only nine poems. That is fewer than usual. Yesterday I posted the titles of books and magazines I read in 2021, so you can scan down it if you want to get an idea of where I encountered the poems. I do read poems online, but none ended up in my personal anthology. 

Saturday, January 01, 2022

Titles read in 2021

January

Rascal

by Sterling North


This Is Not About What You Think

by Jim Murdoch


Every Ravening Thing

by Marsha de la O


Next Stop: Troubletown

by Lloyd Dangle


Open Borders: the science and ethics of immigration

by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith


Elegiac Feelings American

by Gregory Corso


The Activist

by Renee Gladman


Little Stranger

by Edie Fake


Bernard the Brave

by Margery Sharp


The Belly of Paris

by Emile Zola; translated by Brian Nelson


Three Plays by Mae West: Sex; The Drag; The Pleasure Man

edited by Lillian Schlissel


bottle rockets, #44, v.22:2; Feb 2021

Stanford M. Forrester, editor


Flamer

by Mike Curato


February


Bernard into Battle

by Margery Sharp


Door Is A Jar, #17; Winter 2020

contains “in which the book has a dream or three”

a chapter from Autobiography of a Book


On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: selected prose, 1966-1978

by Adrienne Rich


Then It Fell Apart

by Moby


Dr. Bloodmoney

by Philip K. Dick


The Secret of the Unicorn 

by Herge


Paper Trail: essays

by Michael Dorris


The Tradition

by Jericho Brown


March


Red Rackham’s Treasure

by Herge


The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the birth of the people’s economy

by Stephanie Kelton


Be Gay, Do Comics: queer history, memoir, and satire from The Nib

edited by Matt Bors, Justin Eiseinger, Alonzo Simon, Zac Boone


The Book No One Ever Read

by Cornelia Funke


You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: crazy stories about racism

by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar


Rhino: the poetry forum, 2020

Ralph Hamilton, editor


How To Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead

by Ariel Gore


The Year of the Fox

by Steve Arntson


The Sun Unwound: original texts from occupied America

translations by Edward Dorn, Gordon Brotherston


Illocality

by Joseph Massey


Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office

by Hugh Lofting


April


Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan


98 Wounds

by Justin Chin


How to Make a Slave & other essays

by Jerald Walker


Best Evidence

Mark S. Osaki


The Future Is History: how totalitarianism reclaimed Russia

by Masha Gessen


Studying with Miss Bishop: memoirs from a young writer’s life

by Dana Gioia


Doom Patrol, book one (issues 19-34)

Grant Morrison, writer; Case, Nyberg, Braithwaite, et al, artists


Indigo 

Ellen Bass


Our Subway Baby

by Peter Murcurio; illos by Leo Espinosa


Doctor Dolittle’s Circus

by Hugh Lofting


Sex and Death to the Age 14

by Spalding Gray


The Avengers: Marvel Masterworks, vol.1; issues 1-10

Stan Lee, writer: Jack Kirby, artist


May


On the Belize trip I read some New Yorkers and a Scientific American


Amateur Mythology

by Dale Jensen


June


Three Simple Lines: a writer’s pilgrimage into the heart and homeland of haiku

by Natalie Goldberg


The House of Men

by Stewart Shaw


Heart Earth: a memoir

by Ivan Doig


Humble Pie, v.17; Spring 2020

includes “The Perfect Shape to Drop to the Earth”

a poem by Glenn Ingersoll


Outlaw Marriages

by Rodger Streitmatter


Manga Man

Barry Lyga, writer; Colleen Doran, artist


The Avengers, v.2, issues 11-20

Stan Lee, writer; Don Heck, artist

Marvel Masterworks series


t. kilgore splice: an interview with Richard Lopez

edited by Jonathan Hayes


Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins

by Rupert Everett


July


Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, v.36 n.1; 2021


Concrete Dreams: early works

Jennifer Joseph, editor


My Autobiography of Carson McCullers

by Jenn Shapland


On Paper: the everything of its two-thousand-year history

by Nicholas A. Basbanes


This Is the Story of His Life

by T. J. Beitelman


The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, v.1: 1920-1928

edited by Tim Hunt


Trances of the Blast 

by Mary Ruefle


The Seven Crystal Balls

by Herge


Prisoners of the Sun

by Herge


Land of Black Gold

by Herge


Storage Unit for the Spirit House

by Maw Shein Win


Gingema’s Daughter

by Sergei Sukhinov; translated by Peter L. Blystone; illos by Mikhail Musano


Destination Moon

by Herge


Explorers on the Moon

by Herge


August


The Calculus Affair

by Herge


Black Rain

by Masuji Ibuse; translated by John Bester


The Complete Peanuts, 1963-1964

by Charles Schulz


Work

by Brandon Brown


The Red Sea Sharks

by Herge


Transmissions: the explorations of Wilhelmina Grace

an art chapbook by David Lee Ingersoll


The Secret to Superhuman Strength

by Alison Bechdel


Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the heart of a new nation

by David A. Price


Doom Patrol, book two

Grant Morrison, writer; Richard Case, Mark McKenna, et al, artists


Tintin in Tibet

by Herge


Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory

by James Cagney


People of the Deer

by Farley Mowat


Life Without Envy: ego management for creative people

by Camille DeAngelis


Queer Intentions: a (personal) journey through LGBTQ+ culture

by Amelia Abraham


September


The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy: sacred poems from many cultures

edited by Robert Bly


Zbigniew Herbert: selected poems

translations by Czeslaw Milosz & Peter Dale Scott


23rd Street Poets: Eileen Malone, Alice Rogoff, Sally Anne Frye, Tressa Berman, Cesar Love


When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: a Norton anthology of Native Nations poetry

edited by Joy Harjo, et al


The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

by Adrian Tomine


Open Clothes

by Steve Benson


Buffalo Gals & other animal presences

by Ursula K. Le Guin


Living Nations, Living Words: an anthology of first people’s poetry

edited by Joy Harjo


Different Coasts

by Dan O.


Best American Poetry 2018

Dana Gioia, guest editor; David Lehman, series ed


A Chorus Line: the book of the musical

by Michael Bennett, James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban


Usagi Yojimbo, book 19: Fathers and Sons

by Stan Sakai


The Book of Forks

by Rob Davis


October


The Tetris Effect: the game that hypnotized the world

by Dan Ackerman


Spiral Trace

by Jack Marshall


How Did I Get Here?: making peace with the road not taken

by Jesse Browner


When My Brother Was an Aztec

by Natalie Diaz


Circumference: poetry in translation, summer/autumn 2004, v.1 n.2


Usagi Yojimbo, v.20: Glimpses of Death

by Stan Sakai


… and the whole time I was quite happy

by Marc Pietrzykowski


The Best American Poetry 2019

Major Jackson, guest editor; David Lehman, series editor


What I Want from You: voices of East Bay Lesbian poets

edited by Linda Zeiser & Trena Machado


Usagi Yojimbo, v.21: The Mother of Mountains

by Stan Sakai


Beloit Poetry Journal, winter 2006-07, v.57 n.2


Because of Poetry I Have a Really Big House

by Kent Johnson


The Area of Sound Called the Subtone

by Noah Eli Gordon


Outerbridge Reach

by Robert Stone


Avengers: Marvel Epic Collection, v.2: Once an Avenger: 1965-1967, #21-40

Roy Thomas, writer; Don Heck, artist


Beloit Poetry Journal, Fall 2007, v.58 n.1


Photographs My Mother Wouldn’t Hang

by Robert Fischer


November


Usagi Yojimbo, v.22: Tomoe’s Story

by Stan Sakai


The Secret of Hoa Sen

by Nguyen Phan Que Mai; translated by the author and Bruce Weigl


Summer Snow

by Robert Hass


The Best American Poetry 2020

Paisley Rekdal, guest editor; David Lehman, series editor


Field, n.77, Fall 2007


Disasterama!: adventures in the queer underground, 1977-1997

by Alvin Orloff


Quarantine: stories

by Rahul Mehta


A Moon Made of Copper

by Chris Bose


Black Eagle Child: the Facepaint narratives

by Ray A. Young Bear


Temp Words

by Alison Hart


ABZ: a poetry magazine, #2, 2007


Usagi Yojimbo, v.23: Bridge of Tears

by Stan Sakai


Earthquake Storms: the fascinating history and volatile future of the San Andreas Fault

by John Dvorak


Poetry, v.213 n.3, December 2018


Coming Out Under Fire: the history of gay men and women in World War Two

by Allan Berube


Cathay Revisited & Dancing with the Dead

by Red Pine


Big Cabin

by Ron Padgett


The God of San Francisco

by James J. Siegel


Sight Map

by Brian Teare


December


Poetry, v.218 n.3, June 2021


Assaracus: a journal of gay poetry, issue #1. 2011

Bryan Borland, editor


Sea Sirens: a Trot and Cap’n Bill adventure

by Amy Chu & Janet K. Lee


Marly’s Ghost

by David Levithan


The Walls Come True

by Douglas Messerli


Usagi Yojimbo, v.24: Return of the Black Soul

by Stan Sakai


In the Pleasure Groove: love, death, and Duran Duran

by John Taylor


A Year in the Rain

a chapbook by Sarah Byam


Hotel Lautreamont: contemporary poetry from Uruguay

edited by Kent Johnson & Roberto Echavarren


Usagi Yojimbo, v.25: Fox Hunt

by Stan Sakai


A Fish in the Water: a memoir

by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Helen Lane


Contemporary Uruguayan Poetry

edited & translated by Ronald Haladyna


***

I do not include all magazines, nor do I list online reading.