The Journal Of Albion Moonlight

A chronicle of violent fury and compassion, written when Surrealism was still vigorous and doing battle with psychotic "reality," The Journal of Albion Moonlight is the American monument to engagement.

Includes bibliographical references.

Poems of humor, protest, love and wonder, by one of America's most original voices.

Here in these pages the extraordinary rage and power of Patchen's imagination, and the virtuosity of his technique, were never more striking-their impact is indeed breathtaking. His new universe is exciting and spirit-cleansing. the light streaming from the hand and heart of this poet-artist illuminates the darkness, the sordid and confused pettiness of our day-to-day existence.

"Now begins the revival of an eccentric virtuoso poet/visual artist whose work was admired by many of the 20th century's most unlikely "bobbysoxers". Like fabrics stitched into a crazy quilt, Patchen's hard-to-find books are gathered in We Meet, introducing a wide range of his work to a whole new generation of readers. It is chock-full of far-out poetry, rhythmic numinous prose, facetious fables, and jazzy drawings. Musician and visual artist Devendra Banhart complements We Meet with a celebratory, quixotic preface. So what are you waiting for? Come meet Kenneth Patchen!"--BOOK JACKET.

The wonderful picture-poems of Kenneth Patchen, long out of print, are being brought back into one generous volume--cryptic creatures quipping quirky quotes and all.

A selection of well-known and rare poems from the great experimental poet.

"The brilliant Verity Spott has a new book out, called Hopelessness and published by the 87 Press. The work defies categorisation: Verity is a poet, and this book is certainly poetry, but large parts are in prose form and towards the end it even takes on the structure of an absurdist play. There seems to be a loose narrative, and even recurring character voices, so I'm tempted to call it a short experimental novel, in the vein of Kenneth Patchen's The Journal Of Albion Moonlight (a personal favourite). Ultimately though I'd just call it a book; one full of words that are profound, moving, silly, sad, challenging and beautiful in equal measure. Even though it's still a boldly experimental piece, in some ways Hopelessness feels like the most accessible thing Verity's done. Without wanting to sound condescending, it's also the most mature. You don't get much more universal than death, love and loss, and these seem to be the main themes explored here. Another is language itself, the way it defines and limits our experience, and the way that we're constantly at the mercy of words and phrases as they're deployed by the authorities, the media, and eventually our own thought processes. Dissenting voices continually talk over one another throughout Hopelessness, often sampled from outside sources, or parodies thereof: Sappho, MR James, traditional hymns and folk songs, Hollywood movies, talk radio, tabloid newspapers, dreams and demagogues. Through it all there's a painful lesson about how loss can make us bitter and hard, and how by refusing to move forward we become empty caricatures mouthing meaningless clichés to wound and hurt. But grief and loss can also teach us about love, if we let them, and there is so much grief and love in this book. Verity continually rearranges reality (that is, language) as if searching desperately for a way out, but in the end, as always, there is just life, love, and death. Hopelessness is a bravura performance, wholeheartedly recommended." - Ben Graham