Bellemeade Books

10/11/2019

Edgar Allan Poe, died October 7 1849. HIs death still a mystery, cities are still claiming him as their own: "we have the body!"

"Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females, lay sc...

05/16/2017

"The Burial of the Count of Orgaz and Other Poems" (Exact Change, 2004) is a collaboration of translators coordinated by poets Jerome Rothenberg and Pierre Joris, a project to translate the majority of Picasso's writing into English for the first time. Working from the artist's original Spanish and French (he wrote in both languages), they enlisted the help of over a dozen contemporary poets in order to mark, as they note in their introduction, "Picasso's entry into our own time."

http://bellemeadebooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/from-burial-of-count-of-orgaz-and-other.html

05/15/2017

"The Complete Zap Comix" - Got $500? Here's a hefty 2014 collection from the Atomic Books site. You may have to wait in line for a second edition, though -- the first run is already sold out.

http://bellemeadebooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-complete-zap-comix-is-itr-possible.html

Got $500? Here's a he fty 2014 collection f rom the Atomic Books site. You may have to wait in line for a second edition, though --...

05/15/2017

By the end of nine rounds with the poet in top form, Gerard Malaga walks away as dazed as the reader attempting to understand Olson's poetic rope-a-dope replies. Malaga [Warhol associate, painter, and a poet himself] tries to keep punching with a line of academic questions but Olson circles him relentlessly ["God's with this boy" ... "yeah I heard you. Continue without repeating it." ... "that's a dumb sort of block historical question" ... ]. It's a glorious reminder that whatever else poetry may be, Olson made it more than a spectator sport --by the end of the bout there was always the possibility that some blood might be spilled.

http://bellemeadebooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/charles-olson-paris-review-1970-until.html

Charles Olson, (1910-1970) Charles Olson, the six-foot-eight poetic volcano of the Black Mountain school in North Carolina, was ...

05/12/2017

"Kitsch: The World of Bad Taste," edited by Gillo Dorfles, 1968:

"...no one goes to Disney World expecting an adventure in high art, but now that Times Square in New York has been "imagineered" by Disney, who can say where the kitsch fantasy ends? Dorfles states that kitsch "threatens to become the most pervasive style of our times." Considering the book was written forty years ago, the relentless, artificial tide has only increased."

http://bellemeadebooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/kitsch-world-of-bad-taste-1968-moses.html

For whatever reason, some books just stay with you. Kitsch: The World of Bad Taste by Gillo Dorfles is one of those books. ...

05/12/2017

"Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original" by Robin D.G. Kelley:

"He got a kick out of fooling people, particularly those whom he thought were too lazy or afraid to think for themselves. One of his favorite pranks was to stare intensely at a spot on the ceiling or in the sky, either in a crowded room or on a street corner. Invariably, several people would look up with him, searching for whatever elusive object apparently fascinated him. It was an experiment in mass psychology that brought him great amusement."

http://bellemeadebooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/thelonious-monk-always-know-all-ways.html

Thelonious Monk is one of the enigmatic figures of jazz: the more one admires his playing, his composition, and his recorded work, the mo...

05/02/2017

National Poetry Month: Philip Levine

"Baby Villon"

He tells me in Bangkok he’s robbed
Because he’s white; in London because he’s black;
In Barcelona, Jew; in Paris, Arab:
Everywhere and at all times, and he fights back.

He holds up seven thick little fingers
To show me he’s rated seventh in the world,
And there’s no passion in his voice, no anger
In the flat brown eyes flecked with blood. ...

"Baby Villon" - Philip Levine He tells me in Bangkok he’s robbed Because he’s white; in London because he’s black; In Barc...

05/02/2017

National Poetry Month: Charley Seagraves

"Somebody With a Gun"

Somebody with a gun
walked into a convenience store
just outside of Charlotte,
pulled on a stocking mask,
pointed a .44 Magnum
in the clerk's face,
and that began his fall from grace,
and now he's on the run,
somebody with a gun. ...

 "Somebody With a Gun" - Charley Seagraves Somebody with a gun walked into a convenience store just outside of Charlotte, pulle...

05/02/2017

National Poetry Month: Warren Zevon

"My Sh*t's Fu**ed Up"

Well, I went to the doctor
I said, "I'm feeling kind of rough"
He said "I'll break it to you, son,
Your s**t's fu**ed up."
I said "my s**t's fu**ed up?
Well, I don't see how."
He said, "The s**t that used to work
It won't work now." ...

 "My Sh*t's Fu**ed Up" - Warren Zevon Well, I went to the doctor I said, "I'm feeling kind of rough" He said "I'll break...

04/27/2017

National Poetry Month: W.S. Merwin

"Before the Flood"

Why did he promise me
that we would build ourselves
an ark all by ourselves
out in back of the house
on New York Avenue
in Union City New Jersey
to the singing of the streetcars
after the story
of Noah whom nobody
believed about the waters
that would rise over everything ...

"Before the Flood" (W.S. Merwin) Why did he promise me that we would build ourselves an ark all by ourselves out in back of...

04/25/2017

National Poetry Month: Deacon Lunchbox (1950-1992)

Deacon Lunchbox was the stage name of Atlanta performance artist and poet Timothy Tyson Ruttenber. A construction worker by day, he was popular in the Atlanta area for his flamboyant spoken-word performances. He often punctuated each line of his poems by banging an old torpedo casing or metal bucket with a hammer. His onstage props included a chainsaw, and often a bra was part of his costume. Deacon is credited with giving the Atlanta alternative country music scene its name - the Redneck Underground. He died in an auto accident, along with two members of the Atlanta group The Jody Grind, in April 1992.

Deacon Lunchbox wrote brilliant poetry and became an Atlanta celebrity performing his poetry imaginatively with indie rock bands. Sadly, he was killed in a t...