Books Read 2010 (mini-reviews from memory 10 at a time)...

31. The Granite Pail- Lorine Niedecker

I think this was a Steve Dickison era book. I think Jenny Penberthy must have been reading at The Poetry Center that semester. Though I could be wrong, was this another Weltner book? This might have been a Weltner book. In fact, now that I’m typing, I’m pretty sure it was a Peter Weltner book. I remember close reading “Paean To Place” in class. What’s the line “fish fowl flood/ water lily mud/ my life.” Yeah, I remember a lot of us were tripping off of that line for a while. I think there is even a story from the old Geary St. apartment where Brandon Brown and Matthew Arnone, while drinking whiskey one night, read the entire book out loud to each other. Don’t mean to mythologize if I’m wrong about that, but pretty sure that happened.

32. Ghosts- Stephen Boyer

Don’t remember if Stephen sent me this book. Or if Bent Boy Books sent me this book. Or if Stephen handed it off to me in person. I think Bent Boy Books sent me this book. I love this chapbook, especially the Craigslist bars/clubs reviews. Cause it’s Stephen, and he actually posted these amazing reviews (nod to Killian) on Craigslist. Stephen invited me to read with him and Jennifer Blowdryer at Dog Eared Books for the release reading. I’ve never written about that reading and what took place afterward…but let me just say…there were beautiful girls, there were boys, there was a band playing in the Mission, there was an art opening, there was El Rio and The Makeout Room, there was an “appropriated” car on Market St, there was hot tubs, there was a lot of nudity, there was rooftops, there was missing pants, there was blackouts, there was making out and whiskey and a wet cab ride home with two of my best homies at 5 in the morning…and then a lot of hilarious text messages the next day/afternoon…pretty much the epic’ist after party to a poetry reading I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. There is a line in Stephen’s book that goes something like “I want to read poetry with Lindsey Lohan in the Hollywood Hills…”…it was like that. You should read Ghosts.

33. Befallen I- Erin Moure (Belladonna #74)

Another Belladonna book. I can’t say I remember this book. These BD chapbooks are so small. Forgive. I remember when Erin came to the poetry center to give a reading back in 2002 I think. I missed the reading for some reason. But I remember talking to Brandon about it later on. He was definitely on a post reading Team-Erin glow. And made me feel bad for missing an exceptional reading. I think Erin talked a lot about translation, and Brandon back then, as now, has a huge boner for Team-Translation. I remember Brandon trying to break down her PoCenter presentation to me. I remember thinking “not sure I know what you’re talking about broseph, but you seem really excited, so I’m excited for you/with you…”

34. from Compass And Men- Jill Magi

Possibly another Dusie chapbook. I don’t remember Jill’s book. I know I probably read it in the bathroom before hopping in the shower. So many Dusie books, so overwhelming. Jill has a great last name, almost don't believe it's real. Maybe "Magi" is a stage name, like Katy Perry born Katheryn Elizabeth, or Wynona Ryder born Winona Horowitz. I wonder what "Jill Magi's" real name is...

35. Lessons Of The Microscopist- Martine Bellen

Again, probably a Dusie chapbook. See my awful review of Jill Magi’s chapbook for context. But on the other hand, “Martine Bellen” sounds like a name that Belladonna might publish. So, I’m not sure how to orient. Probably read it in the bathroom before hopping in the shower.

36. Soup #3

Bought this at Green Apple back in 2003, I think I was with Brandon Brown. I’m pretty sure there were two issues of Soup on the rack, and I wanted them both, but Brandon snagged one before I could call dibs, I’m a bit of a hoarder. I don’t know which issue Brandon ended up with but I’m pretty sure Soup #3 defeats his issue. This one has that great Bruce Boone introduction/ essay about New Narrative writing. Not sure how “new” New Narrative was when he published it, but I’m pretty sure it was pretty damn new. I’m not sure how many issues of Soup Steve Abbott put out before his death. I’ve only seen #3, and Brandon’s issue but only fleetingly. Brandon came over to my apartment a few months ago for beers and records. We were listening to Nana Mouskouri on the turntable, he excused himself to the bathroom. When he came back he was holding my copy of Soup #3, he looked at me disapprovingly and said “dude, you shouldn’t have this in the bathroom, it’s probably worth money…”…and then sat down and proceeded to quote from the Boone essay. He’s right, I shouldn’t have had it in the bathroom. I don’t know if it’s worth any money, but it’s a hella’ve good read, and pretty rare, and one of the better finds I’ve ever had on magazine-digging-sesh.

37. She Talks To Herself In The Language Of An Educated Woman- Frances Jaffer

Frances Jaffer’s husband, Mark Linenthal (RIP), gave me a copy of this book at a reading I gave at The Poetry Center at SFSU. I had won SFSU’s 2002 Frances Jaffer Award for poetry and The Poetry Center was hosting an awards reading. After I read Mark introduced himself, shook my hand and handed me Frances’s book. I was completely overwhelmed, it was an emotional moment and a completely generous gesture from a man who probably had better places to be than a student's award reading. Cut to 6 years later (2008), Rob Halpern invited me to read at The Last Laugh Café in the Mission, a series he curated before leaving San Francisco. I of course agreed to the reading and asked if he had an idea of who he was planning on pairing me with, he said “Mark Linenthal.” I was blown away, and stoked, I told Rob about how I had won the Frances Jaffer award while at State, about Mark coming to my reading and giving me those books, about how much that meant to me as a young guy just coming up in the SF poetry scene. Rob was all “no way, I didn’t know that…I didn’t know anything about the award, or that you had met Mark before...you know I’m co-editing a new Frances Jaffer book right?” And I’m like “what dude? No I didn’t know that…” And he’s like “yeah, weird huh? This reading really was meant to happen!…” And I’m like “uh huh…totally weird.” At the reading I walked up to greet Mark Linenthal as he arrived at the Café, to reintroduce myself, tell him how much I was looking forward to his reading, about what an honor it was to be paired with him. I'm about halfway across the cafe when he spots me, smiles and says “you won the Frances Jaffer Award!...I want you to know, Frances is watching over our reading tonight…”

38. Practice: New Writing #1

I think the eds. put out 2 issues of Practice. I could be wrong; I’ve only seen 2 issues. I remember I got my copy of Practice for free. When the first issue came out you could write the eds. requesting a free copy. Not a review copy, just a straight up free copy. So I wrote, and boom, two weeks later arrived Practice #1. I liked it for the most part, something very “Iowa” about it if you know what I mean. Some good Graham Foust poems from a series I hadn’t seen before, I remember liking the featured art though I can’t remember any names. They had a call for submissions for visual work. I think they very clearly stated under their submission guidelines that they didn’t want to see any more than 3 hi res email attachments submitted at a time. I asked my artist friend Lauren Kohne if I could submit a few of her pieces. She agreed, and I really thought she had a good chance of being accepted. I think I started drinking vodka or whiskey, this was Boulder years, and started going through her work trying to pick out my favorite 3 images. As the night wore on, and the drinking continued I came to an impasse. I liked all of the images the same. So, I opened my email, wrote a long letter pleading my case about the genius of the work, about how I couldn’t just weed it down to 3 images, about how once they see the work they’ll understand why…and then I went ahead and attached 10 or 11 jpeg files and hit send. I never heard back from them.

39. Parish Krewes- Micah Ballard

If you’re friends with Micah then you know what it means to be “goosed.” The dude is the king of “goosing.” It’s uncomfortable, and weird, and confusing while at the same time fraternal and funny and just a wee bit sexy. Parish Krewes is at once a celebration (not elegy) for a city and state (NO, LO) and lyric poem comfortable amongst the poetry-ghosts of his adopted city (SF, CA). Me and Micah and Logan Koreber and Patrick Dunagan were planning on making a skateboard movie called Pushing Mongo. It will be a day-in-the-life of movie. We’ll skate from the Safeway curb, to SOMA down Market on the rack-a-rack-kac-bricks, down to the EMB, up and along the Piers all the way to AT&T park back up to the Mission for burritos then off the skateboards hiking up the hill to grab a beer in Bernal Heights at Wild Side West. Then bombing back down the hill heading towards 16^th, almost getting hit by a USPS carrier van, Logan and I will get separated from Micah and Dunagan, but we’ll all end up somehow at Kilowatt for more beers, bros and brouhaha. It’s going to be an epic movie with a happy ending.  

40. Spirits And Anchors- Jason Morris

One of my favorite books of 2010 by one of my favorite people, Mr. Jason Morris... This book kills. If you can find this book you should pick it up, it’s hard to find but I’d recommend starting at Books & Bookshelves at 99 Sanchez. Auguste Press, limited copies, hand set and bound. Jason’s first full length right? This book goes well with a 40oz and a pack of smokes. With a Berrigan Collected and a blue Mead notebook on your lap. Read this book on a sunny Sunday afternoon with a view of Lone Mountain with plans on meeting up with your best friends later on. You’re going to want to talk about this book once you’ve finished. To smile about this book, to text Morris and be like “you motherfucker, Spirits And Anchors is the beat…you at the bar? I’m coming up…”