<TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText language="eng">City Lights Pocket Poets </TitleText>

City Lights Books onix@onixsuite.com 20130217 eng

GCDS-9780872865167 03 01 City Lights Books 01 GCOI 87286100606360 02 0872865169 03 9780872865167 15 9780872865167 BC 01 305 <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText language="eng">City Lights Pocket Poets </TitleText> 01 337 <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText language="eng">City Lights Publishers Spring/Summer 2011 Catalog</TitleText> <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText>When I Was a Poet</TitleText> <Subtitle>Pocket Poets Number 60</Subtitle> 1 A01 Meltzer, David David Meltzer A poet at age 11, David Meltzer began his literary career during the Beat heyday in San Francisco and early on took his poetry to jazz for improv wonders, which he continues to astound listeners with today. He is the author of many volumes of poetry including The Clown, The Process, Arrows: Selected Poetry, 1957 - 1992, No Eyes: Lester Young, Beat Thing, and David's Copy. City Lights in San Francisco published his most recent book, When I Was A Poet, as # 60 in the Pocket Poet's Series. He has also published fiction and essays including Two-Way Mirror: A Poetry Notebook and has edited numerous anthologies such as Reading Jazz, Writing Jazz, and San Francisco Beat: Talking with the Poets. David Meltzer composed, performed and recorded as a singer/songwriter during the 60s and 70s; albums include Serpent Power and Poet Song. He taught in the Humanities and graduate Poetics programs at the New College of California in San Francisco for 30 years. He is now performing in and around the Bay Area with his wife, poet Julie Rogers. In 2011 he will receive the SF Bay Guardian's Lifetime Achievement Award. 01 eng 135 20 beat generation; poetry; San Francisco 01 A dual milestone in City Lights history, When I Was a Poet is volume 60 of the Pocket Poets Series as well as our first book of poems by renowned Beat author David Meltzer. The title piece is an ambitious work by a master at the height of his powers, a spiritual assessment of the meaning of a lifetime spent writing poetry. Also included are portraits of key figures in the poet's life, including Semina artist Wallace Berman, as well as "California Dreamin'," a reminiscence of Beat-era bohemian life. Among its other highlights are the vintage, previously uncollected series, "French Broom," a nutty homage to "Mr. Peanut," a section of mystical "amulets," and complete versions of "Night Reals" and "Dogma," which appear here for the first time. With its profound meditations on love, loss, aging, and death, When I Was a Poet is a substantial contribution to American poetry by one of its foremost living practitioners."With this primal book, David Meltzer takes his place among the great poets of his generation." --Lawrence Ferlinghetti 02 An autobiographical masterpiece by a prominent Beat poet, who Ferlinghetti has deemed "one of the greats." 08 ". . . When I Was A Poet, is a masterpiece, every line is exactly where it needs to be. After fifty years of practice this manuscript reflects a master at his zenith."-Mike Sonksen Big Bridge 16 08 "For Meltzer, the experience of being a poet is inextricable from the experience of the body in a way that is simultaneously physical and spiritual." -- Julie Babcock Rain Taxi 08 "Meltzer is a prolific poet of many modes and voices, quite a few of which are here, love poems, poems out of childhood, a series of "amulets," cryptic short wisdom poems, and much more. These are all tasty, often ironic and/or mysterious, pieces of Davidness to be savored . . . "--Richard Silberg, Poetry Flash Poetry Flash 08 "This collection presents a strong display of Meltzer's graceful force as a lyric poet. David is at his best when he's just riffing about writing, getting the language to come together in his head: skull-brain, eyes, nose, mouth, and finally, tongue. The whole messy bag of flesh which it takes to arrive at the poem: 'My blood mixes with plaster / sealing the poem together.' It's a messy, vital business that gathers together all the experience any one of us is made of; everything and everybody that contributes to our individual shot at being the one composed of many which we are."--Patrick James Dunagan, HTML Giant HTML Giant 08 "Meltzer's work has always been quirky, lyrical, and fresh with a self-respect that jumps right off the page and invites readers into the delight of expression." Bloomsbury Review 08 "An erudite man with interests that range from Jewish mysticism to jazz, Meltzer is anything but bookish. He writes quick, wry poetry, embedded with wisdom, his short lines delivered in a dancing street vernacular that gathers force as it uncovers fresh discoveries." The San Francisco Chronicle 23 01 http://www.citylights.com/resources/titles/87286100606360/extras/WhenIWasaPoetExcerptCL.pdf 04 02 72 01 http://www.citylights.com/resources/titles/87286100606360/images/87286100606360L.gif 07 02 72 01 http://www.citylights.com/resources/titles/87286100606360/images/87286100606360S.gif 30 01 http://poetryproject.org/multimedia/david-meltzer-when-i-was-a-poet-92611.html http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100606360 City Lights Publishers 01 City Lights Publishers 20110601 08 16 oz City Lights Books 01 WORLD 20 20110601 01 02 10.95 USD