Hirschman, Jack

The Viet Arcane

ISBN: 9781587902703
Berkeley, CA: Regent Press, 2014. First Edition. Softcover. Inscribed & signed by Jack Hirschman to Thomas Rain Crowe. A collection of poems by Jack Hirschman, the legendary & prolific former Poet Laureate of San Francisco, firebrand radical & acclaimed translator. As Hirschman explains in his introduction, this text, originally written in 1972, was lost for many years & finally turned up in 2012, making this "A Miracle Book" as he titles his preface. The poems are an impassioned Jeremiad against the Vietnam War waged by the United States, his activism against which caused him to be fired from his professorship at UCLA during the mid-1960s. Hirschman was one of the key mentors to the poets of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance during the 1970s, as discussed at length by his protégé Thomas Rain Crowe, the noted poet & publisher who was at the center of the phenomenon, in our book Starting From San Francisco (Item No. 3071, Deluxe Edition No. 3075). With back cover art & interior collages by Hirschman. Trade-format softcover original, first edition. On the title page, Hirschman has hand-written, signed & dated in bold red ink: For Thomas and Nan,/ comradely love!/ (signed) Jack Hirschman/ August 10, 2016." "Thomas" is of course Crowe, & "Nan" is Crowe's partner. An exemplary, incendiary Hirschman collectible with important poet-to-poet provenance & association. In very fine condition with only mild rubbing, scratching & faint creasing to glossy front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only miniscule bumps at corners of a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #4076]

Price: $45.00 save 20% $36.00