Hirschman, Jack

Endless Threshold: New Poems with: Ephemera

ISBN: 1880684004
WIllimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 1992. First Edition. Signed by Jack Hirschman to Thomas Rain Crowe. “That poet you admire so — / in my fifteen years / in the workers’ movement / I’ve never seen him / in attendance at / a demonstration against / social injustice, or at / a memorial honoring / a revolutionary hero, / or at a rally in support / of an uprising people — / is not even a fighting / surrealist / but a bibelot / dribbling over / with obsolete pus.”--Jack Hirschman, “That Poet,” pg 18. There are few writers who, over the course of their lives, have been as in-touch with and contributed to a scene as much as Jack Hirschman (1933–2021). Hirschman was a New York-born poet and activist who wrote more than 100 volumes of poetry and essays that exemplified the “fuck you” attitude of the Beat Generation; his poetic predecessors. Hirschman earned degrees from City College of New York and Indiana University, where he studied comparative literature. After attaining his degree, he went on to become a wildly innovative and popular professor at UCLA in the 1970s, before he was fired for participating in anti-war protest and speaking out against American imperialism in Vietnam. Hirschman lived in California ever since, making an artistic and political home in the North Beach district of San Francisco. He is known for his radical engagement with both poetry and politics: he was a member of the Union of Street Poets, a group that distributed leaflets of poems to people on the streets. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Union of Left Writers of San Francisco. The former poet laureate of San Francisco, Hirschman’s style was compared to poets ranging from Walt Whitman (1819-1892) to Hart Crane (1899-1932) to Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), and Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997). His poems’ commitment to leftist politics draws comparisons to Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) and Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). A communist since 1980, Hirschman told Contemporary Authors, “It is vitally important at this time that all poets and artists collectivize and form strong socialist cadres in relation to working-class cultural internationalism.” Offered today is the 1992 collection of poetry, Endless Threshold. Exemplary of Hirschman's oeuvre, Endless Threshold is imbued with his signature lyrical surrealism, raw language, and kaleidoscopic empathetic pathos. To quote the back cover of this volume: “Endless Threshold is a people’s poetry. Not the type of literature that is an individual’s expression, brilliant introversion or exhibition of a cry, it’s a poetry that makes the suffering and resistance of many the believable essence of life in the US today. Hirschman explores love, life on the streets, hunger, homelessness, and censorship in a lyrical direct style. A deeply committed activist, Hirschman writes a poetry that is unabashedly political, fired with passion and humor.” Endless Threshold is one of Hirschman’s best, if not underappreciated, works. We have found and retained between first paste-down page and title page a small note written by Jack Hirschman in thin red ink that reads: “Feb. 1993. Dear Tom, I’m looking forward to your book. Just back from a 10 city reading tour of Italy where the Threshold was published in a bi-lingual edition. What a great hospitality and reception of my work there.No problem re who’s where re Sharon & your book. Hell, she’s [indiscernible] than both of us, no? Best, Jack.” Inscribed and signed by Jack Hirschman at first paste-down page in thin green ink: “For Tom, comradely best to an excellent poet, Jack.” From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, scholar, writer and member of the Baby Beat Generation. For more information on the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (assembled & curated by Third Mind Books), see our book Starting From San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (item #3071) & the catalog for the Crowe archive (see item #1010), which contains several excerpts and quotations from the book as well as a full listing of the archive’s contents, which are now being offered for sale individually on the Third Mind Books site. Softcover. First edition as stated at copyright page, presumed first printing though not explicated as such thereon. In very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges and slight smudging to front and back covers. Very Fine. [Item #7488]

Price: $40.00