Crowe, Thomas Rain

Poems for Che Guevara's Dream

Spartanburg, SC: Holocene Books, 1991. First Edition. Signed by Thomas Rain Crowe. “ HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!”--Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Che Guevara Speaks: Selected Speeches and Writings. Offered today is a particularly rare and interesting collection of poetry, Poems for Che Guevara’s Dream (1991) by the ineffable Second San Francisco Renaissance/Baby Beat Generation legend Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949). Poems for Che Guevara’s Dream is a collection of experimental, proletarian poetry suffused with revolutionary zeal and exuding a “fuck you” attitude that is endemic of both TRC and the SSFR/BBG. The great poet Jack Hirschman (1933–2021) once described TRC’s style as being a blend of both Jim Gill and Clayton Eschleman (1935–2021); the latter of which we were privileged enough to befriend and have as a mentor and enjoyed many enlightened commiserations with at his home in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Hirschman has also pointed out that: “The Russian poets moved him [TRC] deeply, though his native-american urges “felt” the revolution perhaps more in terms of the French. Like both Gill and Eschleman there is in his work a continual search through “foreign poets,” in whose institutions his poetic psyche is entangled with respect and challenge, for he is a country boy at heart, but aware and involved as well in a sense of international revolution” (From Hirschman’s introduction to The Personified Street [see item #7499]). In line with the revolutionary spirit that Hirschman points out (and, indeed, more than likely nurtured) Poems for Che Guevara’s Dream, both the work as a whole and the titular poem, are not only emblems of radical poetry, but also clearly send ups to the Argentinian-Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928–1967). While the poem itself is dedicated to the Second San Francisco Renaissance-affiliated poet-prisoner-radical, Pancho Aguila (b. 1945), the clear homage in both title and content to Guevara signals a distinct respect and speaks to TRC’s own revolutionary disposition. Ultimately, Poems for Che Guevara’s Dream is a collection that exemplifies some of the best poetry of the Second San Francisco Renaissance/Baby Beat Generation, and makes an incredibly compelling case as to why Crowe and other writers of the SSFR/BBG should not only be studied but be given the recognition and respect afforded to those at the head of the pantheon of American literature. Signed in thin black ink at colophon page by Thomas Rain Crowe. 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. Chapbook in sewn binding. First limited edition as stated at colophon page, No. 88/200. In very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges and slight spotting/sun-toning to pages at text block. Very Fine. [Item #7501]

Price: $40.00