Brugnaro, Ferruccio

Partial Portrait of Maria

San Francisco, CA: Deliriodendron Press, 2000. First Edition, First Printing. Sewn Binding. Signed by translator Jack Hirschman. “...a love poem of a woman as a force of nature, an everyday whirlwind of care. He gives her to us---with tenderness, humor and compassion---in the form of an action painting that is verbally figurative with the motions and spirit of his best beloved. It is she who is the poem in every line, she who is revealed as the inescapably immediate millenial Maria." (from opening note, Jack Hirschman). Ferruccio Brugnaro (b. 1936) was born in Mestre, Italy, just outside of Venice, and spent most of his adult years toiling in the caustic, Pandemonium-esque-machine-and-chemical-suffused hellscape of the factories of his hometown. In the wake of the cataclysmic conditions of World War II, Mestre went through a period of intense, disorganized urban growth. Brugnaro spent nearly 30 years during the apex of this industrial period working in the Montefibre-Montedison complex, while becoming increasingly involved in the militant labor movement, eventually becoming a leading figure in the workers' movement for 20 years. Because much of his poetry documents his life as a worker, and because he’s a self-declared communist, he is considered one of Italy’s best-known proletarian-poets. Offered today is the 2000 excerpt of poetry, "Partial Portrait of Maria"; translated by the great Jack Hirschman (1933–2021), Baby Beat Generation titan, and fellow proletarian-poet-extraordinaire. "Partial Portrait of Maria" is a rarity for the working class poet, steeped in romance and lyricism, with an obvious slant towards the act of love and loving someone. From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. 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 website. As passionate as it is brief, "Partial Portrait of Maria" is a work that any and all lovers of poetry should read. Signed and inscribed in thin black ink at inside of front cover by Jack Hirschman, inscription to Crowe reads: “For Tom, Love and Solidarity, Jack.” Chapbook. First edition, presumed first printing though not explicated as such thereon. In relatively very fine condition with only minimal wear to fine edges and very slight smudging to front and back covers; one small discoloration stain near lower edge of front cover. Interior is in very fine condition with no recognizable imperfections. Very Fine. [Item #7565]

Price: $45.00