Wainio, Ken

Crossroads of the Other

ISBN: 1879594188
San Francisco, CA: Androgyne Books, 1993. First Edition, First Printing. "It is not at all apparent where the "volcanic summit" in one of Ken Wainio's poems, "Ventriloquist," may actually be located in the physical world. True, his poetic space manifests land, sea, moon and starry scapes, marked, sustained and transformed by constant reverie and practiced attention to, and interaction with, an evidently fertile dream life. Nevertheless, it so happens this oneiric space perfectly complements his native and childhood haunts in the environs of Redwood Valley, a pristine inland region a hundred miles almost due north of San Francisco." (Philip Lamantia, preface) A late collection of poems & prose-poems by Ken Wainio (1952-2006), the avant garde-surrealist poet & novelist who was a close friend & associate of Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949), the acclaimed poet & publisher. Wainio & Crowe were at the center of the Baby Beat Generation/ Second San Francisco Renaissance scene during the 1970s- in our book, Starting From San Francisco (Item No. 3071), Crowe converses at length about Wainio, as well as their mentor who is quoted above. From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, which was acquired, assembled & curated by Third Mind Books as a single item (see our item No. 1010). Its vast number of individual pieces are now being offered incrementally throughout this new year of 2025. The TRC archive collectively represents the entire legacy of the BBG/SSFR, & its critical collaborations-mentorships by the key figures of the original Beat Generation/ San Francisco Renaissance. Dedicated to Beat Generation poet/Baby Beat mentor Bob Kaufman. A rare & rewarding Wainio collectible with supreme association & provenance. Trade-format softcover original; First trade edition, and first printing though neither explicated at copyright page. In very fine condition with only a bit of rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of same; text block has minor bumps to a few page leaves. Interior very fine with only miniscule bumps at lower corners of a few page leaves; otherwise substantially mint. Very Fine. [Item #7618]

Price: $30.00