Giorno, John

Balling Buddha

New York, NY, USA: The Kulchur Foundation, 1970. First Edition. Softcover. "Rebellious/ students/ Rebellious students/ hurled/ firebombs/ hurled firebombs,/ darts/ and rocks/ darts and rocks.// A billowy/ haze/ a billowy haze/ of sweet/ smoke/ of sweet smoke/ rose/ through the purple/ spotlights" ("Balling Buddha," first two stanzas, pg. 7) An early collection of poems by John Giorno (1936-2019), the innovative & influential New York School-&-Beyond multimedia poet/artiste who was, quite literally, a close colleague of our Patron-Icon William S. Burroughs- he was the keeper of WSB's famous "Bunker" on the Bowery in NYC during the 1970s-80s. With the title poem (quoted above) & other incantatory works whose very stacatto, repetitive structures propel them into the consciousness of the reader-beholder. Large-format softcover original in sewn binding, first edition, first printing though neither specified at sparse copyright page. From the library of Albert Glover (b. 1942), the acclaimed American poet, author, bibliographer, editor & publisher who remains the foremost living authority on Charles Olson (1910-1970), the canonical Black Mountain-&-Beyond twentieth-century Giant (literally & literarily) of poetry- our favorite Maximus Obscurantist. We are honored to be acquainted with Glover, who studied with & was anointed by the Maximus Master himself. An extremely scarce, rich, rewarding & exemplary Giorno collectible in its singularly rarest contemporary form, with most-distinguished provenance. In relatively quite fine condition with light rubbing, mostly faint scratching & some mild creasing to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; one very small area at lower right corner of front cover with loss of blank light-yellow surface paper; very slight rubbing, age-toning to edges of text block. Interior fine-to-very-fine with a hint of age-toning, mild creasing to blank inner covers; very slight partial loosening of sewn binding at edge between inner front cover & front endpaper; a touch of age-toning to blank margins/edges of page leaves (which are bound in a series of six different colors); tiny bumps at corners of a few leaves. Fine. [Item #8134]

Price: $175.00