Various (Spicer, David (Editor); Bly, Robert; Bukowski, Charles; Ignatow, David; Malanga, Gerard; Wakoski, Diane et al.)

Raccoon No. 24/25 (Tenth Anniversary Issue, May 1987)

Memphis, TN: Ion Books/Raccoon, 1987. First Printing. Softcover. “What the twentieth century is about is hubris. Why was it so punishable to know what the gods knew or to act as if you knew it? Why did Prometheus get chained to the rock and subjected to everlasting torture for stealing fire from the gods? Why did Adam and Eve get thrown out of the Garden of Eden? Was Cassandra’s punishment – that no one would believer her – the greatest of all?” (Diane Wakoski, from “The Future of Poetry: Is it an Endangered Species?,” p. 23) This weighty issue of Raccoon, the literary journal edited by poet David Spicer, clocks in at over 350 pages and features dozens of writers for the journal’s tenth anniversary. Notable contributions include: the poem “In Dream” by American poet & editor David Ignatow (1914-1997); “Forty-One Line Poem” by Gerard Malanga (b. 1943), the esteemed & pioneering poet, critic & performance artist; “Poem for Sam at Assateague Island” by National Book Award-winning American poet, essayist and activist Robert Bly (1926-2021); “my cat the writer,” “looking for the hit man,” & “the melt-down” by Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), the great American cult favorite poet-denizen of the dive bar & the racetrack (Debritto, B1362, p.342); the essay “The Future of Poetry: Is it an Endangered Species?” and the poem “The Good World” by Diane Wakoski (b. 1937), Michigan Beat poet legend and severely underrated literary titan. Trade-format softcover original in dustjacket. In Near Fine condition with light rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; some tiny bumps to edges of same; a small dent/indentation at bottom-front corner of spine; a few small, red dots to top-corner edge of textblock. Interior Near Fine with partial separation of back cover from textblock. Dustjacket in Fine condition with some rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; some tiny bumps to edges & corners of same. Near Fine / Fine. [Item #8639]

Price: $35.00