Huffstickler, Albert

Mortality and Madness: Bus Stations I Have Known

Austin, TX: Press of Circumstance, 1999. First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Signed, dated, and inscribed by Albert Huffstickler. "Once I stole a box of chocolates from a bus station lunch room. I had my overcoat on my arm and just slid the box under it / and walked out. / I was hungry. / Half a box later, I wished I'd picked something else," (opening lines to Mortality and Madness: Bus Stations I Have Known) Albert Huffstickler (1927 – 2002) was an American poet born in Texas who spent his later years in Austin where he became a foundational figure in that city's poetry community as founder of the Hyde Park Poets Series (known as the "Bard of Hyde Park") and two-time Austin Book Award winner. Huffstickler published hundreds of poems in his lifetime in both chapbooks and academic and underground journals. This chapbook comes from his own Press of Circumstance imprint and returns to several themes that are prominent throughout his work such as public transit (representing the state of being between here and there, neither here not there) and the existentialism that plagues most poets and writers. Many of those self-published productions were small, unpaginated, and exist in very limited numbers with essentially no bibliographic trail. A truly rare Huffstickler collectible! Chapbook in stapled wrappers: presumed first edition, first printing, though neither explicated as such. Inscription at inside front cover in thin, black ink reads: "Best wishes / to Henry Denansler(?) / from / (signed) Albert Huffstickler / May 30, 2000." This is the same inscription found on McSwyne and the Goddess (see our item #8723). In relatively very fine condition with only the slightest bumping to the fine edges and corners to front, back covers, stapled spine, and pages; interior is clean. Very Fine. [Item #8725]

Price: $45.00