Chrisman, Robert

Minor Casualties: New and Selected Poems with: Ephemera

ISBN: 0916418820
Detroit, MI: Lotus Press, Inc., 1993. First Edition (Review Copy). Softcover. Inscribed, signed & dated by Robert Chrisman to Laurence Goldstein; & with autograph postcard, signed letter from & to same. "The casualties of Kansas smear my van./ Bugs, beetles, small animals,/ Scraps of fur clot my tires,/ Effluent of skunk, sometimes a woodchuck,/ Sparrow, robin, even a blackbird.// Foxes rug the concrete in Missouri/ the Appalachias offer deer,/ Tan, white and red. In bar relief,/ The jackball eyes still gleam/ Of fawn and mother close behind.// Pittsburgh, Philly, New York/ Take black casualties in the night,/ Drunks vomit in Rockefeller Square./ Stunned idiots sing a song/ No one comprehends or wants to hear." ("Minor Casualties," pg. 33) The second collection of poems by Robert Chrisman (1937-2013), the acclaimed African-American poet, essayist, editor & publisher. Striking, rawly evocative & angry, Chrisman's confrontational & provocative poems are unforgettable- & not for the squeamish. Trade-format softcover original, first edition as stated at copyright page, first printing though not specified thereon. This is a review copy with publisher 's press release/prospectus loosely included, four stapled sheets copy-printed on rectos only, folded once horizontally & in very fine condition. At title page, below his printed name, Chrisman has cursively hand-written, signed & dated in blue ink: "Larry,/ in continuing/ appreciation of/ your poetry & scholarship/ (signed) Bob Chrisman/ 8/2/93." "Larry" is Laurence Goldstein (1943-2023), the esteemed American poet, film critic, editor & academician here at the University of Michigan. We found & have retained, in addition to publisher's document noted above, two pieces of important ephemera: Hand-typed note dated August 2, 1993 (same date as inscription noted above) from Chrisman to Goldstein, in which he writes "Please accept with my compliments this advance copy..." of this volume, hand-signed "Bob" in blue ink. Single sheet with UM letterhead folded vertically & horizontally to form four panels, in fine condition. Also, a postcard with image of the Brighton Metropole Hotel in Brighton, England at recto & note from Chrisman to Goldstein in cursive blue ink at verso, reading in part: "Larry: this is for your/ trivia collection. it is the/ Metropole cited in (T.S.) Eliot's/ Wasteland..." postmarked (uncertain date) 2001 from Omaha, Nebraska, in fine condition. An essential Chrisman collectible in its rarest contemporary form, greatly enriched with its advance-review copy status, author's poet-to-poet inscription & ephemera; with distinguished association & provenance. In relatively fine condition with mild rubbing, mostly faint scratching & a touch of age-toning to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same. Interior very fine with only tiny bumps & small, faint creases at mostly upper corners of a few page leaves. Fine. [Item #8833]

Price: $40.00