Poem of the Week by Leslie Scalapino

Leslie Scalapino
1940-2010













what it

many


people

want

authority?


she doesn't

[doesn't want it]

[is no ascendancy]




from The Animal is in the World like Water in Water, a collaboration between Leslie Scalapino and Kiki Smith (Granary Books, 2009), excerpted in War and Peace #4: Vision and Text (O Books, 2009).

Highlights From BookExpo America 2010...

This year BookExpo America was busy, a good time, and a lot of work. Everywhere we went people were spotting Pete from the Green Apple Book vs. the Kindle Videos, commenting on how much they like the store, or ignoring us to stand in very long lines to get some random author to sign some random book that may or may not be worth the time.

As for myself I was trying to find the few small press booths around to see what the Fall will bring. Some of what I saw just came out, some is set for the Summer. Here are the books that look like great reads to me...

Anne Carson's Nox hit our display table just as I was getting ready to leave for B.E.A. and it is beautiful. I haven't had time to dissect and enjoy this book yet, but what I have read is amazing. New Directions was prominently displaying this and Antwerp, which I previously wrote about here.
New Directions says of Nox, "Anne Carson’s haunting and beautiful Nox is her first book of poetry in five years — a unique, illustrated, accordion-fold-out 'book in a box.'

Nox is an epitaph in the form of a book, a facsimile of a handmade book Anne Carson wrote and created after the death of her brother. The poem describes coming to terms with his loss through the lens of her translation of Poem 101 by Catullus 'for his brother who died in the Troad.' Nox

is a work of poetry, but arrives as a fascinating and unique physical object. Carson pasted old letters, family photos, collages and sketches on pages. The poems, typed on a computer, were added to this illustrated 'book,' creating a visual and reading experience so amazing as to open up our concept of poetry."

Along with the new release of Joshua Cohen's book Witz, Dalkey Archive is getting ready for the release of Best European Fiction 2011, in their annual Best European Fiction series. I, for one, cannot wait for this collection, as 2010 was amazing.

Green Apple also got a big thank you for our Running Away video!

(Also check out Self-Portrait Abroad: A Novel Toussaint's newest release from Dalkey)

One of my new friends in the publishing world is Graywolf Press. They have been putting out quality books since the mid-seventies, but have really come into their own. What were they touting for the Summer/Fall? Well it shouldn't be too hard to guess since I put a picture of the cover just to the left of this...

That's right a new Per Petterson novel, I Curse the River of Time. It's short but this galley has already been making the rounds and looks to be just what it is...another fantastic book from Per Petterson!

I also got to meet Jessica Francis Kane, who's first novel, The Report, will be released in September.

And lastly (though there were a lot of great books to be seen this year I will update you on more later) The good people of Coffee House Press are very excited by Andrew Ervin's Extraordinary Renditions.

So stay tuned to thegreenapplecore and always check out our display shelves for the best in small press new releases.

John Waters Drops By

The great John Waters dropped in today and signed copies of his just released book, Role Models, a collection of profiles of the director's favorite personalities. George Washington? Not so much. Martin Luther King? Uh-uhn. Perfect gift for dad, if your dad is a bit twisted.

Books on TV

LOST is over. Were you following it? Well, I don't blame ya' if you don't watch TV. Amid the myriad of total crap out there I can hardly understand why most people turn the damn thing on in the first place. I mean, I enjoy the absurdity that is commercial programming, but I don't think you can even find real news on it anymore, can you? I'm skeptical, but that's beside the point. What I'm meaning to get at is LOST.

I don't think there's been such a game changer on TV since the X-Files. LOST was challenging the ugly paradigm that is prime time programming. What other show today, albeit through the veil of sci-fi action/entertainment, was questioning the unknown and pushing an interest in physics and literature? The series is littered with books and literary references, usually featuring specific works in episodes in which they might pertain. They range from the obvious (Huxley's Island or Hawking's A Brief History of Time), to the slightly more obscure (Casares' The Invention of Morel or A. Merritt's The Moon Pool). So if you're hurting for something to read, it might not be a bad idea to take a look at this list of literary references in the series. There's a hell of a lot of gems in it. Also, if you didn't watch the show, pick it up on DVD from our fiction annex. It'll screw you up with island fever!

Woulda, coulda, shoulda...

As mentioned in a post here last week, Green Apple and Daniel Handler became finalists in the 1st Annual Moby Awards for Best and Worst Book Trailers, sponsored by Melville House Publishers. I'm saddened, however, to have to mention that the grand Mr. Handler was not victorious. Claiming the blue ribbon in the catagory of 'Best Author Appearance' was instead the highly deserving Head Case with Dennis Cass.

When I mentioned to Daniel that he / we were finalists for this award, he replied that," This is not one of those things where it's an honor to be nominated. I MUST WIN!"

So, if you see Daniel around town this week, please be nice him - I can only imagine how his heart is breaking...