The Dumbbell Nebula (California Poetry Series, 3) - Softcover

Kowit, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0966669126 ISBN 13: 9780966669121

Publisher: Roundhouse Press, 1999

Synopsis

Poetry. Whether describing the Devil reciting poetry in Hell, the faith of uprooted mice, or a last encounter with a doomed friend, Steve Kowit's poetry has chosen, in the manner of certain Sufi tales, a disarmingly earthy presence. Rhapsodic and hilarious by turns, this poetry is as engaging and accessible as vivid prose. Steve Kowit is the author of several collections of poetry and IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND: THE POET'S PORTABLE WORKSHOP; he has also translated Pablo Neruda's INCITEMENT TO NIXONCIDE AND PRAISE FOR THE CHILEAN REVOLUTION and edited THE MAVERICK POETS anthology. The recipient of an NEA and other awards, he has published work in numerous anthologies and journals including The Los Angeles Times and The New Yorker. He teaches at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.

About this title

About the Author

Steve Kowit was born in Brooklyn and schooled on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In the late sixties, he fled to Mexico to avoid participating in the immolation of Southeast Asia, eventually settling in San Diego where he founded that city's first animal rights organization. He is the author of several collections of poetry and In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop; he has also translated Pablo Neruda's Incitement to Nixonicide and Praise for the Chilean Revolution and edited The Maverick Poets anthology. The recipient of an NEA and other awards, he has published work in numerous anthologies and journals including Yoga Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker. He teaches at southwestern College in Chula Vista.

From the Back Cover

Whether describing the Devil reciting poetry in Hell, the fate of uprooted mice, or a last encounter with a doomed friend, Steve Kowit's poetry has chosen, in the manner of certain Sufi tales, a disarmingly earthy presence. Rhapsodic and hilarious by turns, this poetry is as engaging and accessible as vivid prose.

Reviews

The first line of the first poem in the third part of Kowit's collection is "I died & went to Hell & it was nothing like L.A." Kowit has a baggy-pantsed sense of humor, yet he is more than a goofball. Poems on youthful doings in New York and San Francisco reveal him as a postbeatnik, prehippie bohemian who eventually fell into college teaching and marriage. Unlike Zorba the Greek, he has never felt his settled state as anything close to a "full catastrophe." He loves life, people, literature, art, jazz, food, drink, sex, hiking, gardens--all that good stuff. He hates war, poetry readings (his own, that is), and the deaths of friends. He realizes that living is such that it is best not to take yourself too seriously; hence, the shortest poem here, "Credo": "I am of those who believe / different things on different days." The best thing about his poetry, apart from his irrepressible humor, is that it swings, like the subject of his "Solo Monk" --Thelonious, of course. Ray Olson

Edition details

• Publisher: Roundhouse Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0966669126
• ISBN 13: 9780966669121
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 79