The Beat Scene Press pocket Book Series.
This morning I received the latest additions to my “Beat Scene Press Pocket Edition Chap Books” So far in the collection there are 17 in total with more to come I’m sure. I still have to get number 5 but with some luck I will have one in hand at some point in time. Their appeal to me is that they are a neat and tidy publication and an easy, quick read. I also think a few of them could be an easy introduction to reading some of the Beat authors, for those who are not too familiar with the poetry or writing style. Most of them are signed by the respective authors and all of them are either numbered or lettered.
Kevin Ring of Beat Scene magazine is the man behind the chap books, and before posting this I asked him if he had any comment about the chaps he told me that “they are just a tiny way on my part of keeping the Beats alive” You can find Kevin’s website at http://www.beatscene.net/
Pocket Edition No 1 is called I’m Bukowski, And Then? It’s about 3 Italian friends, Enrico Francheschini (The Author) and his two friends Gionata and Piero, who travel to California in 1979 to try and meet their hero Charles Bukowski. They found his house and spent a little time in the company of their Hero.
Pocket Edition No 2 is called Downstream From Trout Fishing In America (A Brief Extract). A Memoir of Richard Brautigan. By Keith Abbott. Brautigan’s second published novel Trout Fishing In America was written in 1961 but not published until 1967. This piece by Keith Abbott recalls the early days of his friendship with Brautigan. kevin Ring also wrote about the death of Richard Brautigan in Pocket Edition No 7.
Pocket Edition No 3 is called Marble Man by Dan Fante. A really funny story with a first person account from Fante’s alter-ego Di Salvo, who is commissioned by his boss Milt to accompany his wife Irene to view an apartment available for sub-let. Di Salvo gets an unwanted history of marble and it’s uses in the bathroom. And an also unwanted shower demonstration from the well-hung occupant of the apartment.
Pocket Edition No 4 is called Jack Kerouac In San Francisco by Tom Clark. The title speaks for it’s self. Tom Clarke also wrote Jack Kerouac a biography.
Pocket Edition No 6 is called High Peak Hiakus An Interview With Gary Snyder by James Campbell. It give a small insight into Gary Snyder with a some information on the last page about his bio, works and awards. According to the Beat Scene web site this interview has only appeared in one newspaper some years back.
Pocket Edition No 7 is called The sad and Lonely Death of Richard Brautigan by Kevin Ring. A nice essay accounting the death of Brautigan, with some good anicdotes about him from the likes of Jan Kerouac (Jacks daughter) and Michael McClure. An early version of this essay first appeared in Beat Scene Magazine in 1998.
Pocket Edition No 8 is called A Fierce God And A Fierce War an Interview with Michael McClure By Rod Phillips. A great and interesting read with a nice surprise at the end, the 1965 anti war poem Poisoned Wheat.
Pocket Edition No 9 is called Jack Kerouac At 681 Lexington Avenue by Elizabeth Von Vogt. She shares some nice, fond memories of Jack Kerouac. One of my favorites.
Pocket Edition No 10 is called Arizona Highway and Other Poems by Dan Fante. More of Dan Fante’s great work in the form of poems.
Pocket Edition No 11 is called Mutate or Die-With Burroughs in kansas by David Ohle. David Ohle knew William S Burroughs for the last 10 years of his life, he kept a log of the time they spent together, this chap book contains some of the entries of them times.
Pocket Edition No 12 is called Rexroth, Bukowski and the Politics Of Literature by Ben Pleasants. To me it what it says it is, the politics of literature with some interesting comments and takes on the subject.
Pocket Edition No 13 is called Scenes form East Hill Farm, Seasons with Allen Ginsberg by Gordon Ball. This one is excerpts from Gordon Ball’s “book length manuscript, East Hill Farm, Seasons with Allen Ginsberg” A really enjoyable read, leaving me wanting to read the rest of the manuscript.
Pocket Edition No 14 is called Neal and Anne At Gough Street by Charles Plymell. This covers some of the time that Charles Plymell spent sharing a “Pad” with Neal and Anne. Plymell may not be as widely known as some of the other beat writers, but always had an iron in the fire and can stand next to any of the others when it comes to writing.
Pocket Edition No 15 is called Charles Bukowski Letters to Beat Scene by Kevin Ring. In here are some letters that Bukowski sent to Kevin Ring, giving some insight into what the man was really like. It’s always hard to know what someone is really like until you read their letters. Apart form anything else this one is a great read.
Pocket Edition No 16 is called Remembering Jack Kerouac by John Clellon Holmes. I was always of the opinion that Holmes had a interesting and funny take on Jack kerouac, well worth a read from someone who knew Kerouac well.
Pocket Edition No 17 is called Cool Kerouac by Jim Burns. This touches on the influence Jazz had on the writings of Kerouac. Where most Kerouac fans will immediatly connect both Jazz and kerouac, some wouldn’t. So this is an ideal starting point for those who want to explore the subject, and a nice read for those who do connect both. Jim Burns is the author of many books of essays and poetry, and is also the assistant editor of Beat Scene magazine.
