Belligerence - Softcover

Andrei Codrescu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0918273854 ISBN 13: 9780918273857

Publisher: Coffee House Press, 1991

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In this extraordinarily inaccessible volume, Codrescu has parlayed an intensely private vision into poetry that stubbornly refuses to enthrall or enlighten. The poet's attention often shifts between unrelated ideas, ensuring the reader's constant disorientation. The opening line of the title poem is an example: spellings are ok/pk "In the irruptive mode / I wear no hat / & hate what I see / in the rearview mirror / except silver balls." These poems comment on the ills of our society, from the banality of the bourgeoisie to the fascistic tendencies of a patriarchal political system. The Romanian poet is concerned with the struggle between morality and power: "We must defend / the integrity/ of our organism / by means of morality. / But in Civilization / we confuse / the aims of Power / with the aims of our integrity." One of his most pressing gripes is the relegation of literature to the backseat of contemporary culture: "The power now controlling / the traffic between / reality and symbols / is journalism. / When poetry was in charge we / saw more reality." Codrescu ( Comrade Past & Mister Pres ent ) believes that poetry provides a bridge between words and sense. If only that were the case here.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Born in Romania and educated in Rome, Codrescu has become an important voice on the American literary scene. He is editor of The Exquisite Corpse , a literary monthly; serves as a regular contributor to "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio; and has published books of essays like The Disappearance of the Outside (Addison-Wesley, 1990). Codrescu came to America in 1966, and the zaniness and anti-authoritarianism of that era, as well as his East European love of the surreal, became the stylistic trademarks of his own poetry, as dramatically illustrated by his latest book. Here Codrescu adopts the role of social critic, relentlessly exposing the shabbiness of middle-class "Wannabees" living under "the atomic umbrella" during the"days of bits and bytes." In a brilliant long poem, "Mnemogasoline," Codrescu describes a nightmarish bus trip that becomes a microcosm of society. Provocative, witty, and unforgettable, this book is highly recommended for all major poetry collections.
- Daniel L. Guillory, Millikin Univ., Decatur, Ill.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Coffee House Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0918273854
• ISBN 13: 9780918273857
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 79