The shopping mall effect combined with little sleep, wildly varying totals of cash in my pocket due to selling people my own book, and overtaxed toxin scrubbing organs led to some pretty chaotic decision making at AWP. I got books, and I am happy to have all of them. But I also sure did forget to get some I was looking forward to and then was out of cash when I ran into others.

Tables I Didn’t Find

Tarpaulin Sky – Johannes Goransson’s Entrance to a colonial pageant in which we all begin to intricate. Second straight year I BLEW IT.

Strange Machine – I actually saw this table in the corner of my eye on my way out. But I had already made my decision to go to the airport and bad things in my stomach told me nothing should change my mind. DAMN.

Just A Few of the Books I Found After My Money Was Gone

Brandon Shimoda’s O Bon (see previous post)

Dan Magers’ Party Knife (Birds LLC).

Kim Hyesoon’s All The Garbage of the World, Unite! (Action Books). No good excuse for this one really. It was right there next to the Black Ocean Table. I looked at it several times and said in my brain I should buy this. I did not buy it. I think it is due to a curse. I will get it.

I’ll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing By Women.  I’m down with Les Figues consistent throwback book design, and I love the can’t miss premise of this anthology. Don’t like conceptual writing? Fine. Don’t like women? PIG. My collaborator and AWP bosom buddy Chad is a genius at zeroing in on this kind of stuff.  He should be my book buying agent. Actually, wait, shit, this is the best idea I am going to forget to put into action: Giving 3 really smart, intense lovers of books 40 dollars each to go buy me whatever books they think I should read. Or just writing down their 3 suggestions.

But what am I saying? The books I bought are going to kick ass, I just know it.

Janaka Stucky’s The World Will Deny It For You. (signed)

Jenny Zhang’s Dear Jenny, We Are All Find (Octopus Books). She gave a terrific, profane performance at the Black Ocean / Octopus etc reading. Hard to resist this after that.

Feng Chen’s Butcher’s Tree (Black Ocean)

Julie Cohen & Mathias Svalina’s Route (Immaculate Disciples). Like everything Immaculate Disciples does, this is a beautiful little chapbook in contents and construction. I liked it so much I took 2 copies. By accident. Sorry, Steven. I am getting them money to you.

Utopia Minus by Susan Briante (Ahsatha Press). I want to write a book called Utopia Plus. Accordingly, I should read this.

Late in the Antenna Fields and Sherwood Forest by Alan Gilbert & Camille Roy. More than any other press, it seems like Future Poem is engaged in publishing work that seeks to understand the structures and implications of post-modern (city?) space. Which means I have a tumultuous and fruitful relationship with their titles.

Abu Ghraib Arias by Philip Metres. Sure unmistakably political poetry runs the risk of sucking harder than most other kinds of poetry but not enough small presses run that risk I think. Hooray Tony Mancus and Sommer B for publishing this chapbook whose cover paper is made from old military uniforms. Looking forward to diving into it.

Triggermoon Triggermoon by Julia Cohen (Black Lawrence Press). Suddenly I have two Julia Cohen books. Eat that John Donne.

Lily Ladewig’s The Silhouettes (SpringGun Press). Lily gave a tremendous reading at the tremendous everyone reads at once thing.

West Wind Review 2010-2012. So many names I love here. Mel Nichols, S Gannon, Megan Ronan, etc etc. K. Silem is doing some mad science.

UPDATED: I JUST FOUND THESE BOOKS SWIMMING AROUND MY STUFF

What a Tremendous Time We’re Having! by Nick Sturm (iO Books) – This is now sold out. My edition is further limited by the silhouette of grease left on it by a polish sausage.

The Necropastoral by Joyelle McSweeney (Spork) – Essay/poetry. Is this a new idea? Is it an old idea in crazy language? Is there a difference? Gonna figure it out.

Map  #1 (William Paterson Literary Journal) – Issue one includes Matthew Zapruder, Kate Greenstreet, Carrie Olivia Adams, Reb Livingston, Mathias Svalina, Jesus, Santa Claus, a Sentient Thumbtack, and The People’s Republic of China. There is no function web page for this yet it is so new, so go ahead and enjoy Christopher Salerno’s very handsome faculty picture.

The Blue Guide To Indiana by Michael Martone (FC2) – I’ve got a thing for Indiana. Hopefully I’ll have a thing for an Indiana shrouded in Martone mystification.