RECOMMENDED: MEMOIR AND ESSAY BY MICHAEL GOTTLIEB

One poetry-related book I recently bought that was absolutely worth every single penny (yes, I was happy to pay full retail) is MEMOIR AND ESSAY by Michael Gottlieb. Enthralling. A page-turner. Kudos to Mr. Gottlieb and his publisher Faux Press / Other.

While it wasn't the main point of this coming-of-age tale, there was a point touched on in MEMOIR AND ESSAY that resonated with me as it's a topic that's always made me raise a wondering eyebrow -- it's how writers borrow AND THEN REFUSE TO RETURN books from other writers. In MEMOIR AND ESSAY, this incident made for amusing reading as Mr. Gottlieb suspected he was mentally inflating the value of one book just because the borrower insisted on keeping it.

This issue is also on moi mind because, recently, a writer asked for a copy of a book I released last century: REPRODUCTIONS OF THE EMPTY FLAGPOLE. When I said that I couldn't believe that writer (a good friend) didn't have a copy of such an old book, said writer explained that someone had borrowed her copy and just refused to return it! A compliment, Moi hopes, to the work....but there we go again with writers refusing to return books borrowed from other writers!

Nor is this the same as stealing books from a public library or a bookstore. They know that the book they're refusing to return is from another writer's personal library. I mean, for most writers, their personal library is one of their most treasured possessions--one would think borrowers would realize that!

Anyway, here's the rest of my updated list of recently bought poetry books or books by poets:

THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

A WORLDLY COUNTRY: NEW POEMS by John Ashbery

SEVEN NOTEBOOKS by Campbell McGrath

GILGAMESH by Stephen Mitchell

MEMOIR AND ESSAY by Michael Gottlieb

LOVELY, RASPBERRY by Aaron Belz

BOUGH BREAKS by Tamiko Beyer (you should buy it, too! Special Discounted Release Offer HERE!)

FLUX, CLOTH & FROTH, Vol. 1 (text) by John Bloomberg-Rissman

FLUX, CLOTH & FROTH, Vol. 2 (notes to poems) by John Bloomberg-Rissman

SILK EGG: COLLECTED NOVELS (2009-2009) by Eileen R. Tabios (As this blog is about Moi, I non-apologetically suggest you buy it, too! GO HERE for the ordering links through various venues)