Dearest CASians, I have some news that I think might be of interest to other seekers of the wondrous strange in verse: the republication of David Park Barnitz's Decadent and nihilistic BOOK OF JADE, by New York's Hippocampus Press. I co-edited this volume with David E. Schultz, and it has been in the making for years. It includes many new and never before seen essays by and about Barnitz, contemporary reviews of the BOJ, as well as a brace of new scholarly essays treating JADE and some of its central themes.
Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for the Washington Post, has reviewed the book for the newest issue of SPECTRAL REALMS. Dirda says, "The new Hippocampus paperback of The Book of Jade is, however, the next best thing to the first edition. Indeed, in several ways it may be preferable, since editors David E. Schultz and Michael J. Abolafia have enhanced the original’s contents with uncollected poems and essays, as well as a short biography of Barnitz by Gavin Callaghan, and a dozen critical pieces about his work."
CAS himself called Barnitz's poetry "truly impressive" and "very original," writing, "If I am ever in a position to edit an anthology, I will certainly include at least half-a-dozen of these poems."
Get yours here!