The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 [Paperback]

Michael Madsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2005

This 10 year Anniversary Special Edition of Michael Madsen's poetry is six books in one: The Complete Works includes previously unavailable books: "Beer, Blood & Ashes," "Eat the Worm," and "Burning in Paradise"--plus, now out of print "A Blessing of the Hounds" and "46 Down: A Book of Dreams & Other Ramblings," in addition to new selections from "When Pets Kill," with over 50 photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Anachronistic Beat? Kerouac blown back from the past? Michael Madsen s style has often been compared to Beat Poetry. Hip. Existential. Transient. But where does this notion derive from? Actor and friend Dennis Hopper, once summed it up that he liked him better than Kerouac. That Madsen was raunchier, more poignant. In fact, when Hopper asked Madsen point blank in an interview who influenced him: Rimbaud s A Season in Hell or Kerouac s On the Road? Madsen replied: For sure it was Kerouac. He went on to say: There s a page in On the Road about waking up in a lonely railroad yard that stuck in my mind and led me to believe that I wasn t the only guy who understood the complexity of being lonely and was concerned about the future of the male animal. Loneliness, alienation and the absurdity/humor of quotidian lives, at times, is exactly what the reader will find when traveling back 10 years on the road with Madsen. Through his poems and stories you will see the world through his eyes, the way he saw it at that place in time. Some offbeat observations and non sequiturs he ll make you laugh and he ll make you cry, as David Carradine said, and things will never look the same to you again. Madsen s style and rhythm are tough, trenchant and pull no punches with the reader. That should come as no surprise; he writes much like he acts. However, to get the best insight, assessment, and understanding of Madsen s work, I would recommend the reader peruse or revisit the Forewords by: Hopper, Tarantino and Carradine or best of all, Madsen s own reflection in the Afterward (p. 425). In The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005, the reader will find six books in one volume of work books that have either been previously out-of-print and hard-to-find or just unavailable. This book is the only authorized, current and comprehensive compilation of all of Michael s work. Although the poetry has been reconstructed and/or reconstituted on the page, the poems are word perfect, to-the-letter, just as Madsen wrote them. Also included is an array of photos from his private collection; including candid home photos and those from the movies you love; many being rare and never before seen especially included for this special anniversary edition. It might surprise some fans or readers that Madsen has been writing poetry for ten years. As the story goes, he started out writing on match books, napkins and hotel stationery, in between the takes... of his trade. In fact, back in 1998, his book Burning In Paradise, won the Independent Firecracker Poetry Award. He has evolved, as the reader will see, into a bonafide American poet whose time has come at last. Madsen is a true rebel poet. You can understand his disdain for authority in early youth in his poem Tears, where his 6th grade teacher pointed him out to the class and said something is wrong here and his early rebellion against authority is evinced in such poems as: Jacks and Christmas where we follow Madsen through a series of menial, dead-end jobs where his employer lacked human dignity and how Madsen responded to that Other poems also illustrate his zen-like contemplation and/or detachment that he experiences with inanimate objects, whether it s a single black cowboy boot in Movie or Late June where a barren roadside reminds Michael of the horror of Marilyn Monroe s dead body. This 10-Year Anniversary Edition chronicles Michael s complete poetic works, his acting and his life. This is his personal journey and viewpoint and therefore critics are persona non grata. A critic, as Kenneth Tynan once said, is a man who knows the way but cannot drive the car. Madsen has driven the car at 100 mph. --Michael P. Naughton, Editor, 13 Hands Publications

From the Publisher

This is the only authorized, comprehensive compilation of Michael Madsen's poetry available anywhere. A "must have" for any Madsen fan!

He's a throw-back to the true spirit of the Beats...An Anachronistic Beat.

Madsen is a grand storyteller as you follow him through his wild times at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood to the rain-soaked streets of Luxembourg to the historic western film locations in Durango, Mexico where John Wayne's ranch used to be, to a near-death experience in Bucharest.

However, this book is not all about the "road to excess." His family, his friends, his pets, and those personal, evanescent moments as he has observed and recorded them, are all captured in this 10 Year Anniversary Edition. He also possesses a shrewd sense of humor.

A veritable feast for the eyes, "The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen," offers many rare photographs-- there is the original flyer from the Steppenwolf Theatre where Madsen began his acting career included in this book, along with over 50 other personal photos on and off the set.

Rexroth, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Bukowski would all agree that "those poets of immensity" have got nothing on Michael Madsen.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: 13 Hands Publications; 10th anniversary edition (July 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976726009
• ISBN-13: 978-0976726005
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "mystique" to real man...., April 21, 2006

By 

OctoberMoonChild (Milton, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 (Paperback)

I have always loved Michael Madsen as an actor. He's one of my favorites and I, admitedly, have a bit of a crush on him. So being a "recorder of life" myself, when I saw this book, had to have it. I've always loved the rough, tough guys he plays, but reading this, you learn that's not just who he is...Madsen jumps of the pages and goes from "mystique" to man...larger than life actor to a real life, down to earth family man who loves his wife and children more than life, and worries about his boys and the world they're growing up in...just like everyone else. You actually get to know him through his writing. He has pieces for everyone, and pieces that introduce you to a world you've never been a part of. From the beginning with "Tears" to the end with "When Pets Kill" you travel through life with him and feel what he's felt and worry about what he worries about. It's an amazing ride from front cover to back cover and I HIGHLY recommend this to any fan of Madsen and/or poetry.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can I just say WOW, August 25, 2007

By 

Fandolfini (Frankfort, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 (Paperback)

I have always been a fan of Michael Madsen in the movies, so I thought why not when I saw this book. I haven't read to far in yet, I just got it the other day. It takes a poetry to a whole new level. Its really eye opening. I know most people think of celebs as entertainment and that's about it. This book will show you that celebs are people just like everyone else. Michael talks about everything in this book, from times with prositutes, to movies, to sad times to missing his wife, and everything in between.

It's a really great book

I would reccomend it even it you aren't a Madsen fan but then again how can you not be a Madsen fan.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth reading, October 10, 2010

By 

Nathalie G - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 (Paperback)

I never read poetry and I am not a fan of Michael Madsen as an actor per se. But I'm so glad I've discovered his writing. Michael Madsen doesn't describe himself as a writer, more a "recorder of life". Stuck in another city while making a movie and away from his family, he writes a lot about trivial daily stuff and sometimes more philosophical thoughts. For me, he's the best though at writing about boredom. His little stories can make you laugh or move you, and they are so striking and vivid that they make you feel that you are, as well, stuck in a hotel somewhere with bright neon lights outside, and you've just run out of whiskey. I'm not giving 5 stars because some of his stories are plain and ordinary, just like real life. But most of them will stay with you for a long time.