Leaning Against Time [Paperback]

Neeli Cherkovski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2004

Poetry. Winner of the 2005 Pen Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Award for Poetry. From Los Angeles to San Francisco, from 1953 to now--Neeli Cherkovski uses bar scenes, cafe insights, family confessions, heartbreak and redemption, meditations on morality and the acceptance of self to transform memory, time and myth into an intimate poetic-memoir. He creates a window to the past and explores how time has shaped who he has become. It is here--the power of Cherkovski's talent surfaces. It is here he finds himself, like an old friend in a warm embrace, LEANING AGAINST TIME.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Leaning Against Time has received the "2005 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award" for poetry.

About the Author

Neeli Cherkovski is a longtime contributor to the West Coast literary scene. Emerging from the Los Angeles underground of the Sixties, Cherkovski is an applauded poet, critic and literary biographer. He has written ten books of poetry, including FROM THE CANYON OUTWARD, the award-winning LEANING AGAINST TIME, ELEGY FOR BOB KAUFMAN, and Animal; two acclaimed biographies, Bukowski: A Life and Ferlinghetti: A Biography; his book Whitman's Wild Children (a collection of critical memoirs) has become an underground classic. In the late 1960s Cherkovski co-edited the poetry anthology Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns with Charles Bukowski. Since 1975, Neeli has lived and worked in San Francisco. For ten years he was Writer-in-Residence at New College of California, where he taught literature and philosophy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 69 pages
• Publisher: R.L. Crow Publications (November 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972295836
• ISBN-13: 978-0972295833
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,482,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Life's Beautiful Terror", January 4, 2005

By 

Todd Cirillo (Grass Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leaning Against Time (Paperback)

This wonderful new collection of poems from Neeli Cherkovski feels and reads as if the poet has returned to his places and people of inspiration. Old haunts and old loves. The beauty of the book runs from gritty Los Angeles beer runs to crowded North Beach bars to white-washed Grecian balconies. There is an energy and excitment in the poems that differs from his previous works and this benefits the casual and intellectual reader alike.

Neeli has the courage to write for us, that which is gone, which is happening, and what is to come. It is at times raw, hopeful, sinful, sad, and the absolute truth. Ultimately, in this book, Neeli writes what we as lovers are afraid to speak...that is "love & the wreck it can cause." There is nothing more to say except thanks for having the guts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Intimacy, December 16, 2004

By 

Rose Van Allen (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leaning Against Time (Paperback)

Wow! Neeli Cherkovski has stepped outside of the box, moved away from the safety of the academic confines of his earlier work. There is no comparing "Leaning Against Time" to what he has done in the past; these poems (even the few previously published pieces) become new/are new, fresh and thrilling; he tells the secrets. It's as if Cherkovski has shed an old skin to expose a whole new intimacy, clarity - immediacy to his work. Yes, he is going to challenge the guardians of the gate. It is about time someone does! He has shed the fluff and come out bare-bones-strong, unencumbered by what they want him to be, showing the world who he is: a powerful, dynamic, amazingly gifted poet. If you can't buy this book, steal it! It's worth the risk!

5.0 out of 5 stars Cherkovski Claims His Territory, November 29, 2004

By 

S. Ihad (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leaning Against Time (Paperback)

This book is by far the best book of poems by Cherkovski. Those who are familiar with his poetry know that Cherkovski is a humanist. His humanism comes through beautifully through these pages. Poem after poem you find yourself laughing and crying with him over the smallest details of every day life - the stuff that most of us do not even see. He remains hopeful throughout. We need this poet - now more than ever.