The Party Train: A Collection of North American Prose Poetry [Paperback]

Robert Alexander (Editor), C.W. Truesdale (Editor), Mark Vinz (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

An extensive collection of prose poems containing the work of both well- and lesser-known poets, this anthology breaks new ground in defining a hybrid literary form. An extensive historical section shows the development of the genre of prose poetry.

Robert Alexander is a poet and editor who divides his time between southern Wisconsin and and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He is the author of White Pine Sucker River: Poems 1970-1990 and Five Forks: Waterloo of the Confederacy, a book of creative non-fiction. He is the editor of the Marie Alexander Poetry Series.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Chameleon At Home by Duane Ackerson
Fire by Duane Ackerson
The Minus Touch by Duane Ackerson
Morning Shift In Banaras by Stephen Ajay
At The Party by Robert Alexander
Finding Token Creek by Robert Alexander
A Joe Pass Guitar Solo by Robert Alexander
Nobody Knows Where O'connor Went: Chicago: City On The Make by Nelson Algren
The Clematis Seminar by Bert Almon
Lombard Street by Bert Almon
Perseid Shower by Bert Almon
The Party Train by Jack Anderson
Return To Work by Jack Anderson
The Somnambulists' Hotel by Jack Anderson
The Lame One by Sherwood Anderson
Fell In Love, Got Maried by Daniel Bachhuber
Raspberry Pickingj by Daniel Bachhuber
Shoe Salesman by Daniel Bachhuber
The Toymaker Gloomy But Then Again Sometimes Happy by Michael Benedikt
The Voyage Of Self-discovery by Michael Benedikt
Postage Due by John M. Bennett
Grey, Or Turtle, Song by Carol Peppis Berge
Timepiece (michigan), Or A Moebius Trip by Carol Peppis Berge
Noumenon by Cassia Berman
Icebergs by Roger Blakely
Perfectionist by Roger Blakely
The Two-natured Monster by Douglas Blazek
The Dead Seal Near Mcclure's Beach by Robert Bly
The Exhausted Bug by Robert Bly
Snow Falling On Snow by Robert Bly
Warning To The Reader by Robert Bly
Cities Of Gold by Michael Bowden
Scraps by Michael Bowden
Song by Michael Bowden
January 24, New York by Kay Boyle
Monastery by Kay Boyle
Whore Street by Kay Boyle
Apple Boxes by Jane Brox
Peaches by Jane Brox
In Passing by Anita Olachea Bucci
Jack by Anita Olachea Bucci
The Confessions Of A Yellster: Chacun A Son Gout by Frank Gelett Burgess
The Darkening Hills by Michael Carey
The Dead Center by Michael Carey
How Grandma And Grandpa Met by Michael Carey
Translations by Michael Carey
In The Museum Of Natural History by Siv Cedering
The Juggler by Siv Cedering
An Abridged Bestiary by Maxine Chernoff
High Rise by Maxine Chernoff
Sailing by Maxine Chernoff
A Vegetable Emergency by Maxine Chernoff
Asylum by Rick Christman
Whiteout, Boondocks, Iowa by Rick Christman
The Motorcycle Social Club by Kirby Congdon
Club Sandwiches: Faculty Club Saturday Afternoon by Olga Costopoulos
Club Sandwiches: Faculty Club Saturday Evening by Olga Costopoulos
Home Care by Lorna Crozier
Quitting Smoking by Lorna Crozier
The Elephant by Philip Dacey
The Operation by Philip Dacey
Birthday Party by Karen Dale
Invisible by Karen Dale
Commuting by Julie Dearborn
The Saturday Plumber by Julie Dearborn
Signs by Julie Dearborn
Wisteria Light by Diane Di Prima
Blue Dogs by Joseph Duemer
A Theory Of Language by Joseph Duemer
You Might Say: This Is The Story Of My Life by Stephen Dunning
Belly Button by Stuart John Dybek
Confession by Stuart John Dybek
Hometown by Stuart John Dybek
The Breakfast That Came To Dinner by Russell Edson
The Explosion At The Club by Russell Edson
The Family Monkey by Russell Edson
Mr. & Mrs. Duck Dinner by Russell Edson
The Secret Graveyard Of Elephants by Russell Edson
Under Great Light Flooded Clouds by Russell Edson
Boyfriend by Heid E. Erdrich
Baseball by Dave Etter
Grain Elevator by Dave Etter
The Priest by William Faulkner
The Oyster by Roland Flint
Paint by Roland Flint
Sabbatical by Roland Flint
Dallas by Jennifer Footman
Delirium Tremens: Train From Glasgow To Edinburgh by Jennifer Footman
Ancapagari by Carolyn Forche
The Colonel by Carolyn Forche
Five Kids Slept In The Car On The Long Highway To L.a. Their Mother, by Sesshu Foster
Sometimes I'm Dragged. Sometimes I'm Very Dragged. The Sun Hits Me by Sesshu Foster
A Bird Of Some Kind by Richard Frost
Burro by Richard Frost
The Roof by Richard Frost
Trains Carrying Sleepers by Maureen Gibbon
Un Bruit Qui Court by Maureen Gibbon
On Belmont by William Reginald Gibbons
Setting The Walls Of A Cellar by Allen Ginsberg
A Supermarket In California by Allen Ginsberg
If Not All These by Diane Glancy
War Horse Ii by Diane Glancy
In The Locker Room by Paula Goldman
True Life Stories by Paula Goldman
The Recipe by Miriam Goodman
Shopping Trip by Miriam Goodman
Two Photographs By Robert Frank: 1. Office Workers, Fast Food by Miriam Goodman
Two Photographs By Robert Frank: 2. Manhattan by Miriam Goodman
Number One Man On The Sit-down Power Mowers At Lakewood Cemetery by Keith Gunderson
Cutover Country by S. C. Hahn
The Desk by S. C. Hahn
Flies by Donald Hall
Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera by Katherine Harer
Frida Kahlo & Nick Muray by Katherine Harer
Tunnels by Katherine Harer
Airborne by Marie Harris
Beginning And End by Marie Harris
Louis Antoine De Bougainville, Who Circumnavigated The Globe (1766- by Marie Harris
Passing Time by Marie Harris
Tent Circus by Marie Harris
Return To Yesenin by James Harrison
Her Bedroom Window by Penny Harter
The Old Man Who Loved Bicycles by Penny Harter
Liquid Dominoes by Peter Harvey
Salome by Peter Harvey
Autumnal Characteristics by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Snow Crazy Copybook, Sels. by James Hazard
White by Jane Heap
Spring Phantoms by Patricio Lafcadio Tessima Carlos Hearn
L,envoi: In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
Crawling Out The Window by Tom Hennen
Sheep In The Winter Night by Tom Hennen
Walking Through A Narrow Strip Of Woods by Tom Hennen
My Body by Michael Hettich
True Story by Michael Hettich
The Man Who Kept Cigars In His Cap by Jim Heynen
Jean Harlow by Gordon Hickey
Speaking Tours by Gordon Hickey
The Message Of Onan by Michael (20th Century-) Hogan
A Nursing Mother On The Dorchester-harvard Train by Michael (20th Century-) Hogan
Brahms' Capriccio In C Major, Opus 76, No. 8 by Bill Holm
Girl Eating Rice by Bill Holm
John Clare's Last Letter by Bill Holm
Abrasion by Brooke Horvath
The Woman In The Peter Pan Collar by Brooke Horvath
Cockroaches by David Ignatow
Tread The Dark: 12. An Account In The Present Tense by David Ignatow
Tread The Dark: 16 by David Ignatow
Tread The Dark: 51 by David Ignatow
With Questions Forever by David Ignatow
Basketball by Louis Jenkins
Frost Flowers by Louis Jenkins
Library by Louis Jenkins
Aunt Hannah Jackson by Fenton Johnson
The Barber by Fenton Johnson
The Drunkard by Fenton Johnson
The Gambler by Fenton Johnson
Description Of The Land by Jim Johnson
Square by Jim Johnson
Bedtime Story by Peter Johnson
Night Crawler by Peter Johnson
The Bookstore by Sybil Kollar
Snapshot by Sybil Kollar
Come Back, Elvis, Come Back To Holyoke by Mary A. Koncel
The Second Song Of Insomnia by Mary A. Koncel
The Year Of The Man by Mary A. Koncel
Sea Turtle by Ellen Kort
Dining Out by John Krumberger
The Quaker Meeting by John Krumberger
Body by Marilyn Krysl
Incarnatej by Marilyn Krysl
The Desk by Greg Kuzma
Why I Write by Greg Kuzma
Bread by Warren Lang
Shoes by Warren Lang
I Am Looking For Words by Michelle Leigh
So Yesterday Was Bean Day by Michelle Leigh
Tea by Michelle Leigh
Reality And Its Duration by Roseann Lloyd
Jukebox In The Coalfields by Walter Lowenfels
The Gas Station by Thomas Lux
My Grandmother's Funeral by Thomas Lux
The Swimmer by Thomas Lux
The Girl Who Became My Grandmother by Morton Jay Marcus
Lost Things by Morton Jay Marcus
Still Lives With Whiskey Bottle: 1. A Good Night's Sleep by Peter Markus
Still Lives With Whiskey Bottle: 2. Broken Pieces by Peter Markus
Still Lives With Whiskey Bottle: 3. Whiskey Love by Peter Markus
Still Lives With Whiskey Bottle: 4. Lifeline by Peter Markus
Getting Ready by Debra Marquart
My Father Tells This Story About His Brother Frank And The Wick by Debra Marquart
Small Town Cafe by Debra Marquart
Village by Robert Mcalmon
Instrument Factory, Brazil by Kathleen Mcgookey
Shyness by Kathleen Mcgookey
The Beautiful And Invisible Tree That Rises Through The Universe by Jay Meek
Medici Fountain by Jay Meek
Travel Notes by Jay Meek
A Garden by William Stanley Merwin
The Permanent Collection by William Stanley Merwin
My Name by John Minczeski
Tango by John Minczeski
Ironing by Judith Minty
Billy The Kid Offers A Kindness To An Old Man At Glorieta by Navarre Scott Momaday
The Man In Black by Navarre Scott Momaday
If She Can't Hear You by Beverly Acuff Momoi
Intimate Language by Beverly Acuff Momoi
Elves by George Frederick Morgan
Pterodactyls by George Frederick Morgan
A Language With One Word: 1. During The Last Months by Kristy Nielsen
A Language With One Word: 2. Before He Dies by Kristy Nielsen
A Language With One Word: 7. Sleeping by Kristy Nielsen
The Beech Tree by Nina Nyhart
The Catch by Nina Nyhart
Norden by Monica Ochtrup
The Truth by Monica Ochtrup
Family Portrait by Kenneth Patchen
There Are Two by Kenneth Patchen
When We Were Here Together by Kenneth Patchen
Darwin's Mimosa by Roger Carl Pfingston
Grady Mourns by Roger Carl Pfingston
The Naturalized Citizen, Sels. by Carol J. Pierman
Thrift Shop Ladies by Jennifer M. Pierson
What Makes Me Invisible by Jennifer M. Pierson
The Owl Turns His Head All The Way Around by Holly Prado
Visit by Holly Prado
The Lectern by David Ray
Maturity by David Ray
In The Park by Dave Reddall
Entropy by John Calvin Rezmerski
Ordering by John Calvin Rezmerski
The Facts Of Life by George (1943-) Roberts
Nightmare by George (1943-) Roberts
Opening Up by George (1943-) Roberts
Justice by W. R. Rodriguez
The Malthusian Theory by W. R. Rodriguez
Red Sweatshirt by Dorien Ross
Broom by Vern Rutsala
Dust Mop by Vern Rutsala
Getting Lost by Vern Rutsala
Ironing Board by Vern Rutsala
Lying by Vern Rutsala
Sleeping by Vern Rutsala
Hopper's 'nighthawks' (1942) by Ira Sadoff
The Romance Of The Racer by Ira Sadoff
Three Dreams Of An Ambitious Man by Ira Sadoff
Episode In Stasis by Nicholas Samaras
Eminent Domain by Roy Martin Scheele
A Visitation by Roy Martin Scheele
Appetite by Alison Seevak
Concert By The Sea by Jeanne Shannon
Spelling by Jeanne Shannon
The Bourgeois Poet Closes The Door Of His Study And Lights His Pipe by Karl Shapiro
The Living Rooms Of My Neighbors by Karl Shapiro
The World Doesn't End, Sels. by Charles Simic
Portrait Of My German Grandparents, 1952 by Thomas R. Smith
Sand by Thomas R. Smith
Windy Day At Kabekona by Thomas R. Smith
Parents by Terry Spohn
Wednesday At The Beach by Terry Spohn
Blue Socks by Deborah Stein
One Thousand Saturdays by Deborah Stein
Tender Buttons: A Piano by Gertrude Stein
Tender Buttons: Colored Hats by Gertrude Stein
Tender Buttons: In Between by Gertrude Stein
Bunch Grass, Sels. by Robert Sund
A.k.a. Mata Hari by Barbara Szerlip
The Nomad's Story by Barbara Szerlip
Terra Incognita by Barbara Szerlip
Home Movies by Ross Talarico
February, 1951 by Thom Tammaro
Walking To My Office On Easter Sunday Morning by Thom Tammaro
Journal, Sels. by Henry David Thoreau
Walden, Sels. by Henry David Thoreau
Walking, Sels. by Henry David Thoreau
Karintha by Jean Toomer
The Rewiew by Tony Towle
Muses by Alison Townsend
My Ex-husband Asks Me Who Reads My Rough Drafts by Alison Townsend
El Gordo by C. W. Truesdale
Miguel And General Alexander Haig by C. W. Truesdale
Scheherazade by C. W. Truesdale
Late Night Calls by Mark Vinz
Still Life: The Pleasures Of Home by Mark Vinz
Wind Chill by Mark Vinz
Self-service Wascherei by Tom Whalen
Specimen Days: A July Afternoon By The Pond by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days: Abraham Lincoln by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days: Death Of A Wisconsin Officer by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days: Loafing In The Woods by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days: Patent-office Hospital by Walt Whitman
Specimen Days: The Real War Will Never Get In The Books by Walt Whitman
The Delicacies by William Carlos Williams
Exultation by William Carlos Williams
For Bill Bird, Sels. by William Carlos Williams
A Matisse by William Carlos Williams
Order by Patricia Wilson
Years by Patricia Wilson
Mortality Anecdotes by Linda Wing
The News by Linda Wing
Maggie May by Warren Woessner
The Fruits Of The Season by James Wright
The Fruits Of The Season by James Wright
To Carolee Coombs-stacy, Who Set My Verses To Music by James Wright
Two Moments In Venice: 1. Under The Canals by James Wright
Two Moments In Venice: 2. City Of Evenings by James Wright
The Wheeling Gospel Tabernacle by James Wright
The Burning House Turned Our Night Clothes Yellow. Standing At The by Gary Young
Jimmy Rattcliffe Played Jesus Christ In A Farce At The Little by Gary Young
One Night, When I Certain She Was Leaving Me, I Invented A Man I by Gary Young
A Pair Of Panty Hose by Lila L. Zeiger
Things We Need To Know About The Picnic by Lila L. Zeiger
The Guest by Alan Ziegler
Woolworth's Parakeets by Alan Ziegler
The Fall by Harriet Zinnes
I Can Help You Speak Your Name by Harriet Zinnes
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

About the Author

Robert Alexander is a poet and editor who divides his time between southern Wisconsin and and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He is the author of White Pine Sucker Creek: Poems 1970-1990 and Five Forks: Waterloo of the Confederacy, a book of creative non-fiction. He is the editor of the Marie Alexander Poetry Series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: White Pine Press; First Edition edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898231655
• ISBN-13: 978-0898231656
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Alexander grew up in Massachusetts. He attended the University of Wisconsin, and for several years taught in the Madison public schools. After receiving his Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he worked for many years as a freelance editor. From 1993-2001, he was a consulting editor at New Rivers Press, serving from 1999-2001 as creative director. He currently edits the Marie Alexander Poetry Series at White Pine Press. He has published two books of poetry, WHITE PINE SUCKER RIVER: POEMS 1970-1990, and WHAT THE RAVEN SAID, as well as a book of creative nonfiction about the American Civil War, FIVE FORKS: WATERLOO OF THE CONFEDERACY. He has co-edited three anthologies of poetry and fiction: THE PARTY TRAIN: A COLLECTION OF NORTH AMERICAN PROSE POETRY, THE HOUSE OF YOUR DREAM: AN INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION OF PROSE POETRY, and THE TALKING OF HANDS: UNPUBLISHED WRITING BY NEW RIVERS PRESS AUTHORS. He divides his time between southern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For All You Writers, September 27, 2005

By 

*DaTGirl* - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Party Train: A Collection of North American Prose Poetry (Paperback)

I have enjoyed this book very much. It is great for those who write and want to explore a unique way of expressing their creative thoughts. Prose poetry is not definite, it is ever- changing and this book demonstrates that wonderfully. If you write, you gotta have this book!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars party train, a blast, August 9, 2008

By 

Ana Fernandez "miranda texidor" (ecuador/us) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Party Train: A Collection of North American Prose Poetry (Paperback)

Party train is a delightful anthology of prose poetry, superbly put together. I find Vern Rutsala's object poems especially fascinating and the poem which gives name to the anthology even better! Jack Anderson's poem the Party train is a delicious and delirious account of a party that happens always on a subway train, you never know when its coming but, alas, it will come to you someday!
The Party train, an anthology of prose poetry, has two parts, one is a collection of prose poems by well known poets such as William Carlos Williams, Gertrude Stein and Walt Whitman, among others, who have incurred into this form of poetry. The other is a collection of prose poems by lesser known but never the less great poets writing in a form that has acquired many followers. The party train is full of surprises, blast off!