it was today (Paperback)

~ (Author) "full of smoke..." (more)
Key Phrases: Len Darien

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Codrescu, certainly not unknown as a poet, and widely recognizable as a cranky cultural commisar on public radio, has written a book that is valuable in the way that, say, Pete Townshend's solo records were, as crafty expressions of a guy whose more radical (druggy, horny, vagrant, political) days are behind him, but whose pop and zing has been mellowed not with age so much as the bodily memory (tobaccoey fingers, shattered tear ducts) of having seen more than most. His "to a young poet" is as myopic as it is aptly ventriloquistic: "& then if you publish a big/ book of poems I'll read/ one or two & give you my/ begrudging approval in the name/ of the new flock even though/ we are lost & nobody cares/ if we live or we die." His light formal touch includes almost exclusive use of lower-case letters and very little punctuation, providing a limpidity that allows the poet to dart from style to style and length to length. Some of these poems seem slight, but none lack the contrapuntal effects and occluded phrases of dialectical thinking; every poem has a beginning statement, a middle where it is countered and worked through, and an end that turns the tables on it all in a winning, often wittily poignant way: "now we are here what should we / do with our accents // do like me I say / keep talking."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Reading it was today, today, you will feel much better about your tomorrows. It is the work of a master of Musketeer Bebop Poetics, the wild big-hearted wit of American poetry Andrei Codrescu. it was today ranges from short sharp hits to longer rambles, including the wonderful sequence ‘Lu Li & Weng Li,’ a miniature novel in verse, and many trips back to past todays (‘eliade: a poem’). Andrei’s Poet’s Hat with its Grand Panache leads the way through this madding vale of tears and laughter: as long as we don’t lose sight of it, we’ll make it through.”—Anselm Hollo -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566891469
• ISBN-13: 978-1566891462
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,813,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% in the language of poetry, October 19, 2003

By	carmen firan (New Yor, NY) - See all my reviews

Andrei Codrescu is a producer of life. Never a witness. With his sharp observation, his strong word, and his original view, he can transforme the world in pure poetry. Universal spirit, crossing borders and cultures, Codrescu is the most American poet we have today.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Was Today by Codrescu, October 2, 2003

By	Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: it was today (Hardcover)

This work enunciates a number of everyday themes of young
poets, family life, the streets, the general public, biblical themes and Lu Li. It is light-hearted with sporatic use of
colloquial English in many spots. The presentation utilizes
a series of sentences-each beginning with a small letter
as opposed to the traditional sentence structure.
Here is a sample.

" Li Chen's silk worms work day and night
he has thousands of trees in many valleys
travellers sometimes stumble
these are woven into his cocoons. "

Buy this book if your intention is to survey the works of
young poets. The work is entertaining but it does not have the
stature of any of Edgar Allen Poe's writings-at least not yet.