Description
Book SynopsisPedro Pietri: Selected Poetry is a compelling and humorous collection of poems by the poet laureate of the Nuyorican Poets.
Trade Review"In this charming and powerful posthumous volume, Pietri, a co-founder of New York City's legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe, shows off the sharp, surreal sense of humor he employs in writing on the social and political issues affecting New York City's Puerto Rican community ... abundant joy and imagination that may inspire the reader to pick up a pen: 'the magic of / writing poetry,' Pietri declares, 'is not knowing / how to do it / right or wrong!'"--Publishers Weekly "Like 'Howl,' [Pietri's poetry] became a cornerstone of new consciousness for a group of outsiders ready to declare their independence from the mainstream--in this case, the group Pietri himself helped name as Nuyoricans ... much of his best work remained unpublished or buried in small-press magazines. Editors Juan Flores and Pedro Lopez Adorno have thankfully gathered a substantial amount of Pietri's uncollected work in this book"--Gerald Nicosia, San Francisco Chronicle "'They worked / They worked / They worked / and they died / They died broke / They died owing / They died never knowing / what the front entrance / of the first national city bank looks like.' Pedro Pietri wrote 'Puerto Rican Obituary' in 1969, after having served in Vietnam. There's no mention of that war in the poem, but there's a strong sense of futility, death, and disaffection that must have been informed by witnessing the violence of war and then coming home to unfulfilled dreams. "Obituary" is the first poem in City Lights' new collection of the late poet's work, much of which is otherwise only available in out-of-print or photocopied editions. I hadn't heard of Pietri before reading this collection, which is a shame because he strikes me as the Ginsberg of the Vietnam era--combining politics, race, and the personal in performative poetry. His lines are propulsive and witty, especially in the playful 'Telephone Booth' series, which reads like a flirtatious midnight conversation: 'because I do not / want to make / future generations / lose sleep I / will do my very best / not to influence / anyone regardless / of what a nice ass / they seem to have.'"--Nicole Rudick, The Paris Review "Pedro Pietri: Selected Poetry gathers the most important poems of the author's classic books. ... The result is 240 pages of brilliant writing that delivers one of the sharpest looks into the Nuyorican experience ever offered ... [A] collection like this should be read and celebrated, because it ensures that his legacy as spoken word innovator and his status as of the most explosively talented and unique voices in 20th century poetry is recognized and exposed to new readers."-PANK
Table of Contents1. Puerto Rican Obituary Puerto Rican Obituary The Broken English Dream Beware of Signs Suicide Note from a Cockroach in a Low Income Housing Project Tata 2. Traffic Violations January Hangover March Hangover May Hangover October Hangover December Hangover Traffic Violations Intermission from Monday Intermission from Wednesday Intermission from Thursday 1 A.M. Never Again 1st Untitled Poem 5th Untitled Poem 8th Untitled Poem 10th Untitled Poem 13th Untitled Poem Conversation in a Darker Room April 15th Unitil Further Notice Manual Typewriter Revisited In Praise of a Total Stranger Traffic Misdirector Driving Without a Car No Parkingat Any Time I Hate Trees To Get Drunk You Have to Drink 3. Out of Order telephone booth numero zero telephone booth number 801 telephone booth number 905 1/2 telephone booth number 339 1/2 telephone booth number 678 telephone booth number 12345 telephone booth number 65476 telephone booth number 26421483 telephone booth number 8976 telephone booth number 48 telephone booth number 9879 telephone booth number 48 telephone booth number 9879 telephone booth number 67409 telephone booth number 1359 telephone booth number 35465 telephone booth number 83 1/2 telephone booth number 1533130 telephone booth number 143503001 telephone booth number 7783 telephone booth number 309 telephone booth number 500 telephone booth number 484 telephone booth number 579 1/2 telephone booth number 436 telephone booth number 23 telephone booth number 765290 telephone booth number 365807 telephone booth number 203 1/2 telephone booth number 276507 telephone booth number maybe 58 telephone booth number 658003 telephone booth number 766 1/2 telephone booth number 0854650 telephone booth number 568 telephone booth number 5401658 1/4 telephone booth number 659 telephone booth number 8986987 telephone booth number 654875 telephone booth number 0574 1/2 telephone booth number 92345 telephone booth number 797301 telephone booth number 158715 telephone booth number 0671 telephone booth number 75753 telephone booth number 1599 or 1959 telephone booth number ?????????? telephone booth number HIJ telephone booth number 109 minus 19 telephone booth number 000001 telephone booth number 616 telephone book number 8986586 telephone booth number 957 telephone booth number 1 4. El Party Continues Orchard Beach The Party Continues 5. Love Poems to My Surrealist Gypsy Her Simplicity is Her Mystery Puerto Rican History Blues Ode to Witch Liberty 6. Loose Poems Letter from a Vietnam Vet The Lady Thinks Yes--I swear to the statue of my liberty... After the 7th Drink After the 9th Drink After the 11th Drink Confessions of a Transistor Radio What Was the Dream About? El Spanglish National Anthem The Puerto Rican Embassy Manifesto Ode to a Grasshopper Nighttime Sunshine Mind Game Free Grass for he Working Class Lost in the Museum of Natural History
