All Prose - Softcover

Literary Nonfiction. Pressed Wafer is delighted to announce a new edition of poet and critic William Corbett's ALL PROSE, first published by Zoland Books in 2001, and out of print for some years. Subtitled SELECTED ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, ALL PROSE collects critical writings and commentary written over thirty years, the majority of pieces having first been published in such magazines as AGNI, Arion's Dolphin, Jimmy & Lucy's House of 'K,' and The World. The almost one hundred pieces are grouped under three headings: "Art & Artists" (Antonin Artaud, Pierre Bonnard, Joe Brainard, and Richard Diebenkorn, among others); "Books & Writers" (Robert Creeley, Allen Ginsberg, Fanny Howe, Ange Mlinko, Charles Olson, Michael Palmer, and many more); and "Memoir, Movies, Music" (which includes pieces on Das Boot, Hamlet, Touch of Evil, Ornette Coleman, and Thelonious Monk). Corbett is a generous man, and his enthusiasm--love is a better word--for the writing and painting that moves him is contagious. What little ire he has is reserved for deserving targets: Helen Vendler and the American Poetry Review (which Corbett accuses of publishing poets, not poetry). A brilliant memoirist, Corbett arguably saves the best for last: "Why You No Forget?" is an extraordinary account of Corbett's father's secret life, and of Corbett's own, moving meeting with his father's second wife. As W. S. Di Piero said of the first edition of ALL PROSE, "[Corbett] makes criticism a joyful act." Pressed Wafer is proud to bring this landmark volume back into print.