Looking at Music and Suicide at Border's just now. Looking at the total package, book desgin, author photo, etc... I felt they were aiming for a "tragically hip," "this is not your father's FSG," vibe. At $20 + tax, I'd rather buy it off the internet, so I didn't make my purchase yet. The opening stanza of the book, quoted by Ron a few days ago, strikes a retro, Frank O'Hara before he was Frank O'Hara chord. (I'm thinking of poems like "Easter," written in the 1950s and critically maligned by some.) The publisher is aiming for a third path between mainstream and avant-garde. And I think they are hitting the right tone in so doing. This is the book the kids will steal (to quote Jordan's review of Franz Wright). {If only there were kids any longer.) I should point out that you can't buy a book by Ron Silliman in Border's, which is really a shame. There is a kind of purity in publishing with a house that won't be able to place your book in actual book stores. Even if I buy Jeff Clark's book mail-order, I'm still glad it's reached my local Chain store.

As for the actual poetry, I haven't given the book a thorough reading. I do think it's better than some are giving it credit for. Even that first poem! I think it holds its own with the Graham Foust book (which I just purchased yesterday). More about this book later, perhaps.