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*Ronald Johnson. Radi os. 1981. 2005. 91 pp.
I'd read this before, but the third section blew me away this time.
As you know, this book was written by erasing the greater part of "Paradise Lost" and leaving a few clusters of luminous words on each page. I've found it's best read very fast, jumping from one such cluster to the next.
For one quarter at the University of Washington in, I think, 1976, I took a class in modern American poetry from Johnson--through some miracle he was there as a short-term visitor--and it was a stunning experience. He taught me how to read WCW. I will never forget his talk (lecture is too formal a word) on "Burning the Christmas Greens." I also remember talking about Van Morrison's "Madam George" while walking across campus after class to go get stoned. Long time ago.
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