The Art of Arranging
A Collection of 5 Chapbooks + Outtakes
by Paul Weinman, Joseph Verrilli, and Harry Calhoun
PAPERBACK $17.99
EBOOK $7.99
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1 chapbook of 16 poems by Paul Weinman; 2 chapbooks + outtakes of 47 poems and 2 stories by Joseph Verrilli; 2 chapbooks of 58 poems by Harry Calhoun.
This anthology is the first of the archival chapbook collections in Alternating Current Press’ Violet Ray series. All of these authors have passed away, but one of the missions of ACP is to keep alive the pre-digital words of authors from the turn of the new millennium, the post-Beat and avant-garde poets of the 1970s through early 2000s who may have had their heydays before the Internet was a widespread thing. This anthology comprises 5 chapbooks + outtakes, including never-before-published poems:
Just Because I Didn’t Leave the Driving to Us I Got Jailed and Juiced Good
by Paul Weinman
Detailing an excursion Paul Weinman took as the driver of a stolen Greyhound bus in New York in the 1970s, the poems are at once shocking, funny, and real. Chocked full of wit, sarcasm, and fleeting moments of uncertainty, anger, and humor, Weinman manages to keep the situation lighthearted yet full of detail, comparing the hijacking to Melville’s grand whale, his own personal feat of greatness.
The History of Candles
by Joseph Verrilli
Poems of Joseph Verrilli’s wife’s life and death, his memories of her, and coping with her loss. The book touches on the spirituality of dealing with a loved one’s death, the possibility of reincarnation, spirits of the dead inhabiting the bodies of the living, how we came to be here, and what happens to us when we go.
Body English
by Joseph Verrilli
Poems and prose of reincarnation, spirits, and childhoods relived through the souls of other children. Joseph Verrilli’s late wife was fascinated with her own childhood growing up at the turn of the 20th century, 20 years before Verrilli was even born. When Verrilli takes work as a teacher’s aide, he becomes entwined with the lives of the young students whose spirits and childish freedoms match his late wife’s, questioning the possibility of her breathing her own life into them.
Near daybreak, with a nod to Frost
by Harry Calhoun
Through poems of aging, drinking wine, and loving a dog, Harry Calhoun digs deep into the tenderness of love and its high-maintenance upkeep, from enjoying moments of nature with furry pals to picking up the pieces of a broken relationship. Poems of mending, deep reflection, utter happiness, and utter pain.
Retro
by Harry Calhoun
A harking back to the glorious retro times of yore, these are the poems from Harry Calhoun’s younger days that he remained at peace with through older age. Written in the 1980s and 90s, these poems are representative of some of Calhoun’s best work that stands the test of time, giving a peek into his sordid past.
Content Warning: coming soon
Authors
• Harry Calhoun
• Joseph Verrilli
• Paul Weinman
Praise
On The History of Candles: “Natural writing continues! Parades of strong images.”
—Karl Wenclas,
Attacking the Demi-Puppets
Other Violet Ray Series Books
Also by Harry Calhoun
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The Violet Ray Series is an archival preservation collection of chapbooks and limited-edition publications from the first 20 years of pre-digital operation at Alternating Current Press. The mission of the series is to preserve, reprint, and digitize the voices of the zine generation at the turn of the new millennium.
• Violet Ray Series Book 3
• Poetry | Stories | 5 Chapbooks + Outtakes
• 123 Pieces by 3 Authors
• 5½” x 8½” Perfectbound Trade Paperback
• Cream Paper, 212 Pages
• Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-946580-25-2
• Paperback ISBN-10: 1946580252
• Ebook ISBN-13: Coming Soon
• Ebook ISBN-10: Coming Soon
• LCCN: Not Registered
• First Edition: September 29, 2020
• Short URL: acpbook.link/arranging
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Cover design by Leah Angstman using the artwork A Perch of Birds by Hector Giacomelli, 1880. The cover for Just Because I Didn’t Leave the Driving to Us I Got Jailed and Juiced Good was created by Suburban Wilderness Press. The cover for The History of Candles was drawn by Leah Angstman. The cover for Body English was designed by Leah Angstman using a photograph supplied by Joseph Verrilli. All nature photographs in Harry Calhoun’s chapbooks were taken by T. Kilgore Splake, with covers designed by Leah Angstman.
About the Editor
LEAH ANGSTMAN is the founder and executive editor of Alternating Current Press since 1993. She has also been an editor/fact-checker for Pacific Standard, Underscore News, Mother Jones, Departures, and Smithsonian, and she is the author of Out Front the Following Sea, Shoot the Horses First, and Falcon in the Dive.
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