Book Reviews Issue #9
Books
Title:
Cottonmouth
Kisses (2000)
Author: Clint Catalyst
Publisher: Manic D. Press, P.O. Box
410804, San Francisco, CA 94141; List Price: $12.95.
Available from Amazon.com for $10.36
Clint is a past contributor to Nox, so I am thrilled at his success in getting this book published. The writings in Cottonmouth Kisses are a mixture of prose and verse placed into three sections. The first section, Caresses Soft As Sandpaper, was also a chapbook Clint published independently. It begins with Some New Kind of Kick, a wild ride of X and sex at a gothic nightclub with a strange and bittersweet ending. The poems that follow, touch on topics as diverse as the paintings of Goya and love that is both delicious and frightening. The second section, A Shedding of Skins, begins with a piece entitled Party Favors. College, drugs, love affairs, school dances and self-realization -- it's all there -- minus the jocks and preps. This is a story about cool people -- or are they really? Let me move on to the final section, Partly Cloudy. Here is some of the finest verse in the book. There are poems about phony people (Flouncing About; Pained and Painted), and the poem from which the book title comes from (Funny Again). This is one of my favorites, telling the story of snakes, childhood memories, getting out of a hometown and acclimated to a big city.
Clint's writing is both eloquent and simple. At times he is greatly descriptive, yet the words always flow easily. He can be sarcastic, yet painfully honest at the same time. Whether you are familiar with Clint's past work or not, I highly recommend that you acquire this book. At first, some of what you read may seem far-removed from your own experiences. Read more carefully. I think there is a little something of all of us in these words.
Zines and Chapbooks
Title:
Dreams of
Decadence: Vampire Poetry and Fiction
(zine)
Publisher: DNA Publications, Inc., c/o Warren Lapine,
Publisher, P.O. Box 2988, Radford, VA 24143-2988; E-mail:
dnapublications@iname.com
This zine has been in existence since the mid-90s. They are up to issue #12 now. I have in my possession, issues #3 & #4. They are slick, little zines. Issue #3 is filled with illustrations by talented artist Albrecht. The poetry in both issues was obviously selected for it's excellent quality, and the fiction is highly unique. I thoroughly enjoyed the issues of this zine that I have. Check out the contents of their most recent issue by clicking the link above. It appears that the size of the zine has expanded. The more recent covers are excellent, and the contents include selections from some well-known writers. The publisher publishes several other magazines, including the well-known, Weird Tales®.
Title: Necklace of Blood; 28 pg. chapbook; 1988
Author: G. Sutton Breiding
Publisher: Atlantis Express (no longer available to my
knowledge)
Written in the early 80s, this is a short, concise collection of poetry with original artwork by Care Galbraith and Lance Alexander. These are poems of vampiric love as told by a male, about his feelings for a female. He describes her looks, her effect on him, and the passionate sex they share. Even though I received this chapbook four years ago, since I never reviewed it, I felt that I still owed the author a review. Breiding has since won the prestigious Rhysling Award in 1990 for his poem Epitaph For Dreams (not included here). He has also published a book of poetry entitled Hallucinating Jenny, and it is available from Amazon.com.