* Loose Women by Sandra Cisneros. If Ms. Cisneros published four more
books of poetry this year, I would find myself scrambling to fit them all in.
* Wammo’s Poetry Slam, Tuesday nights, Electric Lounge. There is no better ring
leader for local poets than the cigar-and-Guinness spout that makes up Wammo.
* Where the Buffalo Roam, Jimmy LaFave (Bohemia Beat). The lyrics on
this album are well deserving of literary praise (including, of course, the
song by Dylan).
* Fruit Cocktail Diaries by Brian Carmody & Gretchen Hayduk. Simply
two good stories that run side by side.
* The Anatomy Lesson by John David Morley. Cool, hip, and intelligently
written.
* Any Rough Times Are Behind You: Selected Poems & Writings
1979-1995 by Dave Alvin. Just one more thing we can praise Dave Alvin
for.
* Bloomed, Richard Buckner (DejaDisc). The words and the way he sings
them put Buckner in the category of great songwriters — and to think that this
is his first album….
* Birth of the Beat Generation by Steven Watson. A handbook and history
and geography of the 1945-1960 Beat Generation.
* Shakespeare Never Did Do This by Charles Bukowski, with photos by
Michael Montfort. A photobook chronicling a book tour with Charles Bukowski.
Bukowski’s way of life, like so many other great writers and poets, meant
everything to the way he wrote. Here’s a good inside look.
* io magazine. This Austin literary magazine lasted for only a few
issues, but their ideas towards literature made it an interesting, candy-coated
look into the world of current writers — something I have yet to see another
publication accomplish.
Jeremy Reed is the editor of nothing shocking magazine and frequent
contributor to The Austin Chronicle, and has appeared in Detour,
SOMA, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. His Top Ten list was
inexplicably left out of the issue last week.
This article appears in January 12 • 1996 and January 12 • 1996 (Cover).