Wild Life Rifle Fire by Paul Siegell

Well now, this is a very peculiar book. It costs $10. Whenever I encounter a book such as wild life rifle fire, by Paul Siegell, I start thinking about money.

This book is a single poem. Words of the poem continue from page to page, and for the most part there isn't one single word on any of the pages because the type is set at, what, probably 72pt. Many of the words are interrupted by ASCII drawings (I think this is accurate).

The effect is shocking. I hope I didn't ruin the shock for anyone who buys the book, because it seems to me to be an important book. Probably there is a long tradition of this sort of stuff. Probably it is called "concrete poetry," you know, like a poem about a swan that looks like a swan. But this is different because the poem is nonsensical in a pleasant way. It's nonsensical in a friendly way, and also in a smart way.

The poem adds to the conversation about what is poetry.

I would say the book is worth $10. The cover alone, the title, if we are paying people for good ideas, is worth your $10.

I'm going to go home and make some chicken stir fry with a peanut sauce.