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Charlie Newman

deadmachinecity, 2005

Poetry and CD by Charlie Newman
64 pp., 5 5/8" x 5 1/8",
Perfect bound paperback
ISBN: 1-933126-17-5

                                                      introduction by wayne allen jones
       charlie newman’s poetry comes at you from a ragged left margin
                                        but two lines into any poem and you realize
there is nothing ragged about the left of charlie’s writing or his vision
                                                       his lines, images, ironies, and voice
                    ring with the precision and rhythm of tool steel hammers
          pounding on the hull of the sunken freighter of the body politic
                                                                              looking for survivors
                                                         looking at the ways our humanity
                                                                  elevates us and degrades us
                                                the geography of charlie’s poetic world
                                                                     of charlie’s political world
                                                                         is charted by sign posts
                                                                                                   as clear
                                                                                   and as functional
                                                                                          as his poems
                                                 you cannot get lost when reading them
                                                             even in the dimmest black light
                                                                                     at the same time
                                                                there is nothing right-justified
                                                           and nothing justified by the right
                                             you learn how well-trained a seal you are
                                              the first time you see one of these poems
                                                   and try to turn the book upside-down
                                                         to get the straight edge on the left
                                                                         that’s just the difference
                                                  here the right is straight but irrelevant
                     the left is ragged but sure and will never let you get lost
                                                        you will tour the deadmachinecity
                                               you will see things you have never seen
                                                               in a light you have never seen
                                                  you leave knowing you will never see
                                                                anything the same way again
and you will be glad to still be alive to tell your tale to ones you love
                           to tell it to anyone – even the ones who need it most
 

              I have done festivals with poet/performer Charlie Newman,
                                              where he is always a powerful presence.
                        his new book is like being there at a reading with him,
                                                                                serving as a mirror
                                                                        of the pictures in words
                                                                           which he paints for us,
                                                                                         always telling
                                                                         with no punches pulled
                                                                    about the world we live in.

                                                                      In the groves of academe,
                                 you will never find messages that shake you up,
                                                            as Charlie' poetry so often does.
                                                                                   His story/poems,
                            like the work of another old Chicago friend of mine,
                                                                                       Nelson Algren,
                                                                makes you take another look
                                                                     at everything around you,
                                                 seeing what we often choose to ignore
                                                                       or don't pay attention to.

                                                        Charlie is a bard of the nitty gritty.
                                           He is sounding a wake up call to America.

                                               – David Amram, jan 30, 2005, new york
                                        composer/conductor/multi-instrumentalist

Author Profile and Credits

                                                                                               Charlie Newman: Poetry
       Born in Newark, NJ in 1943. Straight gig is writing advertising. Lives in Chicago.
        Hosts a weekly open mic, a monthly 4-poet feature, and a monthly radio show.
                                               This is his 5th book and his 3rd CD. (www.unit-n.com)
                                                                                  Jonny Drexler & JT Neiser: Music
                                               My Secret Service (www.mysecretservicemusic.com) is
                                                               their usual musical gig in and about Chicago.
                                                                                                                Hell of a band.
                                                                          Jonny Drexler - guitar, drums, sounds
                                                                                 JT Neiser - guitar, drums, sounds
                                            Recorded at Gopher Sound Labs onto a Boss digital 8-trk
                                                                                                                 Ron Mier: Art
                   Ron (www.ronmierart.com/) is an artist’s artist who hails from Santa Fe.
      Took the photos in Chaco Canyon, a great ancient Anasazi central crossroads city
   mysteriously abandoned about 800 years ago. They were great stargazers, farmers,
artists and builders of immense adobe structures. Like many other things man made,
                                         all in the city was abandoned except for it’s residual power.
                                                                                               Zan Hoffman: Cover Font
                                  Artist. Musician. Performance artist. Noise maker extraordinary.
                        Has released almost 900 cassettes and CDs of his unique sonic assault.
               Font designer in what passes for his spare time. As tireless as he is talented.
                 ( http://zh27.net/Contents – Click Table of Contents to see Chapter Titles

• Table of Contents

  death warmed over [soliloquy in the bathroom of a cheap motel] 3
                                                                   in the shadow of absence 4
                    drowning in caffeine in the city of the shadow of death 5
                                                                                                        dust 7
                                                                                 deadmachinecity 11
             because drinking forever from your eyes got me nowhere 14
                                                                 Jackson Pollak threw paint 16
                                                                                        femme fatale 19
                                                                                                  omerta 20
                                                                                   desperate living 22
                                                           life among the notorious dead 24
                                                                            dreammachinebaby 25
                                                                                               nostalgia 26
                                                                               dreammachinecity 27
                                                                                                        nod 29
                                                                              out on the mainline 30
                                                                                       machinehead 33
                                                                                           jones angel 34
                           life and death in the valley of the shadow of plenty 36
                                           lost in the alley of 40 days and 40 nights 38
                                                                       a pharmacist not a thug 40
                                                           two men with three first names 43
                                                                                deadcitymadsong 46
                                                                                                 fiending 49
                                                                             deadmachinemusic 52

Pricing

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Last modified: 09/30/07