Yes Thing No Thing

by Edwin Torres

Poetry. Edwin Torres's poetry—full of complex graphic experiments and daring sonic explorations—opens new creative possibilities, simultaneously challenging and delighting our intelligence. Coming on strong with humor and mystery, Edwin Torres spins magical multilingual webs of words intended to change the world. "Edwin Torres is our 21st Century Mayakovsky"—Juliana Spahr.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Edwin Torres is a former New York State Supreme Court judge and author, who wrote the 1975 novel Carlito's Way. His book was the basis for the 1993 movie of the same name, starring Al Pacino, and for the 1979 book After Hours, the sequel to Carlito's Way.

In 1958, Torres was admitted to the New York State Bar. In 1959, as an assistant district attorney, Torres participated in the prosecution of Sal "the Capeman" Agron. Shortly thereafter he became a criminal defense attorney.

In 1977, Torres was appointed to the New York State Criminal Court. In 1980 he was selected to the State Supreme Court, where he served as a justice in the Twelfth Judicial District in New York City. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over felony cases, and Torres presided over a number of high-profile murder cases.

He retired from the bench in 2008 and since then has served on the New York State Athletic Commission.

A film adaptation of Q & A was released in 1990, directed by Sidney Lumet, and it starred Nick Nolte and Armand Assante. "After Hours" was filmed in 1993, but used the title Carlito's Way to avoid being confused with Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours.

Reviews

[Patty Gone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwin Torres has many voices. He speaks English, Spanish, binary, be-bop. He speaks like a frightened child, like a staccato robot, like a fairy godmother. He speaks like a legend, a 20-year veteran of performance, begun back at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Yes Thing No Thing, his new collection, rallies these voices, at points plodding through dystopian jungles (“The Long Story”), whispering a bedtime story (“Moonboy/the Boy Made of Glass”), or rollicking through syllabic free association (“Futopo”).

The work’s unifying thread is automation’s steady encroachment. In an analog world, a puzzle missing one piece remains distinguishable. We compensate and fill in the blanks. However, if we digitally misplace a one or zero, the entire puzzle changes. Torres claims this all-or-nothing binary glitch has permeated our decision-making, and he manifests this idea through disjointed narratives, ellipses, and graphics simulating pixelation which, at points, threaten to devour his words. He inundates “A Dog Named Tarantula,” a 25-page collage of words and images, with empty angular text boxes and bar codes.........

(( read the rest of this review at http://www.brooklynrail.org/2011/03/b... ))

[Sam Albala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had Edwin Torres as a teacher this past summer. He specializes in working with the body, sound, yourself. I really enjoyed his voice, his language, and his way of teaching. It was really an honor to work with him, and to recieve this book. I recommend you look for him and try and see a reading of his, it is more powerful than you could expect.