The Thorn

by David Larsen

Poetry. In THE THORN all kinds of materials by David Larsen are combined and presented in the form of a first book of poetry. The resulting collection makes no disguise of its debt to Behind the State Capitol by John Wieners, the SELECTED WRITINGS OF CEDAR SIGO, and Friedrich Nietzsche's Ecce Homo, and is distinguished above all for its emotional strenuousness. Major themes include writing, divination, speech and shouting. Also featured are generous samples of the poet's handwriting, and wall drawings from his 2003 show with Marc Bell, Amy Lockhart, and Poorly Rendered editor Will Yackulic. THE THORN is designed to appeal to the reader on all levels but the sense of duty, and will be of special interest to the extremely sensitive.

Genres: Poetry

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep circling back to The Thorn, the debut poetry collection from Bay Area poet, cartoonist, performance artist, and Arabic scholar David Larsen, like a dog returns to its vomit, only I wish it was my vomit, because it'd mean I'd been eating poems like "(Sorry That I Had 2 Freak U) SO HARD" and learning to draw with Sharpies to boot. Left theory at the door and found signifiers car-keyed into my Hyundai outside. "If love is to have any meaning/let it be through me!"

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Larsen's poetry and am so glad to see him get a book with a spine. The layout of this book perfectly captures the vortex between hand-made and pro that David so agiley surfs in his art. I laughed, I cried (really), I scratched my head and what more can you want out of a book? Inimitable timeless aura? This book has that too. Probably not the best gift for your momma, but surely your kids will like it.

[Jared Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

best goddamned thing in years
in my side