THE SINGERS & The Notes

by Logan Ryan Smith

"It's time to gather rest under duress." Music and its family of allied arts reigns high in the world Logan Ryan Smith has carved for his Singers. Dance and ritual act as counterforces to the martial law the poem has been written under, in this time of Iraq incursion that touches every aspect of our lives. Smith sends out these poems like bulletins to his heroes, his confreres, his girlfriends, his dead; in the serial form pioneered by Jack Spicer, John Ashbery, Robin Blaser, and Larry Kearney, the tropes rumble like card tricks-Spicer's forests, diamonds, Giants and knights advance and retreat across a musical chessboard. If there was no one else writing poetry in all of the Bay Area, we would still be "covered"; with Logan Ryan Smith at bat we'll see angels in the outfield. --Kevin Killian, co-author of  Poet Be Like Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance

I seek out the company of younger poets because I think it's part of the job and because of the sometime, sudden sense of 'real thing.' There's nothing else like it. Jonas Mekas said once that you can tell the real directors because the light seems to be coming from behind the screen. Logan's like that.--Larry Kearney, author of  Streaming

Genres: Poetry

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Logan Ryan Smith writes dark, imaginative fiction with a unique sense of humor and madness. His work appeals to fans of authors such as J.G. Ballard, Chuck Palahniuk, Michel Faber, Bret Easton Ellis, Shirley Jackson, and Hunter S. Thompson. The God of Salt & Light, released early 2020, is a fast-paced, disorienting, yet poetic foray into the mind of a messianic madman that worships the Salton Sea and seeks to spread his faith. The Sun My Destiny, his previous book, is a psychological sci-fi drama that uses the dystopian landscape of a massive garbage dump as the background for familial relationships and grave, internal struggles. His book previous to that, Y is for Fidelity, is a disturbingly comedic tale of friendship and self-discovery that takes twists and turns opposite of every expectation. Western Palaces is the follow-up to 2015’s Enjoy Me. Each are collections of interlinked stories telling the bizarre, fantastical, and often hilarious tales of Luke, a down-and-out writer living in San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin where zombies, bipedal crickets, ghosts, and monsters always linger in the peripherals. My Eyes Are Black Holes, released between Enjoy Me and Western Palaces, is a twisted novella of false memory, madness, and violence that pays homage to haunted house stories while never actually slipping into the genre. Logan describes it as his "unhaunted haunted house story."

Though primarily focusing on fiction now, his poetry books include The Singers & The Notes (Dusie Press, 2007), Stupid Birds (Transmission Press, 2007), Bug House (Mission Cleaners Books, 2013), and Humans & Horses (Transmission Press, 2018). Logan’s work has appeared in, among others, Hobart Journal, The New York Times, New American Writing, Meat for Tea: The Valley Review, and Great Lakes Review, which nominated his story “Bret Easton Ellis” for a Pushcart Prize. He has lived in San Francisco, Boulder, and Chicago, and now lives in Sacramento.

Reviews

[MKMKMK · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some reason I wrote the following super brief review sort of thing about this book on Amazon when I first read it. Perhaps it isn't so useful, but as Amazon tells no lies, it claims 4 out of 5 people found the review useful. As I'd just written a note about "Stupid Birds," thought I'd add this one too:

"That's right, The Singers puts the Ralph back in Ralpharoni...er, takes it out...twists it...makes it a good meal for the family. Syllables that'll punch you in the mid-section....but then you'll feel'em a little higher up. A perfect compliment to a nice night with Robot Muffin on the turntable. If you like poetry that tears into your soul and makes you whole again, you should buy this book. I love it!"

[C.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2007!