Black Powder

by Matt Bialer

This epic poem begins and ends with a house exploding in Pasadena, California on June 17, 1952. The explosion killed Jack Parsons, one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Aerojet Corporation and co-inventor of the American rocket. Jack Parsons, who probably knew more about explosive powders than anyone on Earth, was also an occultist and Satanist and fell in to the orbit of the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. Is it a mere coincidence that in 1942, the same year that Crowley appointed Parsons head of the Agape Lodge, Parsons made a major breakthrough in the development of rocket solid fuel? Set against the backdrop of World War II and the race for supremacy in the air, this poem explores Jack Parsons, genius scientist by day, wild party animal by night. The characters include famous engineer Theodore van Karman, a young L. Ron Hubbard, Wernher von Braun, and Marjorie Cameron - otherwise known as the mysterious Scarlet Woman. Did Jack kill himself? Was the US Government too concerned about his unearthly activities? Or did Jack evoke sinister forces that were too much, even for him? Matt Bialer continues to write about obscure American history and myth, and find humanity even in the most bizarre.

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2013

About the author

Matt Bialer is the author of eight books of poetry including Radius (Les Editions du Zaporogue), Already Here, Ark, Black Powder, (all from Black Coffee Press) Bridge (Leaky Boot Press) ,Tell Them What I Saw (PS Publishing, UK) He Walks On All Fours (Dynatox Ministries) and Ascent (Bizarro Pulp Press). His poems have appeared in many print and online journals including La Zaporogue, Green Mountains Review, Gobbet, Forklift Ohio, Cultural Weekly and H_NGM_N. He is also an acclaimed black and white street photographer and watercolorist who has exhibited widely. Some of his photographs are in the permanent collections of The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of the City of New York and the The New York Public Library and his watercolors are in many private collections. His photographic monograph, More Than You Know, was published in 2011 by Les Editions du Zaporogue and Shadowbrook, a book of his paintings was issued by the same publisher in 2012. Matt lives with his wife Lenora Lapidus and daughter Izzy in Park Slope, Brooklyn. His website is www.mattbialer.com

Reviews

[Vincenzo Bilof · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poetry-narrative that seems to embed the setting into the verse; here is a chronicle of an interesting time period-- "the good ol' days" in America... and here we see WHO and WHAT these people really were. Bialer has a knack for delving into the consciousness and exposing us to a variety of worlds that can exist within one person, at many times.

[Saul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an epic poem about the esoteric life of Jack Parsons, who not only was a brilliant rocket scientist and co-founded of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but a devout occultist who befriended Aleister Crowley, L. Ron Hubbard, and a host of other interesting folks throughout the first half of the 20th century. While perhaps not your normal work of fiction, if you're looking for something that's both weird and wonderful, this is definitely for you.

First let me say this: no one should be put off that this is an epic poem. It's quite accessible and easy to read. And though I'm no aficionado of poetry, I'd describe this more as a novel in verse. It does what I like to think is the main job of poetry: communicate maximum meaning with the fewest words. All the clutter of standard novel dialog and narration has been stripped away. What is left are raw words that have a fantastical dramatic impact upon the reader. There are many places where one must simply stop and imagine the smells, sounds and textures being described. Heightening this effect, the author mentions particular songs playing in the background. I found it great fun to play them on youtube and re-read the scene slowly. Doing so brought the book to life and reminded me of similar musical scenes from Twin Peaks, an occult TV series popular in the 90s. Does anyone remember that show?

I praise the author for shunning the well worn roads of fiction to create something both unique and wonderful. And while I suppose it's fair to say that epic poetry is not mainstream entertainment these days, this book is truly a great work of science fiction, fantasy and history, all wrapped within an incredibly bizarre (yet riveting) story.