Imp: The Poetry of Benjamin DeCasseres

by Benjamin De Casseres, Kevin I. Slaughter (Editor)

Ironist, Critic, Poet, Nietzschean, Anarch. Friend of H.L. Mencken, Charles Fort, Jack London and relative of Baruch Spinoza. Published in periodicals ranging from the radical anarchist Liberty, to the mainstream Life, his work is now mostly lost and forgotten save a mention every decade or so by scholars or writers who have stumbled across him.
This volume contains the known poetry of Benjamin DeCasseres (1873-1945) outside of his ANATHEMA! Litanies of Negation and the few poems written in tribute to his brother Walter, contained in The Sublime Boy . 129 poems in verse and prose, collected from two published volumes ( The Shadow-Eater and Black Suns ) and culled from dozens of periodicals over the first half of the 20th century.

Genres: Poetry

194 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2013

About the author

Benjamin De Casseres (April 3, 1873 – December 7, 1945) (often DeCasseres) was an American journalist, critic, essayist and poet. He was born in Philadelphia and began working at the Philadelphia Press at an early age, but spent most of his professional career in New York City, where he wrote for various newspapers including The New York Times, The Sun and The New York Herald. He was married to author Bio De Casseres, and corresponded with prominent literary figures of his time, including H. L. Mencken, Edgar Lee Masters, and Eugene O'Neill. He was a distant relative of Baruch Spinoza and was of Sephardic descent.

Reviews

[Vladivostok]

Transgressive, romantic poetry. A philosophical odyssey that traverses the deepest black pits of pessimism and the celestial sanctuaries of colorful gods.

3.9/5.0

[Justin Thomas]

As with every DeCasseres book published by Underworld Amusements this one is fantastic! I'm not the biggest lover of poetry, but I have become a big DeCasseres fan in the last year or so. This book did give me hope that there's more poetry out there that would appeal to me.

[Win Bigly II:]

The Shadow Eater has some truly fearsome, truly insane, truly epic prose