Anathema!: Litanies of Negation

by Benjamin De Casseres, Kevin I. Slaughter (Afterword), Eugene O'Neill (Introduction)

A long-form poem of negation and egoism, of scorn and cynical delight.
Included is a URL for a free full audiobook read by Kevin I. Slaughter.

Benjamin DeCasseres (is) the Pontius Pilate of America.
-H.L. Mencken

A passionate, erratic poet… strives to shake the foundation of the world.
-The Saturday Review of Literature

He occupies a niche that is all his own and asks space to stand for no other man .
-The Nation

DeCasseres is the most fiery and independent writer that I know of.
-Remy de Gourmont

There is but one Benjamin DeCasseres. And he is perhaps the one living wonder of the literary world. It is fortunate that such an one must be born, that he cannot be made; especially that he cannot be imitated, for if every one wrote like DeCasseres readers would go mad. That he can keep in any semblance of thought-order such whirls of words is something to marvel at. Yet to read him once, twice, is to experience the greatest mental exhilaration.
-New York Times

Genres: Poetry, Philosophy

66 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

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

[EIJANDOLUM · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The lightnings of my Thought […] a glittering dagger that lies buried to the hilt in the bowels of the Dark."