Never-Ending Cigarettes

by Scott C. Holstad

Genres: Poetry

36 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Scott C. Holstad is a disabled Pulitzer & BOTN-nominated poet & author with 75+ books to his credit & work in 850+ unique magazines. He is a 33-year member of The Authors Guild & was the founder/publisher of Big Head Press (1990-97), the Tek Thots newsletter (1996-2000) & poetry editor of Ray’s Road Review (2011-2017), as well as a journalist & editor for a variety of commercial publications.

His work has appeared in The Minnesota Review, Exquisite Corpse, Long Shot, Comstock Review, Wormwood Review, Chiron Review, Hawai’I Review, Pacific Review, Southern Review, Sports Illustrated, ;login, the TODAY Show, AIM, Palo Alto Review, Santa Clara Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Flipside, Cyber-Psychos AOD, Fringeware Review, Processed World, Wicked Mystic, Premonitions, Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Kerouac Connection, Bouillabaisse, Bukowski & Serial Killers, Nexus, Stand, The Galway Review, Sivullinen, Gangan Verlag, Ink Sweat & Tears, Misfit, Mad Swirl, Libre, Synchronized Chaos, Hidden Peak Review, Bristol Noir, smols, dadakuku, Five Fleas, haiQu fOO, The Argyle, Cosmic Daffodil Journal, Horror Sleaze Trash, Alien Buddha Zine, miniMAG, Blood+Honey & 西洋文學在臺灣研究書目. His newest book, SURVIVING IMMORTALITY AGAIN, was released in 2025 by Alien Buddha Press.

Among those who have praised his work & books are Edward Field, Gerald Locklin, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Marilyn Kallet, Robert Polito, Jeannine Hall Gaiiley, Laurel Speer, Lisa Zaran, Michael Bugeja, Marvin Malone, GP Lainsbury, CL Huth, Jonathan Penton, Robert Peters, Todd Moore, Alan Catlin, Jon Nakapalau, Eric Jennings, Factsheet Five, Hawai’I Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Blue Villa, Ink Sweat & Tears, Wormwood Review, Dusty Dog Reviews, BBR Directory, Library Journal, Flipside, TapRoot Reviews, NewPages, KIRKUS Reviews, US Review of Books & many more.

Scott Holstad holds degrees from the University of Tennessee, California State University Long Beach, UCLA & Queens University of Charlotte. He’s moved 35+ times, currently lives in Pennsylvania & loves geopolitics, good vinyl, books, custom rigs & hockey. Disabled & retired, he currently holds positions of Professor Emeritus at The Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies (RUSI) & Researcher (Research Scientist) with the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

https://hankrules2011.com
X: @tangledscott
IG: @scottsmusicshak

Reviews

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it possible for me to be objective about this poetry collection? I think I usually am, or can be, about most. This is a more challenging case for me though, although a big reason why may sound just dumb. This collection is very Beat or Beat-influenced and there are a lot of pretty good poems in there. Maybe the Acknowledgments section can bear testament to that with its 19 listed journals having published the 19 poems in the collection. They include the Black Bear Review, Chaminade Literary Review, Fringeware Review, Mattoid, Minnesota Review, Pacific Review, Palo Alto Review, Penny Dreadful Review, Sivullinen, Southern Review, Street Beat Quarterly, Wisconsin Review and seven other journals. Not too shabby. But perhaps more interesting is the collection of back cover blurbs plugging the book, or rather the people being quoted. Because it's a fine collection of writers to plug a small collection such as this. They include award-winning Edward Field, legendary Gerald Locklin, Beat publisher Laurel Speer, Poet's Market editor Michael Bugeja and the great Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who are joined by a quote courtesy of The Hawai'i Review claiming this poetry is reminiscent of the Beat movement and has a "Whitmanesque-Ferlinghetti street feel" to it.

Damn! Hard to live up to. But those critics and journals that have reviewed this collection don't seem to disagree and as far as I know this is likely one of the author's more liked, respected and complimented works, the sad aspect being the fine small press that published it, with a track record for publishing many good/great poets, shut down shortly after publication as the owner apparently retired. Meaning this book has been near impossible to find ever since and my only copy is pretty beat up, and wouldn't mind having another copy. Doesn't that just beat it all?

At this point it's probably largely forgotten because it's been OOP for too long but if you can't find a copy somewhere, those especially fond of the Beat poets will probably like it, or I hope so, as I'm recommending it especially for you. An investment for more than one reason...