The Origin of the Species

by Barbara Barg

Collects stories, manifestos, rants and songs by Homer Erotic lead singer/poet/politico Barbara Barg. The Origin of the Species collects stories, manifestos, rants and songs by Homer Erotic lead singer/poet/politico Barbara Barg. Raised as the only Jew in her Arkansas town in the mid-1960s, Barg's subject matter ranges from Nietzsche to Lithuanian pogroms to shoplifting and cocktail-waitressing to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in her town. What do we belong toSoul or chromosome? Boundaries and bloodshedEarth seems so far from home

Genres: Poetry

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Nate D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving from clear-eyed essay-provocation to hyperpoetic formal experiment along with deftly-layered stories of outsiderness and class revolt. There are not one but many pyrotechnic pieces here, the sort writing any one of which would define the work of a lesser writer. Each will stick in my mind for a long, long time. Barbara Barg is the real deal -- a scrappy art/punk 80s-NYC writer who experienced the fringe, moved in key art circles while they were still emerging (check the Mapplethorpe photo of her on the back), and pulled something brilliant and lasting out of it all.

From the Just Another Asshole files, via Chris Kraus' Native Agents imprint of Semiotext(e), all of which look essential. (And I've got the Cookie Mueller entry right here, as well, to follow soon.)

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really funny. I liked the perspective that she took in each of her stories.