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Early Stuff
Sam Pink has established himself as one of the most original, uncompromising writers of the twenty-first century. Early Stuff is a collection of Sam Pink's early poetry in a single volume: I Am Going to Clone Myself Then Kill the Clone and Eat It, Frowns Need Friends Too, No One Can Do Anything Worse to You Than You Can, & Gerald McClellan vs Nigel Benn. Read it now and accept yourself as one of the doomed.
- GenresPoetry
451 pages, ebook
First published February 25, 2020
7 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Sam Pink
64 books825 followersSam Pink is the author of The No Hellos Diet, Hurt Others, I Am Going to Clone Myself Then Kill the Clone and Eat It, Frowns Need Friends Too, and the cult hit Person. His writing has been published widely in print and on the internet, and also in other languages. He lives in Chicago, where he plays in the band Depressed Woman.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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March 10, 2020So fun to revisit these earlier works and to compare the Sam Pink then to now.
March 13, 2020
This hardcover is beautifully designed. Treat yourself.
I went straight for GERALD MCCLELLAN VERSUS NIGEL BENN a few hours after it arrived today.
(The packaging by 11:11 Press is luxuriant and generous. I paid my own earnings for this delivery. This pleases me to share my admiration.)
I went straight for GERALD MCCLELLAN VERSUS NIGEL BENN a few hours after it arrived today.
(The packaging by 11:11 Press is luxuriant and generous. I paid my own earnings for this delivery. This pleases me to share my admiration.)
April 10, 2022
This is refreshing and makes me feel better!
January 21, 2025
everything Sam Pink I get my hands on pleases every last brain cell.
April 27, 2025
So I have a confession to make -- I've been playing with ChatGPT. And I've been asking it to recommend books to me. This is in part because Google search has become useless. The Google AI offering (Gemini) is offensively stupid. And a regular Google search gives you an AI summary, 5 promoted links, and then a selection of garbage websites that have gamed the search engine into showing them first.
I also like think I like poetry. But the truth it I despise 98% of all poetry. I love Richard Brautigan (and have read everything). I enjoyed Bukowski (until I turned 30 and realized he's kind of dumb).
It was ChatGPT that figured out, "Oh, you'd love James Tate. Try that. You should read Mary Ruefle. You'd love her."
And I really enjoy both. It did point me to some real stinkers too, but ChatGPT has got me reading poetry after years of saying I hate poetry.
And ChatGPT introduced me to Sam Pink. Here's how that happened.
I went to the Ottawa Public Library and looked at the poetry section and hated everything. I turned to ChatGPT and said, "I want stupid, vulgar, blank verse poetry that is childish but meant for adults."
ChatGPT said, no problem. And on the list of books it suggested was "I Am Going To Clone Myself Then Kill The Clone And Eat It" by Sam Pink. The title alone hooked me. So I went looking for the book and could not find it anywhere. What the hell, ChatGPT?
Don't worry, it said. There are selections of it compiled in the book "Early Stuff".
So I found the book online and ordered a copy.
The book is 451 pages. It contains some of 4 books by Pink compiled into one. And I am guessing that Sam Pink called this "Early Stuff" because he knows some of it is not great. I say that because I am 55, and I remember writing in my 20s, and I thought everything I wrote was brilliant and needed to be shared. And I was wrong. Much of our twenties, I would argue, we are mentally ill dingbats.
Much of Pink's works are repetitive, silly, selfcentred, and a chore to read. This may be one of those books where only a fool would open it on page one and start reading all the way to page 451. I am that fool. There is great stuff in here. But if Sam Pink was making a film, my question would be, "Did you leave anything on the editing room floor? Or is every second of footage you shot in this thing?"
There are 100 poems where I'd argue maybe 10 of them would get the point across and do just as well. That said, I'm glad I read all the way to the end, because the last section of "stories" (or prose poems, or whatever you want to call them) were some of the best pieces of the book.
Usually, when I finish a book, I put it in the free lending library in my neighbourhood and it's gone. I'm going to keep Sam Pink's book. It's interesting. Yes, a lot of it is bad, but it's the kind of bad I can appreciate because there's a sense that Pink knows it's bad and that's the point and he doesn't give a shit because it's fun and it's funny and it's vulgar and silly. It's bad in the same way Basquiat is bad. (And I adore Basquiat.) Primitive, silly, vulgar, funny, dumb.
I have yet to come across later works by Same Pink but would definitely be interested in reading more.
Three stars seems cruel, but four stars seems too generous. It's a mixed bag of stuff and some things in the bag are great.
After writing this review, I ordered more from Sam Pink.
I also like think I like poetry. But the truth it I despise 98% of all poetry. I love Richard Brautigan (and have read everything). I enjoyed Bukowski (until I turned 30 and realized he's kind of dumb).
It was ChatGPT that figured out, "Oh, you'd love James Tate. Try that. You should read Mary Ruefle. You'd love her."
And I really enjoy both. It did point me to some real stinkers too, but ChatGPT has got me reading poetry after years of saying I hate poetry.
And ChatGPT introduced me to Sam Pink. Here's how that happened.
I went to the Ottawa Public Library and looked at the poetry section and hated everything. I turned to ChatGPT and said, "I want stupid, vulgar, blank verse poetry that is childish but meant for adults."
ChatGPT said, no problem. And on the list of books it suggested was "I Am Going To Clone Myself Then Kill The Clone And Eat It" by Sam Pink. The title alone hooked me. So I went looking for the book and could not find it anywhere. What the hell, ChatGPT?
Don't worry, it said. There are selections of it compiled in the book "Early Stuff".
So I found the book online and ordered a copy.
The book is 451 pages. It contains some of 4 books by Pink compiled into one. And I am guessing that Sam Pink called this "Early Stuff" because he knows some of it is not great. I say that because I am 55, and I remember writing in my 20s, and I thought everything I wrote was brilliant and needed to be shared. And I was wrong. Much of our twenties, I would argue, we are mentally ill dingbats.
Much of Pink's works are repetitive, silly, selfcentred, and a chore to read. This may be one of those books where only a fool would open it on page one and start reading all the way to page 451. I am that fool. There is great stuff in here. But if Sam Pink was making a film, my question would be, "Did you leave anything on the editing room floor? Or is every second of footage you shot in this thing?"
There are 100 poems where I'd argue maybe 10 of them would get the point across and do just as well. That said, I'm glad I read all the way to the end, because the last section of "stories" (or prose poems, or whatever you want to call them) were some of the best pieces of the book.
Usually, when I finish a book, I put it in the free lending library in my neighbourhood and it's gone. I'm going to keep Sam Pink's book. It's interesting. Yes, a lot of it is bad, but it's the kind of bad I can appreciate because there's a sense that Pink knows it's bad and that's the point and he doesn't give a shit because it's fun and it's funny and it's vulgar and silly. It's bad in the same way Basquiat is bad. (And I adore Basquiat.) Primitive, silly, vulgar, funny, dumb.
I have yet to come across later works by Same Pink but would definitely be interested in reading more.
Three stars seems cruel, but four stars seems too generous. It's a mixed bag of stuff and some things in the bag are great.
After writing this review, I ordered more from Sam Pink.
November 7, 2022
“I believe that no one is guilty of anything.”
“I guide a river into your sleeping ear and it comes out the other end a different color.”
“Sometimes I worry there is no one left to disappoint.”
“I eat jewelry and give nothing in return. And youth is the thing that keeps ending.”
“All things keep ending.”
“And everything kills everything else.”
“If you want, no one can find you.”
“You can put your fingers in my mouth I have a feeling that will make them better.”
“Hate other people.”
“There are no new ways to make an enemy.”
“Being dead will be the easiest thing I do.”
“I cover myself in mirrors and I make no friends. When I make friends I cover them in mirrors.”
“If you tell me you love me, I will keep saying, ‘what?’ And acting like I genuinely didn’t hear you.”
“You are not important.”
“After I figure out how to eliminate people, I figure out how to miss them.”
“Ending yourself while you’re still young enough to be a gift.”
“I try hard not to make a difference.”
“No one deserves anything.”
“Yesterday I acted like the lightbulb in my room was the sun and outside my door there were too many evil people waiting for me, so I didn’t leave.”
“The message is always the same.”
“I promise to be mean.”
“If life is a gift it’s best to reject the gift and not be greedy.”
“Felt like I was in love with something but I didn’t know what. Maybe just all the negative space in front of me at all times.”
“Everyone is describing the same thing.”
“I guide a river into your sleeping ear and it comes out the other end a different color.”
“Sometimes I worry there is no one left to disappoint.”
“I eat jewelry and give nothing in return. And youth is the thing that keeps ending.”
“All things keep ending.”
“And everything kills everything else.”
“If you want, no one can find you.”
“You can put your fingers in my mouth I have a feeling that will make them better.”
“Hate other people.”
“There are no new ways to make an enemy.”
“Being dead will be the easiest thing I do.”
“I cover myself in mirrors and I make no friends. When I make friends I cover them in mirrors.”
“If you tell me you love me, I will keep saying, ‘what?’ And acting like I genuinely didn’t hear you.”
“You are not important.”
“After I figure out how to eliminate people, I figure out how to miss them.”
“Ending yourself while you’re still young enough to be a gift.”
“I try hard not to make a difference.”
“No one deserves anything.”
“Yesterday I acted like the lightbulb in my room was the sun and outside my door there were too many evil people waiting for me, so I didn’t leave.”
“The message is always the same.”
“I promise to be mean.”
“If life is a gift it’s best to reject the gift and not be greedy.”
“Felt like I was in love with something but I didn’t know what. Maybe just all the negative space in front of me at all times.”
“Everyone is describing the same thing.”
May 4, 2025
I read this over a couple months. At first I put it down out of frustration. Then I put it down to savor it. When put next to pink, other books shrivel. I might quit reading. I don't know. There are still a few pink books to read, which is nice.
July 22, 2021
is good
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August 1, 2023That was… intense…
August 22, 2025
This was a wild read. I really liked how honest and clear it was to understand at least for me. The dark themes fit well with other of Sam's pieces of literature. Overall interesting read.
December 12, 2025
The problem is not having to find a way back to the start, but thinking you have to find a way back to the start, or thinking that the start is still there.
April 1, 2020
Uncompromising writing is right when it comes to Sam Pink, which is refreshing in a way. Shocking but comical. If you think about it, many of us could have similar thoughts as Sam’s. We just don’t have the talent that he does to just flat out write it down.
February 26, 2025
this instead of illustrated bible stories for children
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews