Leaving California

by Mark Lanegan, Wesley Eisold (Introduction)

Leaving California is the new collection by Mark Lanegan, compiling 76 poems that merge the line of harsh reality and paranoia, beauty and reflection, and the wisdom of the escape artist. There are amends and curses amongst stories that one can only tell once they’ve seen everything and everything collapse. In many ways this is part two of Lanegan's best selling 2020 novel, Sing Backwards and Weep, where loose ends are tied and others left for dead.

A brilliant work of true transformation, these poems also chronicle Lanegan's exit from California for the literal greener pastures of Ireland. As someone who has survived it all, he must have known this move was the next level of perseverance. There’s a pacing anxiety leading up to the move, turbulence in the transition, and a calm consideration once he’s settled.

Perfect bound with felt cover.

Genres: Poetry

172 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2021

About the author

Mark Lanegan (born November 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington) was an American rock musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s. In 1985, he became the vocalist for grunge group Screaming Trees; the group broke up in 2000. Lanegan would start a low-key solo career, but in 2004 Lanegan released his big breakthrough album Bubblegum. In addition to leading the The Gutter Twins, Lanegan has also been involved in other musical projects, including hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, longterm collaborations with Isobel Campbell; and undertaken some surprisingly eclectic collaborations, such as co-writing and providing vocals for "Black River" by the electronic outfit, Bomb the Bass. He also lent his vocal talent to the highly regarded album, "Above", by supergroup Mad Season.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuck.

Okay. Sorry. Took me awhile to come back to review this because it sort of just punched me in the face and I needed a hot minute. Anyway. Excellent shit. I hope Lanegan continues with this writing shindig because he's got some sort of way with words that is hard hitting as hell. He probably always has it's just sort of the thing with his music is that you get distracted by his voice.

Forgive me for being
Hungry, for being
Lean and
Ugly

And for starting
So many
Fires I was not able
To extinguish

Low key feel some kind of way about the work directly addressing the pandemic. Mostly because it obviously derived from paranoia but also because I'm aggressively anti-conspiracy theory when it comes to this. Our egos as humans are so fucking ginormous that we refuse to accept that our meddling with nature and destruction of the planet could actually have consequences? Instead it's all very complex ideas about being brewed in a lab etc. Nah mate. We're just arseholes. We fuck the environment. The environment fucks back.

But then does poetry about emotions that are entirely valid during a pandemic require a fucking disclaimer? Like "IDK how much of a shithead you are but this isn't some conspiracy even though our brains can play treats on us to make that information seem reasonable"? Fuck. I don't know.

[PhattandyPDX · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Eventually
You gave me no choice:
I was coming on the road with you,
Whether I wanted to or not

And step by step
You pulled me back into the world

Doing for me
What I could not do for myself

I love you dear friend
You are the proof to me that God exists”

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeously misanthropic—Lanegan would hate it but reading this book made me want to give him a hug.

[Goosegoosego · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

No words except for wow. Indulging in Mark’s literature is like a treat for the soul. His work is so endearing to me, despite how dark and vulnerable it is. What I’ve found in his writing is that it’s a pathway to his soul, reading this poetry made me feel like I knew him (similarly to how sbaw did). I’m trying to expand my vocabulary and this has helped me so much, his way with words is just incredible. I loved so many of these poems and will be visiting again and again and again. I also loved the introduction, Wesley Eisold described it so perfectly in that “There are amends and curses amongst stories that one can only tell once they’ve seen everything, and everything collapse.” Rest in Peace Dark Mark 🖤

“And step by step
You pulled me back into the world

Doing for me
What i could not do for myself

I love you dear friend
You are the proof to me that God exists”

[Lylah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 and a half. These range widely, from little throwaways, to paranoia that possibly should have been cut in editing (the back cover makes obvious that wasn't happening), to Lanegan magic. When you consider Lanegan had no formal education in writing and by his own account barely made it through high school, and that this was one of his first attempts at poetry, it's good. It's also poignant reading it now and knowing this is it. At 57 he was just getting started as a writer and obviously had exciting things ahead.

"Eleven am the sky rips/Open slightly/Slowly/Spreading its wings over/The Earth like the/Lid of a great metal/Casket, a celestial net unfolding,/Throwing silver arms/Over the shoulders/Of another sodden and solitary day"

"Did you know the girl of my dreams?/I see a photo and I grieve/So misty/That teenage misanthrope/Was me"

Mark Lanegan has been my companion through the misty territory of middle age grief and regret, and I'm going to deeply miss him.

[Jenny Grover · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder how highly people would rate this is if it weren't Lanegan. It's not nearly as strong a book as Devil in a Coma, in which the poetry was better and fresher and tighter. While there are some good lines and strong images here, the poetic form itself needs a lot of work and would have benefited from editing and instruction. Throwing bleak words on the page in a shape is just not enough in many of these poems, and some, like the two conspiracy theory-esque rants, really just read like social media level prose, not poetically, and not in keeping with the form or tone of the rest of the book. Yes, I'm a longtime Lanegan fan. Yes, he writes stunning lyrics and some genuinely good poems. This book is not that. Sorry.

[Marcus W · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Lanegan's music, you'll like this book. The poem about Greg Dulli is exceptional. There are other standouts about COVID times.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lanegan’s first collection of poetry is pitch black, even blacker than the darkest of his lyrics. Sparse and tense in contrast to the verbosity of his songwriting, these poems hit rapid fire, quick and paranoid and brutal. And they are utterly beautiful. I was so excited to read this that I plowed through it in less than an hour, and I will most definitely be reading this again.

[Igor Voltchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not much of a poetry guy, just never been able to get into it. But being a huge fan of Lanegan, I figured I'd enjoy anything by him, and I was right (got this as a gift). I found myself reading some verses slowly, multiple times, and giving a lot of thought to what they mean. But other times, I would get through a poem in a single pass and feel like I understood it right away. Most of these put me in a particular mood or painted a scene for me, not unlike Mark's memoirs.

[Melissa Greenwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

As he says in Traction, a wolf knows when he's being hunted. This is him pacing around while the beasts trying to figure out his next escape when he isn't being a little red haired devil himself.

[Daniel Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of Lanegan’s poems that encompass his move from California to Ireland during the pandemic. Concludes with a touching tribute to Greg Dulli. Many are quite good.

[Michael]

Three line stanzas are really a thing here. The poems about the pandemic were interesting. It's been long enough for that.