What do you think?
Rate this book
The Number Series (Poems): Vol. 1
In October of 2020, John S. Hall began writing at least a poem a day, every day, and then posting them to Facebook. This is the first volume in the series (called The Number Series), and includes the first 176 poems. Some of the poems are rather long and some are short. Some of the poems do not contain the letter "u" in them and some don't contain the letter "p." You never know what letter won't be in a poem. Poems can be like that sometimes. Most of the poems do not contain the letter "z," but some do. The letter "x" appears 165 times in this book, which averages out to a little under one "x" per poem.
Sometimes John's poems are funny. Sometimes the poems think they are funny, but they are not. And sometimes the poems are funnier than they think they are. That is to say, some of the poems are quite modest. At least some of them will probably be enjoyable to you. You can "look inside" and check out some of the poems and get an idea of whether this book is right for you, or someone you know. If it isn't, then no hard feelings. You can't please everyone, and there's no pleasing some people, am I right? Of course I'm right.
If you don't like this book, I hope you don't buy it. It's not a good book to hate-read, assuming hate-reading is even a thing. If you do like this book, you might want to consider purchasing the other volumes in this series. There are plenty, and there are more coming every month.
If you're wondering, this summary is not longer than the actual book. The actual book is like 250 pages--maybe more, whereas this summary isn't even two pages yet.
It's just that Amazon permits quite long summaries, and I feel as though I ought to take advantage. I could try to reach into your soul, assuming you've read this far, which is a safe assumption, because if you haven't read this far, how would you even know that I am trying to reach into your soul?
Jack Kerouac said "I'm writing this because we're all going to die." Of course, he wasn't referring to this--meaning this summary. This summary was written more than 50 years after Kerouac died, so if he had written this summary, that would have been quite a trick. No, Kerouac was writing about Visions of Cody, I think, or maybe Vanity of Dulouz, which, parenthetically, was Kerouac's last book; that is to say, the book he wrote before he died, possibly because he (like us all) was going to die. Still, I think it was Visions of Cody where he said that.
I, on the other hand, did not write this book because we're all going to die, but rather because we are alive. When we are dead, we can neither write a book nor read one. So books, even very, very old books, are for the living. Did you ever see "You, The Living" by Roy Andersson? Now that was a film. I don't know if he made that film because we're all going to die, or because we are alive, or for some other reason entirely, but I am glad he made it, and I am glad that I was alive to see it, unlike Kerouac, and Balzac, and Cyranno de Begerac. Fun Cyranno de Bergerac was actually a real person. Who knew?
So I wrote this book, and published it, for the same reason I made records in the 80's, 90's, 2000's and 2010's, and may make more in the 2020's. Because we are alive. If you are reading this, then you too, are alive. And being alive, there is probably something inside of you that needs to be fed. I don't mean the stomach, which you feed with food. I mean the heart, or the soul, or whatever that thing is that feels empty when you don't get enough music, or dance, or theater, or film, or painting, or sculpture, or whatever it is you feed whatever it is with. Now if you feed whatever it is with literature, I would suggest you look elsewhere, and maybe come back when whatever it is is full.
Sometimes John's poems are funny. Sometimes the poems think they are funny, but they are not. And sometimes the poems are funnier than they think they are. That is to say, some of the poems are quite modest. At least some of them will probably be enjoyable to you. You can "look inside" and check out some of the poems and get an idea of whether this book is right for you, or someone you know. If it isn't, then no hard feelings. You can't please everyone, and there's no pleasing some people, am I right? Of course I'm right.
If you don't like this book, I hope you don't buy it. It's not a good book to hate-read, assuming hate-reading is even a thing. If you do like this book, you might want to consider purchasing the other volumes in this series. There are plenty, and there are more coming every month.
If you're wondering, this summary is not longer than the actual book. The actual book is like 250 pages--maybe more, whereas this summary isn't even two pages yet.
It's just that Amazon permits quite long summaries, and I feel as though I ought to take advantage. I could try to reach into your soul, assuming you've read this far, which is a safe assumption, because if you haven't read this far, how would you even know that I am trying to reach into your soul?
Jack Kerouac said "I'm writing this because we're all going to die." Of course, he wasn't referring to this--meaning this summary. This summary was written more than 50 years after Kerouac died, so if he had written this summary, that would have been quite a trick. No, Kerouac was writing about Visions of Cody, I think, or maybe Vanity of Dulouz, which, parenthetically, was Kerouac's last book; that is to say, the book he wrote before he died, possibly because he (like us all) was going to die. Still, I think it was Visions of Cody where he said that.
I, on the other hand, did not write this book because we're all going to die, but rather because we are alive. When we are dead, we can neither write a book nor read one. So books, even very, very old books, are for the living. Did you ever see "You, The Living" by Roy Andersson? Now that was a film. I don't know if he made that film because we're all going to die, or because we are alive, or for some other reason entirely, but I am glad he made it, and I am glad that I was alive to see it, unlike Kerouac, and Balzac, and Cyranno de Begerac. Fun Cyranno de Bergerac was actually a real person. Who knew?
So I wrote this book, and published it, for the same reason I made records in the 80's, 90's, 2000's and 2010's, and may make more in the 2020's. Because we are alive. If you are reading this, then you too, are alive. And being alive, there is probably something inside of you that needs to be fed. I don't mean the stomach, which you feed with food. I mean the heart, or the soul, or whatever that thing is that feels empty when you don't get enough music, or dance, or theater, or film, or painting, or sculpture, or whatever it is you feed whatever it is with. Now if you feed whatever it is with literature, I would suggest you look elsewhere, and maybe come back when whatever it is is full.
383 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 14, 2022
1 person is currently reading
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.