I like Wieners best when he’s sort of wryly funny:

Is it love, or grass stains
on your shirt?

These poems cover a huge span of Wieners’ creative career, and are helpful for seeing the stylistic changes he went through as a poet. The quality’s v. uneven—Some of the poems are downright maudlin, with lines like “Life holds such sorrow I cannot bear to speak of it.” Many poems in the uncollected sections are of this nature, and in some ways are reminiscent of Artaud’s writings. Both poets have a tendency to pen long, detailed descriptions of the feelings brought on by their long-term mental illness / depression, institutionalization, electro shock—some of it harrowing and and absorbing, others tedious.

The later poems seem to get very disjunct. Some of these poems seem like fascinating juxtapositions; others make me think maybe he’s just crazy….

The reason for the book? Many of the personal care products people use on a daily basis contain lead, formaldehyde, phthalates, parabens, and other carcinogenic chemicals. Why? Because cosmetics companies are allowed to use the stuff—and the stuff is cheap.

The rest of my review’s here.

“You hear about women who became bulimic or anorexic in high school or college, then established some kind of equilibriium around food when or after they started drinking.”

“Without a typewriter, I am nothing
Without a ribbon, I leave no trail

....

When I read my typing, I eat my own mind.”

Save the world by — shopping? Such Bush-esque advice makes many an environmentalist raise a weary eyebrow. But Diane MacEachern’s new book, Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World, turns out not quite to be what the cover seems to advertise. In fact, “Big Green Purse” shows how using one’s spending power might in fact be exercising the power NOT to give in to marketing ploys and sales pitches.

After all, rampant consumerism’s what got us into our current environmental dilemma. Title of the book aside, Diane never loses an opportunity to preach the reduce, reuse, recyle mantra. Of the 7 shopping tips “Big Green Purse” espouses, the first is “Buy less.”

The rest of my review’s here.

If you’re prone to eco-stress inspired heart palpitations, don’t read this book. At least not now. Save it for later. Because Sandor Ellix Katz’ “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements” can be more than a little overwhelming for the newly-initiated would-be socio-environmentally-conscious foodie.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book! “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved” is both informative and inspiring — and comprehensive and absorbing!

The rest of my review’s here.

We’ve all read about the Okinawa and Mediterranean diets, usually promoted as weight-loss remedies. But in addition to their slim figures, Okinawans have a very low rate of breast and prostate cancer, while Cretans enjoy a low rate of heart disease. What in the diets prevents these diseases? Could we adopt these diets as our own to live healthier lives?

That’s what Daphne Miller, a doctor in San Francisco, set out to investigate in her book, “The Jungle Effect.” Miller travels to the “cold spots” — places with a low incidence of a certain disease — all over the world to figure out what in that region’s diet serves to protect its residents from common ailments in the U.S.

The rest of my review here.

Lots of love poems. At his best his poems are simple but also significant—poetry in everyday life, including the texts read. Many poems are made of lines lifted from works of other writers / translated from words of others—sort of like Cid Corman. Almost all couplets, with extended spacing in lieu of punctuation. Amazed by his ability to write in English, French AND German, even bringing in latin here and there—and some other script I can’t decipher—Greek?

My fave poems / lines are the humorous self-deprecating repartees. A v. L.A. book.

Need a girly guide to going green? A new book, Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style, is a chatty, crunch-free book that can put you on your green path. It’s kind of like green LA girl — except a lighter green and in print.

Here’s the rest of my review.