not long ago I was "organizing." that's a polite term for dealing with piles that seem to accumulate around the house. in one was a 2-page typescript Paul Metcalf wrote in 1978. as far as I know it's never been publishd. it's a review of my New Notes. Paul never shared it with me. I found it a couple of years ago in a catalog from Second Life Books which featurd a big chunk of Paul's personal library.
today is the Day of the Dead which always puts me in touch with memories of dear ones no longer here. so in the spirit of the day I offer the opening paragraph of Paul's review:
After the plethora of talky, hippie, self-conscious, self-puffing, even "pleasant" poems, that fill so many small press volumes, it is a pleasure to come on something like NEW NOTES, by Alex Gildzen. Gildzen has no cosmic pretentions, he is not a wise guy, and he is not simply passing the hours in the Pleasant Practice of Poetry. What appeals here is a mind, an intelligence at work, in direct attack on the substance, the language of the poem.
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