{"product_id":"punk-rock-is-cool-for-the-end-of-the-world-poems-and-notebooks-of-ed-smith-9781885983671","title":"Punk Rock Is Cool for the End of the World: Poems and Notebooks of Ed Smith","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe irreverent, tweetable, ludicrous, painful, wondrous work of the L.A. punk poet--widely available for the first time.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003ePunk Rock Is Cool for the End of the World\u003c\/em\u003e, David Trinidad brings together a comprehensive selection of Ed Smith's work: his published books; unpublished poems; excerpts from his extensive notebooks; photos and ephemera; and his timely \"cry for civilization,\" \"Return to Lesbos\" put down that gun \/ stop electing Presidents.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd Smith blazed onto the Los Angeles poetry scene in the early 1980s from out of the hardcore punk scene. The charismatic, nerdy young man hit home with his funny\/scary off-the-cuff-sounding poems, like \"Fishing\" This is a good line. \/ This is a bad line. This is a fishing line.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd's vibrant \"gang\" of writer and artist friends--among them Amy Gerstler, Dennis Cooper, Bob Flanagan, Mike Kelley, and David Trinidad--congregated at Beyond Baroque in Venice, on LA's west side. They read and partied and performed together, and shared and published each others' work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd was more than bright and versatile: he worked as a math tutor, an animator, and a typesetter. In the mid-1990s, he fell in love with Japanese artist Mio Shirai; they married and moved to New York City. Despite productive years and joyful times, Ed was plagued by mood disorders and drug problems, and at the age of forty-eight, he took his own life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd Smith's poems speak to living in an increasingly dehumanizing consumer society and corrupt political system. This \"punk Dorothy Parker\" is more relevant than ever for our ADD, technology-distracted times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEd Smith (1957-2005)\u003c\/b\u003e was a poet involved in the punk and alternative arts scenes in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. His books were \u003ci\u003eFantasyworld\u003c\/i\u003e (1983) and \u003ci\u003eTim's Bunnies\u003c\/i\u003e (1988). His poems appeared in \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSt. Mark's Poetry Project Newsletter\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications. Smith also worked as an animator on Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eDavid Trinidad\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of more than twenty books of poetry, collabora-tions, and edited volumes. These include \u003ci\u003eSwinging on a Star \u003c\/i\u003e(2017), \u003ci\u003eNotes on a Past Life \u003c\/i\u003e(2016), \u003ci\u003eDear Prudence: New and Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e (2011), and \u003ci\u003ePlasticville\u003c\/i\u003e (2000), finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Trinidad is editor of \u003ci\u003eA Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos\u003c\/i\u003e (2011), which won a Lambda Literary Award. He is a professor of poetry in the English and Creative Writing Department at Columbia College, Chicago.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Turtle Point Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50433357938962,"sku":"9781885983671","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_849bd632-a2e1-4fb5-b517-22fcd12f9dec.jpg?v=1729568386","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/punk-rock-is-cool-for-the-end-of-the-world-poems-and-notebooks-of-ed-smith-9781885983671","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}