I bought this fourth edition, January 1979 copy on May 20, 1981 and it has been dear to me ever since. Diana di Prima signed this for me at the Seattle Bumpershoot Festival in @2001. Lucky Me! ( )

Though The Revolution simmered away so that many of the poems feel rootless,

still the deep desire for Change to make Life Good comes through strong. ( )

I find poetry collections hard to review. I definitely know if I think they're good or not. But parsing what makes them good and finding the specifics and language to explain that to other readers can feel next to impossible.

I've been reading Diane di Prima's poems since the early 80s and always find them compelling. Her language pulls readers along like a torrent during flood season: rapidly and totally. Or maybe I should say I consume her writing the way I consume baklava: insatiably and much too quickly.

The Revolutionary Letters was originally published by City Lights fifty years ago. This new edition makes it clear that, despite the distance in time, di Prima is still speaking to readers in bold language that forces us to reexamine the nature of our daily existence, the distance between our world and a world with justice.

If you are the sort of person who thinks about things, who cares about true and complicated fairness, who wrestles with ideas, who refuses to give up the dream of a better world, read this book. And reread it. Let it sweep you along, then return to it to savor each word.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. ( )

From "Revolutionary Letter #9":

"None of us knows the answers, think about
these things.

The day will come when we have to know
the answers."


From "Revolutionary Letter #10":

"These are transitional years and the dues
will be heavy."


From "Revolutionary Letter #40":

"IF THE WORD HAS POWER YOU SHALL NOT
STAND

AMERICA,"

( )

Laughably poor. The poetry itself is weak and inconsequential, which is true of a lot of beatish/hippiesque leftist poetry of this period. But the angry, painfully earnest politics of this woman are just beyond contempt.

A mixture of Luddite, Trotsky, teenage angst, and stoner philosophy - with targets ranging from canned corn (bad, along with any processed food), school (bad, along with any government-funded infrastructure), hippies who want a nicer place to live (bad, because it hints at an acceptance of property rights) and generally not being prepared for the coming class war. The Big Bad is obviously "the man" aka the establishment, aka the government, aka normativity, aka the bourgeoisie, aka any business whatsoever, aka anyone who doesn't share her ideals.

It would be funny if it betrayed an ounce of irony. I'm told Di Prima also publishes some less-political poetry which is more palatable. On this evidence, I'm happy to remain ignorant of it. ( )