Whim Man Mammon
by Abraham Smith
Poetry.
ISBN: 9780976569282
1 October 2007
$14
“If Frank Stanford got up from the dead to slam (and slammed to win), what he would say might well resemble the poems in Whim Man Mammon. That said, Abe Smith’s got his own lizard thing going on here: No resurrection required. This is deft work—and hefty work (as in big and as in bag)—that squeezes gallon after gallon of the 21st century’s natural and cultural detritus into one marvelous sack of song. To my mind, it’s the most useful writing from a Wisconsinite since Joe Garden’s window signs at Badger Liquor. There is no higher compliment.”
—Graham Foust
Mash Gertrude Stein with agrarian folk and you have the unholy matrimony of Abraham Smith’s debut, Whim Man Mammon.
- Cathy Park Hong
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abraham Smith hails from Ladysmith, Wisconsin. His poetry collections — via Action Books — are Only Jesus Could Icefish in Summer (2014); Hank (2010); and Whim Man Mammon (2007). His reading highlights include stints at the Academy of American Poets’ Rooftop Reading Series and Opium Magazine’s Literary Death Match. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Smith winters as Instructor of English at University of Alabama; Smith summers as farmhand (Farmall tractor rider) on Hawks’ Highland Farm.