Our Most Recent Fiction, Poetry & Essays 

SHADOWS IN THE STREAM, by Robert J. Romano, Jr., is a beautifully written and illustrated volume in which the author shares with readers the rich traditions of fishing and hiking in the region west of Rangeley, Maine, where he and his family spend their summers to remain in close contact with the natural world. Lovely drawings and a map by Trish Romano grace the pages of this letterpress printed book which comes in three editions:  handcolored softcover ($20.); signed/numbered edition ($40.) limited to 100 copies; handbound hardcover ($25.). 128 pages of sheer delight in both the reading and viewing, printed on Mohawk Vellum on antique presses.  (ISBN: 0-913559-90-3 - pap.) (ISBN: 0-913559-95-4 - cloth)
THE ARCHITECT, THE PHYSICIAN, & THE POET, by Rolf Sigford. The evolution of a physically intense, intellectually passionate romance through the lush, enchanting language of Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnets which remain true to their classical models. Yet the poetry is in modern American idom.  Art by Stephen Dwoskin.  64 pages.  Letterpress softcover: $15. (ISBN: 0-913559-93-8).  Limited (100 copies) hardcover edition: $35. (ISBN: 0-913559-94-6)
DAIMONION SONATA, by Steven Owen Shields.  Using traditional forms and metrics, the poet presents an allegorical world that is fantastic yet believable.  These parables of complex beauty and spiritual longing are created on the wings of a remarkable range of poetic styles, from the Keatsian ode to the villanelle.  Engraving by Rose Orcutt, featuring hand-coloration. 64 pages.  Letterpress softcover: $15. (ISBN: 0-913559-92-x) 

THE HUNGARIAN SEA, by Hollace Lee Gruhn. Intimately observed, imaginatively expressed connections between personal, public and natural histories flow through these poems, which were inspired by Hungarian landscapes and sensibilities when the author lived at Lake Balaton.  Three wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair.  Letterpress softcover edition. 96 pages.  Handcolored cover.  $16. (ISBN: 0-913559-87-3.) 
ROME BURNING, by Helen Barolini. This collection of elegant, quietly powerful poetry evokes the author's past life in Rome, with its rich, classical traditions, evident not only in this book but in the whole body of her work as a novelist, poet, and translator of Italian literature.  Author is the winner of an American Book Award.  Letterpress softcover edition.  56 pages. Cover drawing by George Biddle.  $14.  (ISBN: 0-913559-86-5)

SYNESTHETICS/EDGES OF SOUND, by Harry Smith & Stanley Nelson.  An essayist (Smith) and poet (Nelson) team up to achieve a literary synergy as they explore Synesthesia, a condition in which one kind of stimulation of the senses evokes sensations in another of the senses. Composer Scriabin, for example, insisted that certain sounds evoked for him the visualization of certain colors.  "A writer ahead of your time -- I can't argue with your esthetic, theoretical or applied..." Harper's Magazine.  Cover art by Greg Lago.  128 pages. Letterpress softcover:  $20.  Handcolored, signed pap. edition:  $25.  (ISBN: 0-913559-88-1)
TALES FOR THE TRAIL, backpacker's anthology of stories/poems by Boone, Cranston, Ford, Groome, Gustafson, Jauss, King, Mallinson, Mortenson, Napolin, Noyes, Rich, River, Smith, Smits, Williams.  Adventures in the air, land, waters of NY's Adirondacks to the rivers, lakes, forests, mountains of California, Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, Vermont.  104 pages. Letterpress softcover edition:  $16.  (ISBN: 0-913559-85-7) 
HUMAN/NATURE, by Lance Lee.  The poet's latest collection "bears witness to a lyricism rare in much of today's writing.  His 'Actaeon' is a monumental poem, weaving ancient myth and modern angst with a robust command of language, evidence of a master at work"--Jackson Wheeler, Editor, Solo . . . "Lance Lee's great strength is his ability to look with unflinching honesty at the condition of being human . . ." --Myra Schneider, author, Insisting on Yellow . . . "Brings voices as diverse as Hannibal, Rembrandt, Orpheus and Eurydice into the modern world . . . "--Martin Bax, Editor, Ambit.  120 pages.  Softcover: $16.95. (ISBN: 9780913559994)   

JACK'S BEANS, by Tom Smith.  Poetry in the format of a five-year diary. "This work builds upon itself eloquently, allowing the reader to explore, hand-in-hand with Smith, domesticity and decadence, the consumptive and restorative yearnings of youth, love and that which thwarts it" . . .-- Yvonne Daly, Prof., San Francisco State University. . . "By turns sad, profound, funny, incisive, poetic and moving" . . . --George Drury Smith, founder/editor, Beyond Baroque. Cover art by Anita Lobel.  372 pages.  Softcover: $29.95.  (ISBN: 978013559970)
CONFESSIONS OF A RATIONAL LUNATIC, by Marcus Rome. This fifth collection of poetry by this NYC psychoanalyst grips and holds onto the reader's psyche through an urgent, seductive, sometimes terrifying voice just beneath the surface of every line.  The rhythms and refrains might be likened to the throbbing of blood through the brain as the poet leads us through winding, dark corridors of the mind in search of love and security. . . Wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair.  96 pages:  Letterpress softcover:  $16.  (ISBN: 9780913559987)
  RECENT TITLES WITH FINE WRITING AND ART IN HANDSOME EDITIONS


CONTEMPORARY MARTRYDOM, by John Popielaski. Unflinching poetry on contemporary truths that are "crafted and considered and strong. I look forward to reading them again and again..."--Henry Taylor, Pulitzer Prize Poet. 64 pages. Wood engraving by Joanna Price. Letterpress soft: $14. (ISBN: 0-913559-73-3).

COOPERSTOWN CHRONICLES: LOVE & OTHER CAMP GAMES, by Peter Rutkoff. Insightfully, delightfully told coming-of-age tales at a summer camp on Lake Otsego near Cooperstown, NY. 144 pages. Hand-colored wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair. Letterpress soft: $23.50. (ISBN:0-913559-69-5).

FISHING WITH FAERIES, by Robert J. Romano, Jr. Hike sprite-laden trails with a knowledgeable and, at times, philosophical flyfisherman as he pursues his "trout passions" along "secret" fishing pools. His "Little Stream" is tucked away somewhere between the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and the Adirondacks in New York! Illustrations by Frank C. Eckmair, with map by Trish Romano. 224 pages. Trade soft: $18.95. (ISBN: 0-913559-81-4). Trade cloth: $28.95. (ISBN: 0-913559-80-6).

THE LIFE & DEATH OF A BOOK, by William MacAdams. This charming tale details the "rites of passage" of a book--from first publication to the shelves of Scribner's bookstore, then passed from hand to hand by its various owners, including a used book store, until it meets its final, ironic fate. A large selection of original wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair grace this book. Letterpress soft: $16. Sign ltd hard (100 copies): $45.

LONGING FOR LAURA, translated by AM Juster. Delicious translations of a selection of Petrarch's love sonnets. "Juster's translations remain true to the Italian and Petrarch's abbaabba rhyme scheme..."--Prof. Samuel Maio, California State University. Hand-colored wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair. 56 pages. Letterpress soft: $14. (ISBN: 0-913559-70-9).

THE MOONLIT DOOR, by Frank Fagan. A selection of fresh, wise, wry poems on human relationships, hopes, and fears, with the poet's special brand of insight. Collection includes Fagan's important earlier poem, "Four-Part Invention." 56 pages. Letterpress soft: $14.

A PUNK IN GALLOWS AMERICA, by PW Fox. A loss of connection and a questioning of common values mark the offbeat odyssey of Eddie Ways through the dark corners of Chicago's infamous Uptown section. GALLOWS was selected by SMALL PRESS REVIEW as one its "Best Picks" of the year. 232 pages. Trade soft: $24. (ISBN: 0-913559-68-7).

THE SEXY SIXTIES, by Harry Smith. Outrageous pronouncements on lies, love and power in an immodest decade. Essays filled with prescience and shrewd examination of America's most turbulent decade. 96 pages. Letterpress soft: $19. (ISBN: 0-913559-74-1). Limited Cloth: $45. (ISBN: 0-913559-75-x).

SHADWELL HILLS, by Rebecca Lilly. A keenly observed collection of haiku by a writer whose dedication to and intimacy with this poetic form enriches these sometimes serene, sometimes dark glimpses of our relationship with the natural world. Hand-colored wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair. 72 pages. Letterpress soft: $16. Ltd.Hard: $26.

THE SUSPENSE OF LONELINESS, an anthology of stories in which that most powerful of all human conditions --loneliness -- steers characters down strange, dangerous alleyways. Features the work of Gorman, Beres, Satterfield, Carrier, McCauley, Shubin and other fine writers in a Letterpress edition printed on 70 lb. Mohawk Vellum from metal type. Soft:$19.50. 136 pages.

WALKING THE PERIMETERS OF THE PLATE GLASS WINDOW FACTORY, by Jared Smith. Eloquent, engaging, sometimes unsettling poetic examination of the changes that time imposes on our personal as well as national histories. "Finely crafted, paced well, with effective images of how technological processes evoke the sense of contemporary alienation..."-- SMALL PRESS REVIEW. Wood engravings by Frank C. Eckmair. 68 pages. Letterpress soft: $16. (ISBN: 0-913559-66-0).

WHITE BUFFALO, by Peter Skinner. A stunning first novel by an accomplished painter, sculptor, and actor, WHITE BUFFALO is the tale of three mythic figures who embark on a pilgrimage on behalf of human justice across the brooding terrain of Eastern Washington...."Beautifully written, its themes resonate, its love story is persuasive, and its climax has genuine power..."--Richard Marek, former Pres./Publ., EP Dutton. 112 pages. Trade soft: $13.95. (ISBN: 0-913559-71-7). Trade cloth: $23.95. (ISBN: 0-913559-72-5).

Browse our other Fine Books of Prose & Poetry
SELLING AMERICA, by Tom Tolnay, was recently published by Silk Label Books.  Through light drama and dark humor, and employing a spectrum of sales personalities and products in realistic as well as fantastic situations, these 18 short stories explore how our personal, family, and social lives can be distorted by the 24/7 onslaught of sales pitches targeting us at shopping malls, on the internet, over tv and radio, on the telephone, in newspapers and magazines, on our highways, at our doorsteps, even in our dreams.  Cover wood engraving by Gregory Lago. 250 pages. Trade paperback: $12.99.  (ISBN: 1-928767-38-9)