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Binding Unknown ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a chance find which stunned me
This is Canadian poet and author George Bowering's memoir of his friend and compatriot, the painter Greg Curnoe, who died in a road accident in 1992. The two were friends for almost 30 years.

Until 24 hours ago, I hadheard of neither. I picked this book up for a few pennies at the literaryequivalent of the last chance saloon - a vast line of shelves outside asecond hand bookshop inHay-on-Wye on the England-Wales border.

Havingread a quarter of it before even paying, I went back to my car, mesmerised,and finished the book before driving home. I now want to read as much as Ican by this author and to see the works of his subject.

Bowering choosesnot to give us the written equivalent of a photograph, but rather that of abriefly and deftly-made sketch - a sketch which is all the more effectivebecause of precisely that brevity and deftness.

Each page contains asingle memory. It might be a memory of an art installation, a poetryreading, a strange dream, a meal, a car journey, a television appearance,the two men and their families going on a day trip, or whatever. In spiteof its brevity, my first thought on reading The Moustache was to make acomparison with Boswell's Johnson. That is not to say Bowering is guilty ofBoswell's self-aggrandizement, but rather that he has the Georgianbiographer's ability to draw with words and, above all, the same empathywith and love for his subject.

From what I can tell by browsing Amazon,Bowering is as deservedly well-known in his native land and the UnitedStates as he is undeservedly unknown here, even if this book is currentlyout of print on your side of the Atlantic.

The Moustache is one of thosepieces a person discovers and then feels the need to evangelizeabout.

Which I suppose I just have. ... Read more

Product Description
Cover by Christina Vickers, Poetry by Peter Armstrong, Gael Turnbull, George Bowering, Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Anselm Hollo, John James, Thomas Clark and Nick Wayte. ... Read more