Some Recommendations

I am a big fan of Jan Herman, particularly as an editor and publisher.  You may know him for his work on the little mag San Francisco Earthquake and the Nova Broadcast series.  For my money these two projects are some of the most interesting of the late 1960s/early 1970s.  Herman put the Fluxus idea of the democratic multiple into practice with spectacular results.  He also worked as a right hand man for Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Dick Higgins at City Lights and Something Else Press.  Herman's is a remarkable story that I have had the pleasure of getting to know first hand for years.  Click Here.  Granary Books has just issued a memoir by Jan that I highly recommend.  Click Here.  Order a copy; it is a fascinating story.

Which brings me to David Abel's Passages Bookshop in Portland Oregon.  Abel shares a space with Mimeo Mimeo favorites Division Leap.  There may be no more exciting and innovative space relating to book dealing happening in the country right now.  And things are going to happen in this space.  Think Kaprow.  The potential of their combined forces is mind blowing.  Division Leap and Passages are taking things to the next level.  Division Leap worked with curator Libby Werbel on an exhibit dealing with ephemera for the Portland Museum of Art.  Click Here.  Passages just issued its first catalog, which is fantastic.  Click Here.  

On a personal note and to tie things back to Jan, the catalog had a copy of Ferdinand Kriwet's Publit published by Nova Broadcast in 1971.  Kriwet provides a critical reading of concrete poetry, which could serve as an introduction into much of the work offered by Passages for sale.  The first collectible I ever bought was the Nova Broadcast The Dead Star and the last Broadcast I needed to complete my set was Publit.  I have been trying to lock down a copy for years.  Again I highly recommend Passages Bookshop.  They have the hard to find and extraordinary.

JB