2008-09-18 Palisadian-Post - "Local Press Publishes Poet Marin's 'Little Nuts'" by Pablo Capra

"Local Press Publishes Poet Marin's 'Little Nuts'"

by Pablo Capra


After six years of publishing chapbooks, Brass Tacks Press recently published its first paperback book, "Little Nuts" by Alden Marin.

Marin is a resident of the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, where his family has lived since 1930. He was educated at schools locally, as well as at Stanford and the Sorbonne. In addition to having written 11 books of poetry, he paints and writes music.

"Little Nuts" is written in a distinctly Southern California voice, it challenges definitions of poetry, it's fun to read, and it "gets down to brass tacks" (the expression usually means clearing out confusing details and finding out the real facts about something).

"Little Nuts" is almost the inauguration of a new poetic form. Its short prose poems are the kernels of truth that longer poems tease you into searching for. En masse, they reveal the postmodern dilemma of a man unable to make sense of this life and choosing instead "to live it in little bits and pieces." The game is hypervigilance, breathtaking honesty, and an ability to sum up and move on as quickly as possible. The phrase "little nuts" also describes the mania of being addicted to this game: "At some point... you begin to see everything as poetry."

On another note, "Little Nuts" is a richly sensual book full of poems about food, surfing, hiking, love, bright colors, travel, music, friends, and (for better or worse) drugs.

Buy "Little Nuts", learn more, or read an excerpt at www.lifeasapoet.com.

About Me

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Los Angeles, California, United States
Official website at www.brasstackspress.com