Curation #112 from my Kerouac bookshelf: Ring of Bone: Collected Poems by Lew Welch

Item #112 in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is this paperback 2012 City Lights (no printing number) copy of Ring of Bone: Collected Poems by Lew Welch. 262 pages, it measures about 5-1/2" x 8-3/4" and is in good condition (lots of dog-ears -- I don't remember doing that but it must have been me). The provenance is that this was a review copy I received from the publisher.

And, indeed, I did review this book here on The Daily Beat here on August 16, 2012. Lew Welch was a Hell of a poet, and as I said then, I love his poetry. I provided the following caveat important to a curation effort:

. . . do not confuse this with the 1979 edition of the same title, which was published not long after Lew "left his car and his camp and his plan, and walked off [from Gary Snyder's house] into the wilds of the northern Sierra" (p. 13), never to be heard from again (or found). This is a new (2012) edition from City Lights Books with a preface by Gary Snyder (Japhy Ryder in The Dharma Bums).

Regular readers need no introduction to Welch, but if you need one, check out my review at the link above. This book definitely deserves a spot on any Kerouac bookshelf worth its salt. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.



Rather than an Amazon link, here is a link to City Lights where you can -- and should -- buy Ring of Bone directly from the publisher. You're welcome, Mr. Ferlinghetti. Sorry, Mr. Bezos.



Below is a picture of Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of this book (6th from the left) on the day I started curating my collection. Next up: The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder edited by Bill Morgan.

Shelf #4 of my Kerouac bookshelf