Via Negativa has just given birth to its first all-analog offspring: Odes to Tools. The collection of 25 poems is now available through Amazon and from Phoenicia Publishing. Click through to read the catalog description and see a preview. Here’s an excerpt:
A great many poetry lovers already know and appreciate Dave’s writing, but […] Odes to Tools is also one of those subversive cross-over books, perfect as a gift for someone who loves tools but thinks they don’t like poetry. They’ll be surprised to find a poet who appreciates tools with his words in much the same way they take care of their own saws or planes: not wrapped in fancy fabric or elevated like sculptures, but held comfortably in the hands, thought about like friends, and cared for now and then with a little oil on a clean cloth.
The book is just $6.95, but if you’d like a signed copy, you’ll have to mail me a check or postal money order for U.S. $10.00. Send to: Dave Bonta, PO Box 68, Tyrone, PA 16686, USA. I have yet to put in a bulk order, so if you’re in a hurry, order it from the publisher or from Amazon (where you can get free shipping if you bundle it with other stuff).
I also recorded a free audio version of the book, just under half an hour long:
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Odes to Tools now in print
- Ode to a Socket Wrench
- Ode to a Claw Hammer
- Ode to a Musical Saw
- Ode to a Hand Truck
- Ode to a Shovel
- Ode to a Hatchet
- Ode to Scissors
- Ode to a Bucket
- Ode to Forks
- Ode to a Magnetic Screwdriver
- Ode to a Plumb Bob
- Ode to a House Jack
- Ode to a Measuring Tape
- Ode to Scythes
- Ode to a Plane
- Ode to a Spirit Level
- Ode to a Hoe
- Ode to Tin Snips
- Ode to a Crowbar
- Ode to a Coping Saw
- Ode to a Hive Tool
- Ode to a Compass
- Ode to a Shoehorn
- Ode to a Wire Brush
- Woodrat Podcast 2: Elizabeth Adams and “Odes to Tools”
- New Odes to Tools review by Noel Sloboda
- New review of Odes to Tools
- New review of Odes to Tools by Kathleen Kirk
- Odes to Tools as “living poetry”
- Scythes revisited
Dave! This is great news! I can’t wait to get a copy. I think I will get one for my uncle, also, as he is a tool lover, but not so much a poetry guy. Great way to win him over!
Well, I hope it works. It could always backfire, you know!
so exciting! and the timing was great. i had some other things at amazon i just had to have. i’ll have to try to get an autograph at some point!
Hey, thanks for your enthusiasm! I’m sure I’ll get up there at some point — maybe our next trip to the Adirondacks.
that would be great!
Congratulations, Dave! It’s about time you got some of your work in print after years of writing, how exciting for you.
Thanks, M-L. I am a bit more excited than I thought I would be, especially considering that the contents of the book don’t give that frisson of surprise and delight I experience with authors other than myself.
Yeah, three cheers for Dave! Well done. Our poetry shelves have long been awaiting a Bonta volume. (And they’re just finished, paint now dry and books loaded onto them! I shall send a photograph.)
Thanks, Clive! This book won’t take up too much room on the shelf, though, I promise.
I’ll have to mail mine to you.
This is what I wrote in comments on the Tool Odes April 29, 2008. “When does the book come out? I need to save up”
Seemingly, I am a prophetess, and I have had time to save up.:)
Congratulations, Dave. Yay!! Check’s in the mail. (or will be when I find my checkbook.)
Oh, cool — I’d forgotten that.
A prophet with a checkbook might be the one kind of prophet not completely lacking in honor in her own country — at least in the land of the almighty dollar.
Glad to see Via Negative back online. Now I can add my congratulations to the list. I can’t wait to read it. My check is the mail as well.
Awesome, thanks. Yeah, the six-hour account termination did really make me appreciate the wisdom of also generating physical artifacts like books (and maybe someday DVDs or CDs).
Bravo! When I met Joe in London a year ago, he said,’now those poems about tools of Dave Bonta’s, if I were a publisher I’d snap them up…’, so more than one great mind was thinking alike.
I love the cover photo too.
Hey, we should’ve asked Joe to write a blurb! Thanks for passing that anecdote on — I am very honored by both of your regard for these poems.
I’ve ordered my copy and can’t wait to get it. This is a splendid idea. Brava Beth for hatching it.
Thanks for ordering it, Clive!
I’m happy to hear this, Dave. I love those poems of yours!
Oh, I’m glad. Thanks!