In the sixth publication in the City Lights Spotlight Poetry Series, Cajun poet Micah Ballard's Waifs and Strays recombines the allure, fixations, and diction of the metaphysical poets with the alert
Who are we humans, with our differences and our personal histories, mythologies and urgencies, as well as our collective struggles and dreams? Why are we here? Questions of culture, ethnicity and gend
A landmark work of bio-romanticism, Mephistos and Other Poems is the first completely new collection in five years from legendary Beat and SF Renaissance poet Michael McClure, reflecting his interests
The prophetic poem that launched a generation when it was first published in 1956 is here presented in a commemorative 40th Anniversary Edition.When the book arrived from its British printers, it was
Taboo and sacrifice, transgression and language, death and sensuality—Georges Bataille pursues these themes with an original, often startling perspective. He challenges any single discourse on the ero
"Allen Ginsberg's Howl & Other Poems was originally published by City Lights Books in the fall of 1956. Subsequently seized by U.S. Customs and the San Francisco police, it was the subject of a long
“Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way, or even to say a simple thing in a simpler way.”—Charles BukowskiIn The Mathematics of the Breath and the Way, Charles Bukowski co
“Thomas Glave walks the path of such greats in American literature as Richard Wright and James Baldwin . . . he cuts to the bone of what it means to be black in America, white in America, gay in Ameri
With the great Renaissance voyages to the New World came the popularity of Wunderkammern, or cabinets of wonders, in which newly discovered monsters and marvels could be displayed. Like such a cabinet
While much has been written about the sociological significance of the blues, this is a unique inquiry into the blues and the mind, a study of the blues as thought. Here, the subconscious power of the
For many people, the election of Barack Obama seems to signify the end of racism as a pervasive social force in the United States: they point to Obama as a validation of the American ideology that an
"Asli Erdogan is an exceptionally perceptive and sensitive writer who always produces perfect literary texts."—Orhan Pamuk"Now, as her fame grows, her books have been selling more, and her [Turkish] p
"Peering into her life's cringe-worthy moments, best-selling author Beth Lisick excavates territory that most would rather ignore. In this collection of vignettes, Lisick expolores the bad judgments a
Allen Ginsberg's "Kaddish," a poem about the death of his mother, Naomi, is one of his major works. This special fiftieth anniversary edition of Kaddish and Other Poems features an illuminating afterw
Since his post-9/11 essay “The Emergency,” Andrew Joron has been regarded as one of American poetry’s most profound practitioners. Trance Archive draws on over twenty years of Joron’s work, from his e
The leading poet of his generation, Jose Emilio Pacheco is one of Mexico’s most esteemed and beloved writers. City of Memory and Other Poems presents two of his finest poetry collections, accompanied
"This is not a book. This is a guest list for a party of my heroes. Thank you for inviting us."--Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events books"I feel honored to be included in this bo
"A walking badass of a book."?Rolling Stone"Don is a great writer. His work is worth reading." -- Henry RollinsHallucinating between childhood and manhood, Eddie Burnett is both hero and anti-hero in
Journalist Gibler has been working and living in Mexico since 2006, sending dispatches to progressive print and broadcast news media. Here he takes a longer look at the patterns of repression and revo
A penetrating analysis of the hidden political, economic, and religious agendas behind the September 11 attacks and the war, with an emphasis on Afghanistan’s history and the U.S.-led globalization pr
Winner of the 2000 Harold Morton Landon Translati+C100on Award.A major Spanish poet of the Generation of ’27, Jorge Guillen’s luminous poetry, marked by nobility of mind, balance, and clarity of visio
The nearly seventy poems in this bilingual anthology are concerned with many kinds of love: erotic love, sublime love, filial love, maternal love, and love between brother and sister. They also explor
"Rory O'Connor is one of the smartest media guys around. He knows who's spinning, who's pandering, and who's putting money in his own pocket at the expense of logic, reason, and the public good."?Mich
Poet Alan Bernheimer provides a long overdue English translation of this French literary classic?Lost Profiles is a retrospective of a crucial period in modernism, written by co-founder of the surreal
"Davis' arguments for justice are formidable. . . . The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied."?The New York TimesWhat is the meaning of freedom? Angela Y. D
"Unwavering political contrarian Noam Chomsky smart-bombs the U.S. military's global Interventions (City Lights). Shock and awe!"Vanity FairMaking the Future presents more than thirty concise a
The best-known work by the eccentric anthropologist Jaime de Angulo, Indians in Overalls is a fascinating account of his first linguistic field trip—in 1921—to the Achumawi tribe of northeastern Calif
Notes on Thought and Vision by Imagist poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) is an aphoristic meditation on how one works toward an ideal body-mind synthesis; a contemplation of the sources of imagination and t
Praise for Border Patrol Nation by Todd Miller:?Scathing and deeply reported . . . quite possibly the right book at the right time”?Los Angeles Times?An alarming story”?Publishers Weekly, starred revi
". . . [Weaver] paints a romantic picture of Greenwich Village in the 1950s and '60s, when she worked in publishing and hung out with Allen Ginsberg and the poet Richard Howard and was wild and loose,
The United States is readily distinguishable from other countries, Chief Justice John Marshall opined in 1803, because it is "a nation of laws, not of men." In Perversions of Justice, Ward Churchill t
Departing from both the utopian-political and the romantic-baroque styles of past Cuban literature, Ponte deftly sketches a picture of a contemporary Cuba that is very different from the stereotype of
The gorgeous black and white line art inside this hefty little book instantly caught my eye. These linocut drawings were not the regular loteria images. They were modern adaptations, made with painsta
Blackshirts & Reds explores some of the big issues of our time: fascism, capitalism, communism, revolution, democracy, and ecology - terms often bandied about but seldom explored in the original a
These mad immortal stories, now surfaced from the literary underground, have addicted legions of American readers, even though the high literary establishment continues to ignore them. In Europe, howe
"Heidi Boghosian's Spying on Democracy is the answer to the question, 'if you're not doing anything wrong, why should you care if someone's watching you?'"?Michael German, Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU
**A Los Angeles Times summer reading pick**"A stunning new guidebook. . . History buffs will be amazed by the wealth of lore, legend and radiant fact."?San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chinatown i
Everyone’s favorite Dirty Old Man returns with a new volume of uncollected work. Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so proli
Wafaa Bilal's childhood in Iraq was defined by the horrific rule of Saddam Hussein, two wars, a bloody uprising, and time spent as a young adult interned in chaotic refugee camps in Kuwait and Saudi
