Ordering: Greatest Hits: 60 Years of Lookin
Now available on Amazon as an e-book : http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Hits-Years-Lookin-ebook/dp/B0084KSW6C/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337462236&sr=1-2- ISBN: 978-1-937493-06-6
144 pages: 8.5X5.5 inches
Paperback14.95& shipping and handling $4 Media Mail; $5.50 Priority Mail
Available direct through:
send checks to Mary Slocum
P.O.Box 304, Gaston, Or. 97119
At last a book of poetry that makes sense without the requisite poetic sensibility ( which is so often there to its own splendid perfected immortalized self).. In that ongoing unending tug of war between art and life this book casts it’s vote for life and gives witness to someone who has done it on their own…There is gold shining forgiveness and lush hush of innocence-here. This book takes the oars of poetry out of the dark lake of the academy expanding the acreage that truth requires and allowing for the fresh originality that surfaces in wide margins. When Ann Sexton said, “ a book should serve as an axe for the frozen sea within us” I don’t think she was talking about Mary Slocum but she was. Dennis McBride, poet, essayist Looking for Peoria.
Sixty Years of Looking offers a panoramic view of life from birth through death, with all its attendant triumph and tragedy. These
carefully crafted songs of longing and regret are filled with the gallows humor of those who have been hit hardest by the empty promise
of American capitalism. Mary Slocum’s devastating reportage of the minute particulars of relationships, childhood memory, and gender
discrimination in the workplace suggests how we might survive loneliness, marriage, and the aging process. The melancholy subject
matter is offset by her sharp wit and the pleasure to be found in the plainspoken vernacular of everyday working people. Containing
everything from astute comparisons of rural vs. urban lifestyle to maddening depictions of the uphill battles fought by social workers,
this astounding collection speaks to us all. –Christopher Luna,
Printed Matter Vancouver publisher and author of Ghost Town, USA
Mary Slocum's poems reflect a lifetime of challenging jobs as well as challenging private life. She has worked as an electrician for years, then shifted to the even more challenging job of social worker. Mary has a keen eye, her writing is direct and poignant, and her poems avoid all sentimentality and self-pity. I find her work encouraging and reading them makes me feel better. - Velena Orr, poet, Taking it to the Limit.
Now available on Amazon as an e-book : http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Hits-Years-Lookin-ebook/dp/B0084KSW6C/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337462236&sr=1-2