Under Albany

Ron Silliman has written and edited 24 books of poetry and criticism to date, including the anthology In the American Tree. He lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two sons, and works as a market analyst in the computer industry. Since 1979, Silliman has been writing a poem entitled The Alphabet. Volumes published thus far from that project have included ABC, Demo to Ink, Jones, Lit, Manifest, N/O, Paradise, (R), Toner, What and Xing.

Ron Silliman's latest book, Under Albany (Salt Publishing, 2004), is a brilliant series of autobiographical, deep background vignettes that explicate -- no, enrich each of the 100 sentences of his 1981 poem Albany. It is detailed, moving, exasperating, romantic, heartfelt and delicious. For anyone interested in recent literary history and leftist politics, this is a must read. -- Tom Beckett Unprotected Texts "Under Albany" shows us that "Albany," a representative of Silliman's characteristically language-centered work, is not a product of random language, chance operation, or chaos, a charge often directed at writing like this. Rather, it is a profoundly complex exploration of the mind and emotion that is directly connected to the world and experience from which it emerges. -- Mark Tursi Rain Taxi