RFB
“The poems are excellent. Very intense and emotionally believable.”
–Cynthia Huntington, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire
–Cynthia Huntington, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire
Jarett Kobek ON The Rimbaud Fake Book by Jason Tallon
A gift from the universe. It’s 2004 and I'm in the East Village’s now gentrified-to-death St. Mark’s Bookshop. The store has a consignment rack. If you know how to use it, it’s a barometer for political and social currents.
This time, at the rack, I find a volume called The Rimbaud Fake Book. Its central conceit is that the author, Jason Tallon, is the reincarnation of Rimbaud, and he’s writing truly bizarre poetry and emails in the style of the late lamented. But that’s not all - the book has been defaced. The author has rewritten half the text in red ballpoint, scotch taping in drawings of “Sly Stallone as Arthur Rambo.” I look at the price: $10. I’m too cheap, I let it pass.
The next morning I wake up and cry out. What have I done? I run to the store, hoping the book is still there. It is. I buy it and use the text to hunt down Tallon - no small feat given that this occurs pre-social media.
We’ve been best friends ever since.
A gift from the universe. It’s 2004 and I'm in the East Village’s now gentrified-to-death St. Mark’s Bookshop. The store has a consignment rack. If you know how to use it, it’s a barometer for political and social currents.
This time, at the rack, I find a volume called The Rimbaud Fake Book. Its central conceit is that the author, Jason Tallon, is the reincarnation of Rimbaud, and he’s writing truly bizarre poetry and emails in the style of the late lamented. But that’s not all - the book has been defaced. The author has rewritten half the text in red ballpoint, scotch taping in drawings of “Sly Stallone as Arthur Rambo.” I look at the price: $10. I’m too cheap, I let it pass.
The next morning I wake up and cry out. What have I done? I run to the store, hoping the book is still there. It is. I buy it and use the text to hunt down Tallon - no small feat given that this occurs pre-social media.
We’ve been best friends ever since.