N/O

Poetry. N/O is a book-length poem in two parts that marks the nineteenth publication from Ron Silliman, a prolific American writer, critic and organizer of localized issues. Described as a poem of moments, N/O expresses a poetic methodology that has brevity and wit on its side. At the same time, Silliman, who was once a leader of the Language poets, tips his hat to the tradition of the extended poem. N/O itself is considered to be two sections of Silliman’s longer project, The Alphabet, which itself contributes to a life-long work called Ketjak. In N/O, the poet rants, records, juxtaposes, declares, riffs, puns [and] pans in expression of his hunger and will to live and absorb –Tom Beckett. Silliman, a political poet par excellence, has written a book whose pleasures.are resonant for the time they take to taste –Samuel R. Delany.