Singing for Nothing: Selected Nonfiction as Literary Memoir

It turns out Wally Swist is a skilled essayist and reviewer as well as a celebrated poet and a decidedly eclectic reader. Singing for Nothing (the title alone says something about the condition of poetry) is a refined review of the work of both known and overlooked contemporary poets as well as essays and reviews of the work of a range of artists writers and even scientists. The accounts are so intriguing even for those unfamiliar with the subterranean world of poetry or obscure literature after reading this book one would want to head off to the nearest library or bookstore and see what youve missed. - John Hanson Mitchell Wally Swists life has been steeped in poetry and guided by a steadfast belief in the power of literature. As book seller a book creator a poet an essayist a reviewer and a generous supporter of other writers he inhabits a world in which reading is indivisible from writing and cant be untangled from life itself. So it seems utterly fitting that Singing for Nothing maps that life by way of his essays and reviews. Through the assiduous shaping of his critical commentary on literature from around world and close to home Swist has created a distinctive thought-provoking memoir that is also a celebration of literature itself. - Jane Brox Singing for Nothing was written over a period of 40 years. The essays reviews and other selected prose collected here constitute the authors poetic ruminations his political and social thought and his perennial philosophy over that time--to now. Much of the book was composed only recently in an attempt to push the traditional boundaries of nonfiction and memoir. Each of the eight chapters are introduced with anecdotal material from Swists literary life which albeit was impoverished financially at times but nearly always rich with his meetings with authors and his luminous reading through the years. Topics include reviews of the work of significant poets and writers; a chapter regarding haiku an often misunderstood Japanese poetic form and its intersection with Zen; a few academic essays regarding pop culture the science of measurement and the history of retirement in America; several blogs regarding psycho-spirituality; and a guided morning meditation using the chakras closes this book which also includes some of this award-winning poets poetry. The volumes subtitle Selected Nonfiction as Literary Memoir is apropos for what this book both embraces and what it explores by pressing the limits of traditional literary boundaries. Wally Swists books include Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love (Southern Illinois University Press 2012); The Daodejing: A New Interpretation with David Breeden and Steven Schroeder (Lamar University Literary Press 2015); and Invocation (Lamar University Literary Press 2015). His poems have appeared in many publications including Commonweal North American Review Rattle Sunken Garden Poetry 1992-2011 (Wesleyan University Press 2012) and upstreet. A poem of Swists was recently included on the national radio program The Writers Almanac.