The City Real and Imagined

by C.A. Conrad, Frank Sherlock

Out of print. See Expanded Edition, 2018, Bloof Books.
Poetry. Wander with CAConrad and Frank Sherlock through this psychogeographical poem. Experience peoples' histories and magical traditions rooted in the first capital of the American possible--the city of Philadelphia. Visit landmarks that remain standing, revisit citizens that live on in memory, and participate in the future mappings of your city yet to be realized--the city real and imagined.

Genres: Poetry

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

CAConrad’s childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift. He is the author of 9 books of poetry and essays the latest While Standing In Line For Death is forthcoming from Wave Books in September 2017. He is a Pew Fellow and has also received fellowships from Lannan Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Headlands Center for the Arts, Banff, RADAR, Flying Ojbect and Ucross. For his books, essays, and details on the documentary The Book of Conrad (Delinquent Films, 2016), please visit http://CAConrad.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Griffin Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

what was a
window before
the word?
imagine entire
cities with no
language

no?
no.

for other
possibilities
please ignore
your priest

your
mouth will
free
you

gnaw your
foot from
the trap
c'mon YOU!

but these jobs?
whose idea
was this
planet
anyway!?
mother fuckers
shitting across
our lives with
these jobs!

time was
longer
before the
sponge of
routine

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember when this book originally came out under Factory School, and how profound it impacted me and my understanding of Philadelphia, of American Capitalism/Imperialism, and of intimacy. Revisiting it via the new edition 8 years later, I find that I've been even more entranced and drawn into the text, more so than I ever knew possible. Not just nostalgic, but mostly an exploration of the enduring qualities of the text itself, I find the experience of having this book in my life, as others have it too, an anchor, a grounding mechanism, a baseline. Thanks to the poets and publishers for keeping it closer in than the periphery.

[Bill Tarlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. The collaboration between Conrad and Sherlock is one long poem. Although the style shifts here and there from narrow columns of narrative voice to projective lines that spread loose across the page, I found the pace and tone consistent.
The book is rooted in Philadelphia and I found the city more Real than Imagined. It's full of anecdotes and frustrations of the everyday lives of poets and artists. The authors pull meaning and sometimes magic from the sidewalks. There's a fair amount of class anger which is a good thing.
If this were my first experience of CAConrad I wouldn't be super excited. But I started with his somatic exercises and then the Book of Frank before landing here and will continue tracking down whatever I can by him. He has great energy. I would definitely check out more work by Sherlock also to see if he gets more punch out of a shorter poem than out of this extended ramble.

[C.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very proud of this book and the hard work Frank and I did!

And THANK YOU Bill Marsh and Zoe Strauss!
And thank you everyone who will buy it and read it!
CAConrad
http://cityrealandimagined.blogspot.com/

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review- http://sinkreview.org/review/brotherl...