A Razor writing is even sharper than a razor fight

[Alex]

On Sunday I purchased this book. On Monday I began to devour it. Yesterday I finished reading the volume, and reread some pieces that were particularly savory. As a scholar, I see Razor within the tradition of poets maudit, going back to Francois Villon and on through the centuries with Corso, Burroughs, Jim Carroll, Rimbaud, Celine et al smiling from their respective heavensandhells and saying yes, Razor is one of us. To say he is an outlaw poet is not to fix his work in amber, but it does suggest a lineage. Then again, I can see everyone from Adrienne Rich and Wallace Stevens to Bukowski and Langston Hughes in the headlong, heartfelt, dangerous wisdom Razor's work embodies. As a lover of poetry I cherish this volume as a thing of the soul, the same way I cherish Leaves of Grass. It's a book that will save lives, no doubt.