By Harvey Mudd
Spinoza’s Dog
Poetry
Harvey Mudd’s first published poem was written in 1960. The last poem in this book was written in 2016. In the intervening 55 years, he wrote four books of poetry, two of which were published by Black Sparrow Press of Santa Barbara. One of these, The Plain of Smokes, was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times poetry book of 1983.
This volume contains poems selected from the previous four published books, but the majority are poems written between 2009 and the present.
Author
Harvey Mudd
Harvey Mudd is an American poet, writer, and painter who, disillusioned with American politics and culture, lives in France.
His memoir, Leaving My Self Behind, recounts the events and influences—from a prestigious family with ancestry that goes back to the first generation of American settlers in 1630 to the modern day—that formed the values and historical reference that led to his self-imposed exile.
It is also an experiment in “lean” autobiography, a “life” stripped of the romantic entanglements, but which includes an examination of a severely dysfunctional birth family and the resulting personal trials that shaped his character.
Other Books by Harvey Mudd
Leaving My Self Behind
Leaving My Self Behind recounts the childhood of the scion of a distinguished Los Angeles family under the shadow of an abusive mother with unconscious agendas.
There Was a Peacock
An eccentric collection with commentary of the provocative, irreligious, and often dark drawings by the Mexican journalist and illustrator, Juan Ezekiel Fontana.
A European Education
This a book-length poem is based on diaries author and poet Harvey Mudd kept during a six-month exploration of the places of the Holocaust in the winter of 1979-80.
The Plain of Smokes
The Plain of Smokes is a book-length poem about the city of Los Angeles similar to Hart Crane’s The Bridge. Includes drawings by California artist and ceramist, Ken Price.