Every once in a while a volume of poetry, prose, eulogies to lost love, work, death, junk, get drunk sing weep lie cheat love, the pissed-off cars from hell, comes along that renews one’s faith in Mankind. Songs of Desperation and Revenge by Jose Arroyo, is such a book. Published in a limited edition of 50 copies, (which have already sold out) by Hickathrift Press, this important volume showcases Arroyo’s instinctive innate talent as a poet and wordsmith. And crucially this poet has lived, not just one life, but two or three of the fuckers, and it shows in the power and candour of the poetry. I once wrote an article about the need for writers to have lived a little before putting the word down, and Arroyo’s art is a perfect example of this axiom… All those melt’s rolling off the conveyor belt of the creative writing factories, sure they can write, but they can’t produce anything honest and credible. All they produce are leaden and lubriciously written fairy tales and candy floss. Authenticity is what’s missing, and if you ain’t authentic, you might as well take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut! Try it, it’s not easy.
I was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of this rare book, which now takes pride of place in my Ranchlette Ridgwell bookshelves. I’ve also got one of Arroyo’s super triple cool tee-shirts, for not only is he a poet, he’s something of a renaissance man, junk art, woodcuts, linocuts, being just a few of the man’s many talents. He’s also a highly rated Hatter!
The only gripe I’ve got here, is that only 50 copies of the FAB book were produced, which is a criminally small amount, but I’m sure if you get in touch with the author direct, and start talking telephone numbers, you might be able to get hold of a precious signed copy.
Milk Race Fanatics, hold on to whatever you can hold on to, for here’s another Super 8mm eyeball twister from my Top Gun room. Una dos tres quatro…
Goodbye, I’ll be leavin’
I see no sense in this cryin’ and grievin’
We’ll both live a lot longer if you live without me…
Summer’s over, the days are drawing in, the nights are cooler….Fuck that, think endless summer amigos, travelling the world from one hemisphere to another, always following the sun. Well, that’s what the hero of my cult novel is currently undertaking as we speak, some surfers tried the idea in the 60’s, but they failed. Maybe Ronnie will go one better, who knows. So what of Burrito Deluxe? The book has just been published as an ebook by – 
lost elation 