Odes to Tools now in print

This entry is part 1 of 31 in the series Odes to Tools

 

Odes to Tools cover
Via Negativa has just given birth to its first all-analog offspring: Odes to Tools. The collection of 25 poems is now available through Amazon and from Phoenicia Publishing. Click through to read the catalog description and see a preview. Here’s an excerpt:

A great many poetry lovers already know and appreciate Dave’s writing, but […] Odes to Tools is also one of those subversive cross-over books, perfect as a gift for someone who loves tools but thinks they don’t like poetry. They’ll be surprised to find a poet who appreciates tools with his words in much the same way they take care of their own saws or planes: not wrapped in fancy fabric or elevated like sculptures, but held comfortably in the hands, thought about like friends, and cared for now and then with a little oil on a clean cloth.

The book is just $6.95, but if you’d like a signed copy, you’ll have to mail me a check or postal money order for U.S. $10.00. Send to: Dave Bonta, PO Box 68, Tyrone, PA 16686, USA. I have yet to put in a bulk order, so if you’re in a hurry, order it from the publisher or from Amazon (where you can get free shipping if you bundle it with other stuff).

I also recorded a free audio version of the book, just under half an hour long:

Download the mp3

Series NavigationOde to a Socket Wrench →

20 Replies to “Odes to Tools now in print”

  1. Dave! This is great news! I can’t wait to get a copy. I think I will get one for my uncle, also, as he is a tool lover, but not so much a poetry guy. Great way to win him over!

    1. Thanks, M-L. I am a bit more excited than I thought I would be, especially considering that the contents of the book don’t give that frisson of surprise and delight I experience with authors other than myself.

  2. Yeah, three cheers for Dave! Well done. Our poetry shelves have long been awaiting a Bonta volume. (And they’re just finished, paint now dry and books loaded onto them! I shall send a photograph.)

  3. This is what I wrote in comments on the Tool Odes April 29, 2008. “When does the book come out? I need to save up”

    Seemingly, I am a prophetess, and I have had time to save up.:)

    Congratulations, Dave. Yay!! Check’s in the mail. (or will be when I find my checkbook.)

    1. Oh, cool — I’d forgotten that.

      A prophet with a checkbook might be the one kind of prophet not completely lacking in honor in her own country — at least in the land of the almighty dollar.

    1. Awesome, thanks. Yeah, the six-hour account termination did really make me appreciate the wisdom of also generating physical artifacts like books (and maybe someday DVDs or CDs).

  4. Bravo! When I met Joe in London a year ago, he said,’now those poems about tools of Dave Bonta’s, if I were a publisher I’d snap them up…’, so more than one great mind was thinking alike.

    I love the cover photo too.

    1. Hey, we should’ve asked Joe to write a blurb! Thanks for passing that anecdote on — I am very honored by both of your regard for these poems.

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