Poetry. Question: When is a poet's first book a reader? Answer: When you're Garrett Caples, whose poetic persona is often-perverse, decidedly-decisive, randomly-rule-breaking and impoetically-casual. Yet, through it all, the reader experiences the pleasures and charms of reading a forbidden journal, written by a smart young writer. "Caples is part of a younger generation of writers reinvigorating contemporary poetry by combining modernist and Language-poetic verbal angularity with the sheer enthusiasm and lustiness of adolescence"—Publishers Weekly.

The Garrett Caples Reader

Literature & Fiction

Caples, Garrett

Poetry

Black Square Editions

Er, Um

Meritage Pr

Poetry. COMPLICATIONS is the second full-length poetry collection by Oakland-based poet Garrett Caples. Reflecting the moral disintegration of the post-9/11 world, COMPLICATIONS is an even wilder, darker, funnier exploration of poetic consciousness than its predecessor, THE GARRETT CAPLES READER. From semiotic reportage to automatic writing, oulipian constraint to straightforward elegy, COMPLICATIONS is an eclectic tour de force in the service of a fundamental proposition: "surreality is real." About THE GARRETT CAPLES READER, Philip Lamantia earlier said, "a wonderful book of prose and poetry" while Robert Creeley called it "a lovely piece of work all the way through."

Complications

Meritage Press

Verse collection from Garrett Caples. This book is Number 6 in The Page Poets Series. Cover art based on a work on paper by Harley Lafarrah Eaves.

The Rise & Fall of Johnny Volume (The Page Poets Series)

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Retrievals

"I adore [Caples’] prescription to read widely and even perversely; and his breezy style is engaging." Don Share"Caples’ discussions are careful, nuanced, personal, and opinionated." Steven Fama"Caples is part of a younger generation of writers reinvigorating contemporary poetry by combining modernist and Language-poetic verbal angularity with the sheer enthusiasm and lustiness of adolescence." Publishers Weekly"Caples supplies us with a full aesthetic meal, with alarming images right out of the French Surrealists. He also means what he says; regardless of any implications to the contrary, Caples is writing out of emotion, even well-done sentiment." Rain TaxiFrom "Theory on Retrievals":The concept of the poet-critic has always been a compelling one to me; it's hard not to admire 19th century French poets like Gautier, writing elegant prose in newspapers on topics the general public was more interested in reading about than it was in reading his poetry. (I've never been one to hold the general public's lack of interest in poetry against it; that's the way of the world.) The compensation was that being a poet gave one a certain license as a critic to roam among all the arts.Retrievals is a book of essays written over the course of ten years about underrecognized poets, unfairly discredited critics, and artists obscured by more famous relations.Garrett Caples is the author of The Garrett Caples Reader (Angle Press/Black Square Editions, 1999), Complications (Meritage Press, 2007), and Quintessence of the Minor (Wave Books, 2010). He is the co-editor of The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia (University of California Press, 2013). He is the poetry editor at City Lights Books, and curates the Spotlight Poetry Series there. He has a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and lives in Oakland.

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Wave Books

"Thom Gunn, Barbara Guest, Robert Creeley, Philip Lamantia, all ghosts now, are invoked without sentiment and with plenty of wry humor." —Kevin Killian, Attention SpanA power ballad was a hair metal band's voyage into the softer side of rock, compromising to the integrity of the genre, but genuine and trailblazing. So too is Caples's Power Ballads. His poems and prose pieces are bizarre and hilarious, in which Dylan and Bowie sit alongside the French surrealists, with the occasional turn into heartfelt romanticism.From "Garrett Caples Rides Again":my concealed carry personalityhas deformed my trouser contentto the extent my permit permitsi'm shooting off often in publici'm a blow dart in a wind tunnelaimed in the wrong directiona boycotted russian vodka distilleran assdial away from arrestGarrett Caples is the author of the essay collection Retrievals, two books of poetry, The Garrett Caples Reader, Complications, and the pamphlet Quintessence of the Minor. He is the co-editor of The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia, Particulars of Place by Richard O. Moore, and Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems by Frank Lima. He is an editor at City Lights Books and curates the Spotlight Poetry Series there. He was also a contributing writer to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. He has written articles and blogged for the Poetry Foundation and occasionally blogs for blogcitylights.com. He has a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley and lives in San Francisco.

Power Ballads

A power ballad was a hair metal band's voyage into the softer side of rock, compromising to the integrity of the genre, but genuine and trailblazing. So too is Caples' Power Ballads. His poems and prose pieces are bizarre and hilarious, in which Dylan and Bowie sit alongside the French surrealists, with the occasional turn into heartfelt romanticism.

Lovers of Today

About the Author\nGarrett Caples is the author of LOVER OF TODAY? (Wave Books, forthcoming 2021), POWER BALLADS (Wave Books, 2016), Complications (2007), and The Garrett Caples Reader (1999), a collection of outtakes, The Rise & Fall of Johnny Volume (2020), and a bilingual selection, Noches Apatridas (Unstated Nights, 2019). He's also written a book of essays, RETRIEVALS (Wave Books, 2014), and a pamphlet, Quintessence of the Minor (2010). He's the editor of Philip Lamantia's PRESERVING FIRE (Wave Books, 2018), Samuel Greenberg's Poems from the Greenberg MSS (2019), and Michael McClure's MULE KICK BLUES and Last Poems (2021), as well as the co-editor of The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia (2013), Particulars of Place (2015) by Richard O. Moore, Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems (2016) by Frank Lima, and Arcana: A Stephen Jonas Reader (2019). He is an editor at City Lights Books, where he curates the Spotlight Poetry Series. He has a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and lives in San Francisco.\nIn LOVERS OF TODAY, Garrett Caples is his most playful and heartfelt. Here are poems that generously place the reader in a particular poetic moment that is both elegiac and also wildly entertaining. Taken from a bar of the same name in the Lower East Side in New York City, Lovers of Today is a collection of poetry that pays tribute to friendships including Kevin Killian, John Ashbery, Joanne Kyger, and Bill Berkson, among others, wherein each poem is a celebration of life's ephemerality. 
Poetry.

Literary

InLovers of Today, Garrett Caples is his most playful and heartfelt. Here are poems that generously place the reader in a particular poetic moment that is both elegiac and also wildly entertaining. Taken from a bar of the same name in New York City,Lovers of Today is a collection of poetry that pays tribute to friendships including Kevin Killian, John Ashbery, Joanne Kyger, and Bill Berkson, among others, wherein each poem is a celebration of life's ephemerality.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caples, Garrett. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Caples, Garrett

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caples, Garrett. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Garrett Caples Reader

Er, Um

Complications

The Rise & Fall of Johnny Volume (The Page Poets Series)

Retrievals

Retrievals

Power Ballads

Power Ballads

Lovers of Today

Lovers of Today