Publisher's Synopsis
"The Book of Moss" is a collection of poems, first published by Garden Street Press in 1992; this current edition includes all of the poems in the original edition plus 33 unpublished and hitherto uncollected poems.Benjamin Saltman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1927. He began writing poetry seriously in 1965. Blue With Blue, his first book of poems, published by Lillabulero Press, appeared in 1968. Since then he published seven other books: The Leaves The People, Red Hill Press, 1977; Elegies Of Place, Armchair Press, 1977; Deck, Ithaca House, 1979; Five Poems, Santa Susana Press, 1989; The Book Of Moss, 1992, Garden Street Press; The Sun Takes Us Away: New And Selected Poems, Red Hen Press, 1996; and Sleep And Death The Dream, published posthumously by Red Hen Press, 1999. This marks his tenth book of verse. W.S. Merwin said of him: "Benjamin Saltman is a fine poet, a genuine one, which is saying a great deal, because I think that at anytime there is a lot of showy performance and no so much of always rather surprising welling up of the source itself. Lovely plainness, apparent plainness, with that depth beyond it."The book was edited by former student, Nicholas Campbell.Praise for The Book of Moss: "These poems are wonderfully restless, always in a hurry. Benjamin Saltman can make waxing the car or just sitting in a 'cool place' a sort of sports event for the mind. Yet the poems close firmly, some about the Poet Self, some with humor and sadness about Us. Here are the lonely but warm observations of an exceptional talent: a fine collection."Reed Whittemore"Benjamin Saltman is among the most graceful and gentle poets living in Los Angeles or anywhere. I'm very glad to see this collection which contains many poems I've admired for years and new prizes as well."James Krusoe, Santa Monica Review"Everyone who knows Ben Saltman comments on his rare and humble sensibility; indeed, this is the quality that leaps off the page. Saltman notices details as if he had been gone for a long time and returned to a strange sad planet that he still loves. There is something else to love and that is [Saltman's] stately acceptance of the passage of time, as he 'lengthen(s) toward sleep.' In the first poem of the collection, 'Myself As A House, ' Saltman writes, 'Please convince me that holding on/is as good as flying, ' and after you close the book it seems as though Saltman has done both."Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, August 30th, 1993, Review of the First Edition of The Book of Moss
