Realignment

Clayton Eshleman

Realignment is a chapbook-style tome put together by Treacle Press, bringing together the writing of Clayton Eshleman and the artwork of Nora Jaffe. An excellent combination, to be sure. Eshleman was still in his obsessive-love phase (in fact, much of this book reads almost like a preparation for The Gull Wall, released the following year and one of the highlights of Eshleman's literary career, from this reviewer's standpoint) and Jaffe's drawings are perfect reflections, simultaneously erotic and disturbing. The poems are interrupted by a short essay from Eshleman that branches the erotic obsession out and gives a slightly more prominent nod to the amazing breadth of knowledge that often seems to come out as afterthoughts and glancing references in the poems; reading this essay is in some ways intellectually daunting. As with reading some of Ivan Arguelles' finer moments, one gets to thinking that perhaps Mr. Eshleman has forgotten more about any of hundreds of subjects than we will ever know. That may scare readers away, which is unfortunate; not only is reading a Clayton Eshleman book, especially one from this period, a great pleasure, it's also an interesting learning experience. Taking some of his offhand references and doing a little research can lead to all sorts of nifty things.

As with most of Eshleman's books, I unhesitatingly recommend picking this up. As with most of Eshleman's books, you're probably going to have a hard time doing so for less than collectors' prices. That said, you're probably better off picking up The Gull Wall, which is still available at times for close to cover price, and using it to get a taste of whether your ideas jibe with Eshleman's. If they do, by the time you're finished with that book, you'll discover what a few of us already have-- Eshleman is not only obsessed, he's an obsession in himself. Once you've started, you will not want to stop.