new from above/ground press: Labradoodle, An essay on David McGimpsey, by Marcus McCann

Labradoodle
An essay on David McGimpsey
Marcus McCann
$4

A primer on David McGimpsey for those who have never heard of David McGimpsey

The poet laureate of the tragic, the mentally
unwell, and poor dressers, all who opted out
of the grading curve of the mall parking lot.
Patron saint of the dive bars of Montreal.

Every poem unfolds like an episode
of Full House. Funny, and then, wham!
a surprise “life lesson.” And a hug.
Except, rather than the cast of Full House,

it's you doing the hugging, and the man
you're hugging is a prickly SOB
who doesn't want to be hugged, he will tell you,
even though deep, deep down he does.

That and the Olsen twins. People say,
Oh, David McGimpsey, he's the guy who writes
funny poems. Which is a little like saying,
Hey, he's the guy with the really funny cancer.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
August 2013
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

An earlier version was “Published privately for Mark Schaan, with love, / on the event of Christmas 2011.” by The Onion Union.

Marcus McCann is the author of two previous above/ground titles: Heteroskeptical (2007) and Town in a Long Day of Leaving (2010). Labradoodle is his ninth chapbook. He is a winner of the John Newlove Award and the EJ Pratt Medal for poetry. His two trade collections Soft Where (2009, Chaudiere Books) and The Hard Return (2012, Insomniac) can be found at Glad Day, a bookshop he co-owns with some 20 queer radicals in Toronto. marcusmccann.com
 
Marcus McCann will be launching Labradoodle in Ottawa as part of the above/ground press 20th anniversary reading/launch/party on August 23, 2013.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 402 McLeod St #3, Ottawa ON K2P 1A6 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com