The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You by Stanford, Frank - 1977

MILL MOUNTAIN, 1971. Book. Near Fine. Soft cover. 1st Edition. A NEAR FINE FIRST EDITION SCARCE.

Fayetteville & [Seattle]: Lost Roads/Mill Mountain Press, 1977.. First edition.. 542 pp. Very near fine in illustrated wrappers. Stanford’s epic poem begun as a teen and worked on and off for years. Issued as Lost Roads 7-12. Though there is an assigned isbn for a hardcover edition of this title, one was not produced.

Fayetteville, AR: A Mill Mountian Book | Lost Roads, 1977. Soft Cover. Very Good binding. Octavo. [8], 542 pp. First edition. In publisher's wrappers. Some light soiling to the bottom edge of the textblock; spine a bit sunned; contents are clean and binding is solid. A nice copy of an uncommon and desirable book. After Stanford's death, the poet and critic, Lorenzo Thomas in his article, "Finders, Losers: Frank Stanford's Song of the South" offered a keen assessment of Stanford's opus, "Frank Stanford wrote about a certain sensibility that is American and universal. In many ways, his life and works are shocking. Troubling and truthful, his longest book stands almost as a challenge to our current ideas of literature and reality. Because he chose to utilize a Surrealist tone and form, some of what he says is both alarming and instructive. When we have time enough to study deeply and discuss this huge and marvelous poem called The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You . . . we may focus on new… Read More

Seattle, WA and Fayetteville, AR: Mill Mountain Press / Lost Roads 1977, No. 7-12. First Edition. First Edition. The poet's magnum opus, published one year before his suicide in 1978. Stanford's landmark primitive style of poetry, which involved strange tall tales and recurring characters, rivers, and a constant focus on death, has attained an almost mythical status among students of avant-garde and expressionistic poetry over the past three decades. Contemporary poets such as Alan Dugan, Franz Wright, Lorenzo Thomas, James Wright, and Richard Eberhardt have praised Stanford's work, Wright having once called him "one of the great voices of death." Overnight readings of "Battlefield" have taken place at universities across the United States since his death. Lost Roads Press, a small imprint formed by Stanford and C.D. Wright in 1976, reissued three of his works, including a corrected edition of "Battlefield," in 2008. About Fine and unread in perfect-bound wrappers. A superb example.