{"id":4862,"date":"2004-06-09T13:22:56","date_gmt":"2004-06-09T17:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/06\/09\/the-perfect-novel-for-haikues"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:42","slug":"the-perfect-novel-for-haikuesq-and-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/06\/09\/the-perfect-novel-for-haikuesq-and-you\/","title":{"rendered":"the perfect novel for haikuEsq (and you)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I just devoured one of the most delightful novels I’ll ever read: <\/FONT>Haiku Guy<\/FONT><\/A> <\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/EM>\"haiku <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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(2000, Red Moon<\/A> Press) by <\/FONT>David G. Lanoue<\/A><\/STRONG><\/FONT>.  You can read the first two chapters <\/FONT>here<\/FONT><\/A>. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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This slim volume<\/FONT> entertains and captivates, <\/FONT>while wistfully teaching <\/FONT>“about love, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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poetry <\/FONT><\/FONT>and just <\/FONT>what it all might mean.”  Along the <\/FONT>way, <\/FONT>it weaves in <\/FONT><\/FONT>dozens of  <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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one-breath poems<\/FONT> that will make haiku <\/FONT>afficionados <\/EM><\/FONT>smile, <\/FONT><\/FONT>and turn <\/FONT>the <\/FONT><\/FONT>haiku-illiterate <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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into haiku addicts.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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For example:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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   a moonlit gourmet —<\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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              cat<\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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    in the garbage<\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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  <\/EM>waterfall smash, crash!<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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   then down the canyon<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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            laughing<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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    getting drunk<\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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       on my arm<\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV>
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the tavern mosquitos<\/FONT><\/EM><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“haiku guy gray”  I’ll be posting more haiku from the novel, soon, and <\/FONT>ordering <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the sequel: The Laughing Buddha<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> (2004, Red Moon Press)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/EM> <\/DIV>
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Poet <\/FONT>Michael McClintock <\/FONT><\/A>left an excellent review<\/STRONG> of Haiku Guy<\/EM> at Amazon.com<\/A><\/FONT><\/FONT> here’s an excerpt:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“Past, present, and future intermingle in a joyful, convincing chaos that creates its own inevitable order and comfortable familiarity. Lanoue thrusts his characters into a Buddha-dream world of random events and meetings, misdirection, hopeless desire and grasping, at the center of which we find the great poet Cup-of-Tea (Kobayashi Issa) in his later years, living in Kashiwabara village. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“Seeking the Master’s guidance comes the clueless and desperate wannabe village poet, Buck-Teeth. Out of their meeting Lanoue weaves a narrative fabric colored by Old Japan and haiku’s literary history, real and imagined, with new threads added from the bars, cafes and shrines of New Orleans’ dingy and holy Bourbon Street. Here is a tale that conveys with memorable force a comic vision of the creative process.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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p.s.<\/EM><\/STRONG><\/FONT>  To pique the interest of my webloggy Fool friend<\/A>, as well as the Underground posse<\/A>, and the N.O. techno-lawyer<\/A>, let me note that there’s a hermit-Fool in this haiku tale.  To the surprise of all, the rich and powerful Lord Kaga, once surrounded by an army of yes-men and possessed of all the newest gadgets of the day, gives it all up to live as a hermit.  You’ll have to r<\/FONT>ead the book to find out why (hint: there’s a woman and a tattoo involved).<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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