{"title":"Peter Conners","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"beyond-the-edge-of-suffering-book-peter-conners-9781945680519","title":"Beyond the Edge of Suffering","description":"Prose poems and flash fictions revealing the heart-wrenching, absurd, life-changing nature of living through Covid, political chaos, and personal upheaval.     Peter Conners’ unique blend of prose poetry, flash fiction, and other spare poetic forms pays witness to the heart-wrenching, absurd, life-changing nature of surviving a global pandemic during one of the most politically and culturally divisive times in American history. As a divorced father living in a blended family with 4 children, navigating a new marriage, and also caring for elderly parents, pandemic restrictions and their attendant scary weirdness hit hard. After a decade of publishing highly regarded nonfiction books about music and counterculture, Conners knew that only poetry could do these strange days justice. The result is Conners’ first prose poetry collection in a dozen years. Moving from raw personal poems like “One of you went” and “My father wanders” to overt political rants “The beaches are filled” and “Welcome to the last” to comically absurd flash fictions like “Superhero” and “Hello, my name is Larry” to meditations on relationships (“A small house;” “The old husband”) and spirituality (“If each martyr;” “Love everyone”), Conners strikes all the rich notes that illustrate our humanity, desire for love and connection, and striving for a rebirth that awaits just beyond the edge suffering.   “Part Tao, part surrealist dialogue,  Peter Conners has penned a book of precise yet effusive runes from the well-gnawed bones of a man reflecting upon his family and nation at midlife. Here we have poet as citizen, philosopher, father, humorist, husband, we have the pandemic (in actuality and as metaphor), we have passing time, memory, ‘our whole dumb history,’ the theater of self with its ‘copious technical difficulties.’ These are minimalist and thin-trimmed parable-like stories, dialogues, and beautiful confessions that in the end haggle down the price we’ve paid through the last brutal years, encouraging the reader to take our problems and  ‘Feed them to the squirrels.  Those little fuckers will eat anything.’” —Sean Thomas Dougherty  “What you know after reading only a handful of these poems is that they have the ease, and share the privileges, of being loved and cared for by a master — not as common a thing in American poetry as you might think. This is an end-of-days story for precisely our times, presented formally in a fluid blending of at least three distinct genres, managing to celebrate them all to rich effects. These poems capture a litany of almost microscopic moments, resolute in how they are illustrative of our stunningly particular days. I love this book and I want you to read it if you care about looking closely at who we are by looking at who we have been.”            —Bruce Weigl   “Beyond the Edge of Suffering goes beyond life's edges, and not only in suffering. This brilliant collection by Peter Conners is a genius book of our times, with masks and viruses, nasal sprays, elixirs, diseases, and exams. It is deep and poignant, with lovely and surprising sparks of humor: a tiny porcelain woman, plays in language: bodies, memories, dreams. Diamonds. Martyrs. Prayers and non-prayers. Genesis and ribs. Fathers and mothers and a son and daughter. Crying Superheroes. Weeping willows. Mosquitos and monkeys and the highest house number in America. This collection is so holy-ghostingly good, it will continue to stay with you.” —Kim Chinquee  Peter Conners is the author of ten books of poetry, nonfiction and fiction, including the prose poetry collections, Of Whiskey and Winter, and The Crows Were Laughing in Their Trees. He also edited the ground-breaking prose poetry\/flash fiction anthology PP\/FF: An Anthology, as well as an issue of American Book Review dedicated to prose poetry\/flash fiction, and was founding editor of Double Room: A Journal of Prose Poetry and Flash Fiction. In his nonfiction books, he has documented music and countercultural communities in such books as Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead; JAMerica: The History of the Jam Band and Festival Scene; Cornell ‘77: The Music, The Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall; and White Hand Society: The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary \u0026amp; Allen Ginsberg. His books have been published by White Pine Press, Da Capo Press, City Lights, Cornell University Press, Starcherone Books, and Marick Press. He lives with his family in Rochester, NY where he works as Publisher and Executive Director of the award-winning independent publishing house BOA Editions. His website is: www.peterconners.com","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49742398030097,"sku":"NGR9781945680519","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50765244203281,"sku":"CIN1945680512G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52424832975121,"sku":"NLS9781945680519","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1945680512.jpg?v=1750770592"},{"product_id":"white-hand-society-book-peter-conners-9780872865358","title":"White Hand Society","description":"The inside story of how Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary launched the psychedelic revolution together.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49765421351185,"sku":"CIN0872865355G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50365417128209,"sku":"CIN0872865355VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50372278223121,"sku":"CIN0872865355A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50726421233937,"sku":"GOR007272509","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008999915793,"sku":"NIN9780872865358","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52821012513041,"sku":"NLS9780872865358","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0872865355.jpg?v=1751202248"},{"product_id":"jamerica-book-peter-conners-9780306820663","title":"JAMerica","description":"The term  jam band\" is used to categorize a type of music that favours improvisation and musicianship over concise riffs, hooks, and traditional songwriting structure. The term also helps define the fiercely dedicated fans of the music as accurately as it does the bands. Much as with the Grateful Dead,the progenitors of the jam band scene,the survival of the scene depends upon a symbiotic relationship with fans. Jam bands nurture a close relationship with their fans, fostered through constant touring and the mutual belief that each performance is a unique, shared event. JAMerica  tells the story of the roots, evolution, values, and passion of the jam band scene in the words of those who know it best. Modeling itself on such books as  Edie: American Girl  by George Plimpton and Jean Stein (an oral history of the life of Edie Sedgewick ) and  Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk  by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, the book is an oral history of the jam band scene, integrating stories from such bands as the Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, moe., Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee, and dozens more. Interviews focus on the history of individual bands and how they communally shaped the larger jam band community, along with songwriting, relationships with fans, business models, and the importance (including the joys and war stories) of touring, including early gigs and venues (e.g. the Wetlands in New York City and the landmark H.O.R.D.E. Festival) that supported the emergence of the jam band scene.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50094132592913,"sku":"CIN0306820668G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52532783284497,"sku":"NLS9780306820663","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53348650615057,"sku":"NIN9780306820663","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0306820668.jpg?v=1751071099"},{"product_id":"cornell-77-book-peter-conners-9781501704321","title":"Cornell '77","description":"On May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, on the Cornell University campus, in front of 8,500 eager fans, the Grateful Dead played a show so significant that the Library of Congress inducted it into the National Recording Registry. The band had just released Terrapin Station and was still finding its feet after an extended hiatus. In 1977, the Grateful Dead reached a musical peak, and their East Coast spring tour featured an exceptional string of performances, including the one at Cornell.Many Deadheads claim that the quality of the live recording of the show made by Betty Cantor-Jackson (a member of the crew) elevated its importance. Once those recordings—referred to as \"Betty Boards\"—began to circulate among Deadheads, the reputation of the Cornell '77 show grew exponentially.With time the show at Barton Hall acquired legendary status in the community of Deadheads and audiophiles.Rooted in dozens of interviews—including a conversation with Betty Cantor-Jackson about her recording—and accompanied by a dazzling selection of never-before-seen concert photographs, Cornell '77 is about far more than just a single Grateful Dead concert. It is a social and cultural history of one of America's most enduring and iconic musical acts, their devoted fans, and a group of Cornell students whose passion for music drove them to bring the Dead to Barton Hall. Peter Conners has intimate knowledge of the fan culture surrounding the Dead, and his expertise brings the show to life. He leads readers through a song-by-song analysis of the performance, from \"New Minglewood Blues\" to \"One More Saturday Night,\" and conveys why, forty years later, Cornell '77 is still considered a touchstone in the history of the band.As Conners notes in his Prologue: \"You will hear from Deadheads who went to the show. You will hear from non-Deadhead Cornell graduates who were responsible for putting on the show in the first place. You will hear from record executives, academics, scholars, Dead family members, tapers, traders, and trolls. You will hear from those who still live the Grateful Dead every day. You will hear from those who would rather keep their Grateful Dead passions private for reasons both personal and professional. You will hear stories about the early days of being a Deadhead and what it was like to attend, and perhaps record, those early shows, including Cornell '77.\"","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50129385554193,"sku":"CIN150170432XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50151640662289,"sku":"CIN150170432XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50582562570513,"sku":"GOR008869232","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51031160029457,"sku":"NIN9781501704321","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/150170432X.jpg?v=1761391206"},{"product_id":"pp-ff-an-anthology-book-peter-conners-9780970316516","title":"Pp\/Ff: An Anthology","description":"Poetry. Fiction. A first-of-its-kind collection of hybrid prose-poetry and flash-fiction featuring 61 of today's foremost innovative writers, including Kim Addonizio, Stuart Dybek, Lydia Davis, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Brian Evenson, Raymond Federman, Geoffrey Gatza, Laird Hunt, Harold Jaffe, Kent Johnson, Gary Lutz, Cris Mazza, Joyelle McSweeney, Christina Milletti, Ander Monson, Daniel Nester, Ethan Paquin, Aimee Parkison, Elizabeth Robinson, Martha Ronk, Nina Shope, Eleni Sikelianos, Jessica Treat, Diane Williams, and many more. Perhaps the writers in this anthology will be thoughtof as P\/F writers. Perhaps poets, fiction writers, or followers of Orpheus. I would argue that strict adherence to given conventions of form and genre are delibilitating to a writer's creativity and do a disservice to readers. Genre is easier to teach, to quantify and review, but what does it have to do with creating new art?--Peter Conners, from the introduction.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50367088984337,"sku":"CIN0970316518G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0970316518.jpg?v=1751077642"},{"product_id":"growing-up-dead-book-peter-conners-9780306817335","title":"Growing Up Dead","description":"Told against the backdrop of the American landscape of the late'80s to the mid-'90s,  Growing Up Dead  is the story of Peter Conners's journey from straight-laced suburban kid to touring Deadhead. Peter discovered the Grateful Dead in 1985, at the age of 15, through friends who exchanged bootleg tapes of live Grateful Dead concerts. A teenager living in the suburbs of Rochester, New York, he became exposed to an entirely new way of life, and friends who were enjoying more freedom and less parental guidance. At the age of 16, he attended his first Grateful Dead concert on June 30, 1987 - he was hooked. Between 1987 and 1995, Conners would attend Dead'shows' all over the United States. He traveled with a makeshift'family' of other Deadheads in a Volkswagen camper, selling drugs and whatever else would provide gas money to the next concert. His hair was a wild, unkempt bush and baths were infrequent. In short, he had progressed from suburban kid, to Grateful Dead fan, to full-blown Deadhead. Chronicling this progression, which culminates with the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, Conners reveals the truth behind Deadhead culture and history. The result is a riveting insight into the obsessive fandom that made The Grateful Dead the most successful touring band of all time, as well as a cultural phenomenon.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":50586018578705,"sku":"CIN0306817330LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50941864870161,"sku":"CIN0306817330G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000767054097,"sku":"NIN9780306817335","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415601447185,"sku":"CIN0306817330VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51490799812881,"sku":"GOR004493324","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53349633425681,"sku":"NLS9780306817335","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53651904889105,"sku":"CIN0306817330A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0306817330.jpg?v=1750876783"},{"product_id":"crows-were-laughing-in-their-trees-book-peter-conners-9781935210207","title":"The Crows Were Laughing in Their Trees","description":"\"Conners' prose poem is not just a beautiful quirky moment that gives us a glimpse of the miraculous, but also an attempt to become a myth in itself. That Conners seems to get it all into one book is simply amazing. What can I say? A literary master.\"--Ilya Kaminsky  \"Conners writes with the playfulness and kinetic energy of an action painter. His spatters of images and fragmented narratives assume the condition of an exuberant non-sense that, in changing perspective, asserts a logic of its own.\"--Stuart Dybek  Peter Conners is the author of Whiskey and Winter.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52485064818961,"sku":"NLS9781935210207","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52756213301521,"sku":"NIN9781935210207","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781935210207.jpg?v=1759857181"},{"product_id":"of-whiskey-and-winter-book-peter-conners-9781893996892","title":"Of Whiskey and Winter","description":"Peter Conners' stunning prose poems are packed with keen sensitivity, dreaminess, and wit. I love his time travels, the vibrant layering of image and detail. This is language and vision I want to come home to again and again.Naomi Shihab Nye I dont know whats more remarkable about the poems in Of Whiskey and Winter, their exquisite music or their startling, acrobatic leaps. By turns manic and contemplative, zany and wise, his rollicking poems have the power to simultaneously challenge, illuminate and praise the illusive character of the world.Gary Young","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52486572507409,"sku":"NLS9781893996892","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52755981795601,"sku":"NIN9781893996892","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781893996892.jpg?v=1759859457"},{"product_id":"merch-table-blues-book-peter-conners-9781945665318","title":"Merch Table Blues","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe debut novel from Peter Conners, bestselling author of Grateful Dead histories\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Virgil Frey gets an unexpected phone call from his childhood best buddy, guitarist Richard Payne Knight, urging him to join his band Laverna as a roadie running the merch table on a small club tour through New York state, he decides to go for it. Virgil's current situation attending a graduate school creative writing program is falling flat, and he's hoping this new adventure will spark some kind of creative inspiration. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile on tour, Virgil discovers Laverna's growing popularity involves a cult-like following that just might be an actual cult, mysterious hook-ups and odd disappearances, and band members developing questionable habits. Can old friendships survive tour chaos? Will the band get signed? Does Virgil find the inspiring experiences he seeks? \u003ci\u003eMerch Table Blues\u003c\/i\u003e is an often humorous rock band tour mystery exploring vital ideas about loyalty and friendship that will keep readers on edge till the last encore is played.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52933929599249,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52933929959697,"sku":"CIN1945665319G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781945665318.jpg?v=1765823041"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-ie\/collections\/author-books-by-peter-conners.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}