America: A Prophecy The Sparrow Reader

by Sparrow; Boon, Marcus

• ISBN13: 9781932360868
• ISBN10: 1932360867
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-04
• Publisher: RANDOM

Summary

America: A Prophecy is the long-awaited collection from Sparrow - one of the funniest men in Manhattan. His unique blend of wit and wisdom gives readers a whole new way of seeing America at the crossroads. From a hilarious spiritual guide to New York City to the scientific and religious significance of the sky - this is a one-of-a-kind guide to America's current state of political and governmental flux.

Author Biography

Sparrow’s poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Quarterly, The New York Times and many other journals. He was featured in the PBS series "The United States of Poetry" and can be heard, along with his band Foamola, on the poetry compilation Poemfone: New Word Order(Tomato). He is a gossip columnist for the Phoenicia Times, a contributing editor to Chronogram, a substitute teacher, and the author of three books: Yes, You ARE a Revolutionary! Plus Seven Other Books, America: A Prophecy, and Republican Like Me. Sparrow lives with his wife and daughter in the hamlet of Phoenicia, New York, in the Catskill Mountains.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Intro: My Names	x
America: A Prophecy
Report from America	3	(2)
An ATM of One's Own	5	(3)
My Cockroach Diary	8	(6)
Memoirs of a Telephone Solicitor	14	(8)
Houses I've Had Sex In	22	(1)
Ulysses Grant	23	(2)
My Sex with a Horse	25	(2)
My Sex with an Ant	27	(2)
Political Dispatches	29	(4)
Chicken Breeders Reveal Themselves To Be a Revolutionary Class with Aplomb and a Keen Sense of Timing	33	(1)
Confessions of a Secret Smoker	34	(3)
Proverbs	37	(70)
Tiny Tim, Barbie, and Other Heroes
My Exclusive Interview with Dr. Ruth	41	(6)
An Interview with Tiny Tim	47	(8)
Barbie: A Memoir	55	(1)
Baby Jessica One Year Later	56	(3)
Rushdie Speaks	59	(2)
Exclusive Borges Interview!	61	(1)
Letter from Sri Lanka	62	(1)
Our Visit to Poland	63	(3)
Interview with the Polish President	66	(2)
Visit to Iceland	68	(2)
New Letter from Sri Lanka	70	(1)
Our Answer	71	(1)
Interview with a Supreme Court Justice Who Voted Against Flagburning	72	(2)
A Recent Letter from Sri Lanka	74	(1)
Letter from a Christmas Tree Seller	75	(2)
A Bhutan Visit	77	(2)
New Letter from Sri Lanka	79	(2)
The New York Times	81	(1)
Interview with Saddam Hussein!!!!!!!!	82	(3)
Interview with Dan Quayle	85	(3)
Sparrow Speaks	88	(3)
Sparrow Speaks Again	91	(2)
Sparrow Again Confronted	93	(2)
Interview with Ted Berrigan	95	(3)
David Koresh Interview	98	(2)
Interview with Kurt Cobain	100	(2)
Interview with O.J. Simpson	102	(1)
Interview with Patrick Swayze	103	(2)
My Sex with Cher	105	(2)
Proverbs	107	(46)
Bathifying and Other Virtues
Garbage I Have Read	111	(12)
On Bathifying	123	(7)
My Machines	130	(3)
The Bad Poetry Seminar	133	(20)
Proverbs	153	(80)
Annals of Activism
A Visit to Washington	157	(3)
My Campaign Diary	160	(12)
Stand Up to Nature: A Rally	172	(4)
A Letter to the President	176	(4)
Meet the Beats	180	(2)
A Concise History of Successful Anarchist Revolutions	182	(9)
Autumn Now	191	(1)
On Fahrenheit 911	192	(3)
My Politics	195	(9)
Fruitopia: A Call To Arms	204	(1)
The East Village Militia	205	(1)
The Truth About Christmas	206	(1)
To the New Yorker We Go, Tra La	207	(3)
Translations from the New Yorker	210	(20)
Looking like Osama	230	(3)
Proverbs	233	(24)
The Gentle Arts
The NEA and Me	237	(9)
What is Poetry in This Present Decade?	246	(2)
The Skies of the Catskills	248	(4)
Out the Window: A Letter from Phoenicia	252	(5)
Proverbs	257	(24)
Taoism for Dummies
A Spiritual Guide to Manhattan	261	(13)
First Impressions of the Third World	274	(2)
How the New Age Began	276	(1)
Taoism and Me	277	(4)
The One Hundred Thousand Biographical Notes of Sparrow	281