Why I Came to Judevine
The Chain Saw Dance
January 1, 2007Mannequins’ Demise
February 17, 2013
Why I Came To Judevine
Drawings by Lois Eby
(White Pine Press, 1987)
W HY I CAME TO JUDEVINE–a continuation of the poems begun with THE CHAIN SAW DANCE, FROM DOWN TO THE VILLAGE and PULP CUTTERS’ NATIVITY–is, again, an interconnected series of pieces about the lives and loves of the people who live in Judevine–many of them now scenes from the author’s enormously popular and critically acclaimed poem/play JUDEVINE.
Included in this collection is the powerful and vivid story/poem “Why I Came to Judevine,” about the author’s childhood in Cleveland.
This book also introduces Grace, the bitter and angry young woman whose love affair with Tommy Stames ends in tragedy and madness.
Also included here are more outbursts from the irrepressible and joyously indomitable Antoine, and much more.
Again, the author blends the hilariously funny and painfully sad into a big-hearted, clear-eyed portrait of humanity through what Wendell Berry refers to as “David Budbill’s loving interest in other people.”
Most but not all of the poems in WHY I CAME TO JUDEVINE are included in JUDEVINE.
“Poetry that somehow makes oil and gasoline smell like incense.”
– The Christian Century
“A gut-grabbing sense of what makes individuals tick.”
– Herald News (Passaic, New Jersey)
“Biting, painful, yet his affection pounds through on every line”
– The Beloit Poetry Journal
“Budbill’s naturalism escapes from desperation in the intense pleasure of sexual love…there is no finer source for poetry.”
– Small Press Review
“One of the most original and accessible poets at work today. ”
– Howard Frank Mosher