On The Subject of Gonzo Poetry
A characteristic of contemporary time has been its preoccupation with brevity and ephemerality: here today, gone tomorrow … instant communication … speed dating … step right up … act now, or never. Readers of Giuliano’s Gonzo poetic style must fight against such impulses and go off a different tack.
Giuliano takes to heart the adage “Brevity is the soul of wit.” The terse, minimalist style fits the poems beautifully. The poems may be short in length, but they insist on the reader’s time and contemplation. They are imbued with beneficent accessibility that plays well as a contemporary device to retool the reader’s attention span.
What exactly is this poetry? It is telling the story, gonzo style, with an excessive economy of words. It is a tug-of-war between lyrical intimacy and analytical distance. It also mirrors the tension between the poet’s appreciation of the magic of language and his knowledge of its limitations. Eventually, it boils down to an upbeat mix of poetics: two measures of Language poetry, one of Beat and half a measure of Gonzo shine shaken not stirred; et voilà, a Charles Giuliano poetic cocktail, somewhat whimsical and playful … but it calls for serious play.
Shards of a Life
The works comprising Shards of a Life were written intensively over several months starting in the summer of 2014. Giuliano’s unique style of poetry has earned him notice and respect from his fellow poets, including Stephen Rifkin: ” . . a rushed, expressive, and cataloguing quality, a bit like stabs on a canvas“; and Christopher Busa, of Provincetown Arts: “With a reporter’s hawk-eye for seizing on salient detail, Charles Giuliano’s gonzo poems are guided by laser-like evocations of key scenes from rich experiences.”
Total Gonzo Poems
This colorful, richly, illustrated book explores his Irish and Italian family history with an emphasis on the Nugents of Rockport. In gonzo style he writes about the famous musicians he covered over the years. The range of subjects is diverse, accessible, packs a punch, and is always witty, unique, and entertaining. There is nothing precious, esoteric, or pretentious about this lively and fun collection of poetry. The book includes a scholarly essay, “Gonzo Shine,” by former CBS News producer Robert Henriquez.
Ultra Cosmic Gonzology
Given the enormous interest in all matters related to gonzo, with this book Giuliano founds the field of gonzology. Its range of topics, hipster style, outrageous humor, and aesthetic irony offer vivid examples of what he means by the freshly-minted term.
As gonzology is absorbed by academia, these poetic volumes comprise rich and amusing additions to the study and appreciation of a major movement of outrageous style.
This book is profusely illustrated by the author and includes many vintage images of seminal jazz, blues, and rock performers, as well as visual and performance artists.
Topsy Turvy
The late arts critic Larry Murray described Giuliano’s unique gonzo poetry as “stacatto style.” In this fourth book of verse the gonzo style has been fully evolved morphing from journalism to avant-garde literature. The writing is less about subject and content and more about words, improvisation and style. It comprises a unique development of contemporary literature.