THE FIRST ANNUAL LALLY’S ALLEY AWARD FOR “BEST” (i.e. my favorite) BOOK(S) OF THE YEAR:

I read constantly but not necessarily bestsellers, and definitely nowhere near a majority of the books that come out in a year, (for instance I haven’t read any of the five finalists in poetry for The National Book Critics Award, even though back in the 1970s and ‘80s I was a member of that group), so I have two separate awards:

“BEST” BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2007

and

“BEST” BOOK PUBLISHED BEFORE 2007 BUT READ BY ME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2007.

The ten top nominees for

“BEST” (i.e. my favorite) BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2007 (that I read in 2007 and are among the ones I can remember right now, as I’m sure there are others I dug that didn’t make the list and I just can’t remember at this second):

1. THE ART OF LEE MILLER (YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 2007) by MARK HAWORTH-BOOTH (great collection of her photographs and an accessible and well researched take on them in the context of her life)
2. BOY DRINKERS (HANGING LOOSE PRESS 2007) poems by TERENCE WINCH
3. EVA HESSE DRAWING (THE DRAWING CENTER/YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 2007) edited by CATHERINE DE ZEGHER (for Hesse’s drawings, not necessarily the jargony essays about them and her)
4. FAIT ACCOMPLI (FACTORY SCHOOL 2007) prose by NICK PIOMBINO
5. HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG (COUNTER PUNCH and AK PRESS 2007) by DANIEL CASSIDY (a repetitive but insightful and conclusive argument for reversing decades of scholarship claiming the Irish language, Gaelic, contributed little or nothing to “American” slang, proving that it may have contributed more than any other language)
6.ON THE ROAD: THE ORIGINAL SCROLL (VIKING 2007) by JACK KEROUAC
7.OVERNIGHT (HANGING LOOSE PRESS 2007) poems by PAUL VIOLI
8.RIPPLE EFFECT (COFFEE HOUSE PRESS 2007) poems by ELAINE EQUI
9.SOMETHING RED (STAY AT HOME PRESS 2007) prose poems by MARK TERRILL
10.THERE ARE WORDS (DOS MADRES PRESS 2007) poems by BURT KIMMELMAN

and the nominees for:

“BEST” (i.e. my favorite) BOOK PUBLISHED BEFORE 2007 THAT I READ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2007 (and that I can remember right now):

1. DAYS BY THEMSELVES (BLUE EARTH PRESS 2006) poems by BROOKS RODDAN
2. ENCOUNTERING EVA HESSE (PRESTEL VERLAG 2006) edited by GRISELDA POLLACK and VANESSA CORBY
3. LIFE OF A POET: RAINER MARIA RILKE (NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS 1996) A BIOGRAPHY by RALPH FREEDMAN
4. MAKING THE SKELETON DANCE (GEORGE BRAZILLER 2000) POEMS AND DIALOGUES by PATRIICIA GARFINKEL
5. NEMO (SUN & MOON PRESS 1995) poems by PAUL VANGELISTI
6. POCKETS OF WHEAT (THE FIGURES 2004) poem(s) by GEOFFREY YOUNG
7. PRETTY TALES FOR TIRED PEOPLE (SIMON AND SCHUSTER 1965) stories by MARTHA GELHORN
8. VILLA (LITTORAL BOOKS 1991) poems by PAUL VANGELISTI (poetic epistles, or vice versa, set in ancient Rome)
9. WHERE X MARKS THE SPOT (HANGING LOOSE 2006) poems by BILL ZAVATSKY
10. JOHN HENRY’S PARTNER SPEAKS (PUDDING HOUSE PUBLICATIONS 2006) poems by DAVID SALNER


AND THE WINNERS ARE:

BEST (i.e. my favorite) BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2007 (that I read in 2007 and could remember when I made up the list of top ten nominees):



BOY DRINKERS (HANGING LOOSE PRESS) poems by TERENCE WINCH

(these poems achieve everything that makes Winch’s writing terrific: narrative drive, lilting rhythms, lyrical distillation of nostalgia and living memory with the wisdom of experience and maturity, poignant as well as enlightening humor, accessibility coupled with insight, and humility with grace—a great introduction to Winch’s work and genius)

And

BEST BOOK PUBLISHED BEFORE 2007 THAT I READ FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2007 (and could remember when I made up that list of the ten top nominees):



ENCOUNTERING EVA HESSE (PRESTEL VERLAG 2007) edited by GRISELDA POLLACK and VANESSA CORBY

(first of all this is a beautifully produced book, a work of art in and of itself, that then contains some of the best photographs of Hesse’s work I’ve seen, as well as of Hesse and her studio(s) and gallery shows and people that were important to her work, as well as some interesting and enlightening interviews and serious scholarship, though some of the latter can at times be a little too “post-modern” jargony for my taste, most are surprisingly not, and the book itself is the most beautiful book I “encountered” in 2007)