The first complete collection of Bob Flanagan’s poetry, edited by Sabrina Tarasoff and with contributions by Jack Skelley, Sheree Rose, Chiara Moioli, David Trinidad, Dodie Bellamy, and Dennis Cooper.
Bob Flanagan (December 26, 1952 – January 4, 1996) was an American performance artist and writer known for his work on sadomasochism and living with cystic fibrosis.
Cause for celebration: Bob Flanagan’s tortured, elegant poetry is finally back in print! Alive with carnality, love, abjection, relentless self-exposure and fatalist laughs, these poems are as fresh and stunning as when they were first written. Bob's work lays bare the eroticism of punishment and the punishing possibilities of the erotic. Every meticulously chosen word between these covers drips with blood, cum and tears.
~Amy Gerstler, author of Index of Women, Bitter Angel, and Early Heaven
This publication follows an exhibition Tarasoff curated at Kristina Kite gallery in 2022, inspired by the scene around Bob Flanagan in Los Angeles in the 80’s. Most of Bob’s poetry has long been out of print and the original volumes are very hard to find.
Includes the following collections:
The Kid is the Man (1978)
The Wedding of Everything (1983)
Slave Sonnets (1986)
Fuck Journal (1987)
A Taste of Honey (with David Trinidad) (1990)
The Book of Medicine (the unfinished manuscript)
Designed by Lauren Graycar
Softcover, 6x10 inches, 170 pages, 2024.