3:AM Magazine

By Joseph Ridgwell.

The Fix (Selected Poetry 1964 -74), William Wantling, Tangerine Press 2009

William Wantling was one of the more interesting and dynamic American poets to emerge from the 1960’s counter-culture, but having died suddenly at the relatively young age of 40, he was promptly forgotten by all but a handful of small press connoisseurs. An ex-marine, ex-convict, friend and contemporary of Charles Bukowski, and oddly even a college professor, Wantling’s poetry was neglected during his lifetime and, aside from a few rare exceptions, neglected even after death. Despite critical acclaim he has stubbornly remained a peripheral and highly enigmatic literary figure. Until now that is, when over thirty years later, Tangerine Press, readdressed this glaring injustice in some style.

The collection covers the period 1964-74 when Wantling was operating at the peak of his poetical powers and like it’s predecessor, Only In The Sun, The Fix contains a number of previously uncollected poems from seminal small magazines like Wormwood Review, Entrails, Iconolatre, Input and John and Lou Webb’s mighty The Outsider.

The book itself is a thing of exquisite beauty, even an object of desire. A few lines from the publisher’s website will explain why I have described the book thus:

Handbound at Tangerine Press using heavy duty acid-free boards, conservation glue and hemp cord; Colorado Ruhr Milk Chocolate cloth; distinctive Tangerine logo stamped onto the front cover in black ink. 100 numbered and 26 lettered copies for sale. The letters T,H,E and F,I,X are slipcased.

And then there are the poems. In the intervening thirty-four years since his death Wantling’s work retains a diamond-encrusted contemporary edge and compelling power to intrigue, illuminate, and beguile. The words jump and swing on the page as if alive and the verses are littered with sparkling truisms and thought-provoking agendas, “I Think of Those Once Great, all ten Heroin haikus, “A Theory of Love,” “It was Tuesday Morning,” and “Dreams are Cages” being stunning highlights.

So there you have it, The Fix by William Wantling, a very important and historic publication that any lover of poetry will desire to have in their collection. But like anything in life you get what you pay for and this genuine work of art does not come cheap. The books are £30 a copy, but as the lettered copies have already sold out it is almost certain the book will be highly sought after by collectors all over the world. Subsequently any purchase of The Fix will be a sound investment as well as a joy to read! And in the immortal words of Keats, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’

ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Joseph Ridgwell is the author of two books of poetry, Load the Guns and Where are the Rebels? Both published by Blackheath Books and a novel, Last Days of the Cross published by Grievous Jones Press. His work has also appeared in short story anthologies Radgepacket and The Loose Canon, magazines, newspapers, and numerous online publications.

First published in 3:AM Magazine: Wednesday, October 7th, 2009.