no time like now

In his newest collection of lyric poems, the brilliant Andrei Codrescu reveals himself yet again as our funniest/saddest contemporary bard. Newly returned to New York, the city of his youth, Codrescu the flâneur observes the daily disjunctions of Manhattan life in all their absurdity. Astonishingly honest, bittersweet, hilarious, and heart-breaking: no time like now is a book you must read!

-- Marjorie Perloff

Andrei went there as an adolescent (U.S.); later I came here (France): we have known each other forever. I read his new book no time like now and see how similar (semblable) we remain in a zoo world of cellphone-users with customs. Older ones who have mastered their art are left with the glee of language. These poems also contain plenty of love.

-- Alice Notley

On every page, Andrei provides us with a poetic tap on the shoulder: ‘We are still in the wine roses goat and sesame seed phase of the revolution.’ In other words, there is as much joy as there is threat in the world, as much threat as there is possibility; we are called to respond, and remember. This collection repairs and raises our spirit(s).

-- Sharon Mesmer

Codrescu lands on a powerful statement on how we can interact with the contemporary world he struggles to write about: “I was new in America your strings vibrated / in a newness new even to the new world / a world that must be courage itself or die.”

-- Josh Cook * LA Review of Boo