PigeonBike Press, 2011

$15.00 Shipped – 72 Pages – 54 Poems – ISBN 978-0-9869509-4-0

Available now at Amazon!

I devoured over half the book in the parking lot outside the post office.  I pulled over three blocks later, lit a cigarette and devoured the other half.  I would like to have a beer with Gladeview.  He is a natural story-teller with an astute eye, scathing wit, and a wicked sense of humor!  Absolutely stunning in its content and creation – another winner from PigeonBike Press.

– Wolfgang Carstens, Editor of Epic Rites Press

Gladeview’s book, Just Ignore The Beer Stains, is a super collection.  No pretense, no bullshit, just straight from the hip good stuff.  Gladeview doesn’t try to impress.  He doesn’t whack you over the head with his scholarship.  He just lowers his shoulder and gets the job done and THAT, my friends, is impressive.

– John Yamrus, Author of Bark and They Never Told Me This Would Happen

Just Ignore The Beer Stains is the work of a true barstool prophet.  Gladeview writes accessible, engaging poetry on the darkness and the light of the everyday and everyman, dispensing shots of wit and more than a few lingering chasers of wisdom.

– Chris Yurkoski, Editor of Doomesday Notebook

Lawrence Gladeview’s Just Ignore The Beer Stains is a triumph!  I thoroughly enjoy living writers who put their guts on the line and Gladeview’s writing often makes me think of ol’ Hemingway dancing on the skulls of love after a long day of drinking.  He is truly an original, truly human, and truly heartfelt.  Gladeview’s a lunatic living as a romantic in a time of darkness.

– Frank Reardon, Author of Blood Music and Nirvana Haymaker

Just Ignore The Beer Stains is like a welterweight boxing match with a lot of quick short jabs to the nose & chin.

– Mike Adams, Author of If You Can Still Dance With It and Steel Valley

Just Ignore The Beer Stains

Irregular Features & Sidekick Books Video Review

by The Judge, August 2013

Just Ignore The Beer Stains

Horror Sleaze Trash Review

by Richard Wink, February 2013

I’ve wondered about why it has taken me so long to post some content on HST. I think it boils down to the fact that in 2013 I have been on an inhumane schedule that has prevented me from finding the time to write. Possibly it has been the fear that I’m no writer, and that all I have achieved has been insignificant. It is a living nightmare, thinking as a creative, that deep down you might not have ‘it’ anymore.

After finishing my second collection of poetry, and announcing that I was done with writing poems I’ve been feeling a lot of regret and a lot of jealousy towards the guys that are still putting pen on paper, and expressing the mundane aspects of their life in a floral form. This is why reading Lawrence Gladeview’s ‘Just Ignore the Beer Stains’ has been a trial for me.

This will be one of those reviews that will likely piss off the writer, because really this will be all about me. I also fear that it will be one of those pieces where people will begin to scratch their heads and ask themselves if this guy is “losing it”.

Gladeview and I crossed paths over the internet, in the way most writers do nowadays, I had a litzine, I liked Bukowski, you tend then to meet like-minded writers from something as simple as that. It is how I’ve come to write for HST. Gladeview tells simple stories vividly through the poem.

Poetry Needs To Be Natural

not
forced
like the
coat closet
quickie
before
your auntie’s
memorial
the day after
i drove
eighteen hundred
miles in
buttoned-up
gaberdine
with no a/c to
be there
for you

&
candid

poetry
needs
to be
candid.

Throughout the collection we get to look through his eyes, we meet his significant other Rebecca, we see the bars and smell the Coors. Unlike Bukowski, who though influential, is the kind of cat I wouldn’t associate with, Gladeview feels like a buddy. The strength of his work is that he makes things familiar. That’s not to say I could not identify or relate to Bukowski, only Buk is hostile, and keeps you outside spitting distance.

Like an innocent man faced with the gallows, I fear that it might be time for me to pick up the pen again. Maybe knock this reviewing lark on the head first. Though I’m reticent because what can I say? It is where poetry has fallen short for me. As a poet I was always the frustrated novelist. I wanted to expand upon my ideas but for whatever reason I couldn’t, and subsequently they stunted into poems. Poetry is something that maybe I didn’t want to write, yet like most things, I was always looking beyond the poem that I was writing. I couldn’t enjoy those moments, and I can’t look back at them fondly. Therefore why is there an urge to write poetry? Perhaps it is because I can do nothing else.

Just Ignore The Beer Stains

Bold Monkey Review

by George Anderson, February 2012

This is the first full-length collection of poetry by the 28 year-old Gladeview, who presently lives in Colorado with his wife Rebecca- who features in many of these poems. The 54 poems adopt a pared-down, lower case, minimalistic style highly reminiscent of the American poet John Yamrus. The poems are short narratives of less than 100 words and are characteristically geared towards making a dryly humorous personal or social observation about ordinary events- attending a funeral, visiting a chiropractor, ordering drinks, discussing poetry, picking up a hitchhiker and the like.

The PigeonBike Press typeface is bright and shiny and beautifully set-out. The cover includes a black & white cropped photo of a remote escarpment by the British photographer Leonne Bennett which evokes a raw, desolate feeling. In contrast, the title Just Ignore the Beer Stains is cheekily self-referential, asking the reader to ignore the poet’s ‘beer stains’, that is, his youthful imperfections- his purported romance with alcohol and the blemishes you might find in his early writings.

Most of the poems are written in first person from “Larry’s” point of view. The poems are often propelled by colloquial dialogue which reveal, through irony and understatement, the misunderstandings or quirky ways in which people attempt to communicate with each other. The collection is remarkably consistent in voice, subject matter and technique but a few of the poems stand out. Personal favourites include the terse car ad ‘Dad’s Classified’, ‘Thirsty & Forgetful’ about the speaker being asked to show his ID at a bar he has frequented for years, the metaphoric ‘Coming To Terms’ in which Larry likens his relationship to his woman to that of a cocker spaniel being dragged along a street, and ‘Poetry Needs To Be Natural’, in which the poet tongue-in-cheek expresses his poetics: ‘Poetry Needs To Be Natural/ not/ forced/ like the/ coat closet/ quickie/ before/ your auntie’s/ memorial.’

Overall, perhaps too many poems in the collection are about poetry or the writing process which creates the impression that Gladeview has lived thus far through the narrow prism of poetry rather than through hardened experience. As you read through his work you often sense the artifice, of Gladeview meta-fictionally mythologizing his relationship with his wife and his readers. And unlike Yamrus, don’t expect profound glimpses into the human condition. Gladeview is simply and unambiguously mapping out his first joyful steps of discovery. He has plenty of time to unbolt the veneer and express the misery and terror which awaits us all.

That said, it is certainly refreshing to read a new small-press poet who is not wallowing in a drug or alcoholic induced fog of self-loathing. Gladeview’s humour sometimes appears contrived but it can also be hugely appealing. And it is his candid, intimate tone which really makes this book sing.

Bold Monkey Interview

by George Anderson,

February 2012

Bold Monkey: When did you first develop an interest in poetry and who were some of your early influences?

I began to read poetry with the writing of Shel Silverstein. His poems share stories and characters through a genuine and humorous voice, something that I admire and influences my own writing.  My late college years were when I truly started to pay attention to poetry and began reading poets Yusef Komunyakaa, Amiri Baraka, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Charles Bukowski.  It wasn’t until a few years after college that I really put a pound of flesh into poetry, began to grow as a writer, and introduce myself to more underground poets like John Macker, Michael Adams, John Yamrus, Todd Moore; and gals like Ann Menebroker, Puma Perl, and Lyn Lifshin.

Bold Monkey: According to your web page: https://lawrencegladeview.com/ you started publishing your poetry in 2009. Can you briefly recount the events leading up to your decision to finally submit your work in 2009?

At the time I started submitting my writing to publications, I was sharing my poems with friends and workshopping pieces online.  From there it turned into mailing out poems in an SASE, submitting electronically, and posting pieces to my now defunct Righteous Rightings blog.  Over the past few years I have been very lucky to have my poems featured here and there in print and online, but the fire burns most when those rejection slips find their way into my mailbox and makes me punch the keys harder.

Bold Monkey: You graduated from James Madison University with a degree in English. I’m curious as to what you studied there, especially the texts, lessons and experiences which may have stimulated you to write.

Most of my study at James Madison focused on African American literary genres and Eastern European authors, although here and there I would have a Period American Poetry class or Writing Composition workshop.  But the single most explosive experience of my college years was attending the Furious Flower Poetry Conference held on campus in 2004.  The conference featured the most illuminating, contemporary African American voices in poetry including Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Sonja Sanchez among others.

Bold Monkey: I recall reading somewhere that you arrived late to ‘underground’ poetry. Why the interest and what magazines and writers first appealed to you and why?

Underground poetry has no rules, says something authentic, and above all makes the reader react.  Billy Collins reads up on a stage behind a pulpit using vocabulary no one understands to describe something that’s already been said. Meanwhile, Tony Moffeit is taking up at a local poetry reading wearing leather pants with a snakeskin belt, wielding a harmonica and singing the blues.

Bold Monkey: There are thousands of magazines out there. What are a few that showcase the type of poetry you enjoy reading? What specific qualities do they have which draw you in?

PigeonBike, Epic Rites, and Lummox Press are three publishers that do a great job printing high quality writing from diverse poets and artists.  The time and dedication these guys put into their projects shows in the product; who wouldn’t want their poems featured in a publication like that?  Their authors are provocative and unapologetic, writing addictive poems and stories that deliver the goods on authentic human sentiment.

Bold Monkey: Can you discuss your initial involvement with PigeonBike Press and your subsequent dealings with the editor R.L. Raymond in the publication of Just Ignore the Beer Stains?

Rob approached me about possibly doing a book last summer and I immediately jumped on it.  I had been featured in a few PigeonBike magazines and was familiar with Rob’s commitment to print publishing and featuring the very best.  From then on we started to get together a manuscript of poems, paying close attention to order and trimming the fat.  By late November, Just Ignore The Beer Stains was available for purchase and the final product could not be more well constructed.  Rob never compromised in the process of putting out this collection and it shows.

Bold Monkey: I have read many of your earlier poems in which you adopt a wide range of forms and styles- some which are quite sophisticated and experimental. The obvious question is- Why do you adopt throughout Beer Stains a pared down, minimalistic style, highly reminiscent of John Yamrus’s?

I have been writing for over five years now, and over that time I have been finding my voice and solidifying my identity as a writer, and that growth comes from pocket haikus, bourbon narratives, and travel lodge tales.  John has been a great supporter of my poetry the past year and has always been kind in offering his feedback and advice.  Just Ignore The Beer Stains is a collection of poems smart-ass in attitude, humorous in behavior, and aged in a bottle.

Bold Monkey: What’s next for you?

I have a few poems selected for publication in PigeonBike and Epic Rites projects coming out this year that I am very excited about.  I also have a couple of readings planned around the Boulder and Longmont, Colorado area this spring and summer.

Bold Monkey: Lawrence, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and to let me enter your world.

Horror, Sleaze, Trash Interview

by Richard Wink, January 2012

Lawrence Gladeview is a barroom raconteur, cocksure lover, and foul-mouthed poet. His new full-length poetry collection, Just Ignore The Beer Stains, is now available from PigeonBike Press. Mr Gladeview braved the onslaught of our 13 Questions…

HST: On the broadside of your poem ‘As Disraeli Gears Plays’ I notice you’ve used a picture from an old Minor Threat album. Are you a fan of hardcore punk? Has the spirit from that era of music influenced you as a writer, given also that you have operated mostly within the independent small press writing community?

Minor Threat is a favorite of mine along with other hardcore punk bands like The Gorilla Biscuits, MC5, and Lifetime among others. These bands created music they believed in, and that’s how I see my poems. The entire ethos and attitude of what punk is influences my writing in all aspects some way or another, from voice to presentation. In that same vein, operating within the small press writing community embodies those punk rock values in the literary medium.

HST: What’s it like to receive compliments, and praise from other writers? Luminaries such as Wolfgang Carstens and John Yamrus have been very complimentary of your work; does this merely boost the ego, or genuinely motivate you as a writer?

Wolf and John ignore the boundaries of traditional publishing and writing. These guys give it their all when it comes to supporting and promoting high quality, loud, and unafraid poetry. To have these guys take notice of my poems is the best kick in the pants a writer can get. It challenges you to explore alleyways that would have gone unnoticed, to find new ways to tell a story or share a poem.

HST: For what reasons would you recommend your publisher PigeonBike Press to aspiring writers with first manuscripts burning in their sweaty virginal palms?

PigeonBike Press is run by the never-say-die Rob Raymond, and this guy does what he says he will and never compromises. When he approached me about wanting to put out a full-length book, I didn’t hesitate to jump on-board. He was involved in every part of the process and his honesty in editing is what made this book possible. He tirelessly promotes his authors both in his local community as well as online, not to mention the PigeonBike mailers and collaboratively working with other publishers like Epic Rites Press.

HST: ‘Just Ignore The Beer Stains’ consists of fifty four poems. Do you believe that a collection of that kind of length is better to digest for a reader as opposed to one that is drawn out over several hundred pages?

Several hundred pages can be hard to digest and either start to drag, or send you off track. I think fifty four poems is a good length to build a cohesive collection, which is something that my editor Rob and I paid attention to closely. Just Ignore The Beer Statins started with over seventy or so poems. We wanted the selections to play off one another in voice, environment, and style, among other things. Getting the collection down to fifty four wasn’t easy, but in the end the book is stronger for it.

HST: Were the any glaring omissions from the book, poems that you’d have liked to have included, but that didn’t fit in with the rest of the collection?

None whatsoever. I couldn’t be more proud of this book; its presentation, quality, and pages are all top notch. The poems that didn’t make the final cut aren’t necessarily bad poems, but rather stories that just didn’t fit this particular collection.

HST: Would you consider yourself a humanist poet?

People fascinate me. Friends, family, strangers, whoever. Their motivations, words, and behavior can be comforting, humorous, and enraging; all the right juice for a good poem. Poetry needs to make the reader react, and sharing snapshots of the human condition is an effective way to make a person laugh or hate your guts.

HST: Do you write consistently all year round, or are you affected by the changing seasons?

I write year round but I would be lying if I said the seasons have no effect on my poems. This winter, I started a project based on snow, taking that aspect of winter and incorporating it into a series of poems. There are pieces about shoveling snow, car accidents, hand-built fences, skiing, and that’s just the surface. It’s fun to drink in the physical environment and see what you puke back up.

HST: How important is it for a writer to be in a stable, supportive relationship? I’ve noticed a lot of poets in the small press acknowledge their partners in poems. You make several mentions of Rebecca. How does she feel about your poetry?

I don’t think I could exist as a writer without my wife Rebecca. Ben Franklin wrote a series of almanacs entitled Poor Richard, which allowed him to build a fantasy world based in reality for which he had a creative outlet. My poems are Poor Richard and Rebecca supports them whole-heartedly. The drunk driving pieces, streetwalker stories, self-deprecating jabs, and marital spats are all born from what our relationship has been for over eight years of city living, cross country driving, and everything in between. She reads almost every poem I write, and her reactions are better feedback than any publisher or editor could offer. So how does she feel about my poems? In her own words – eh.

HST: Tell us more about Media Virus Magazine – how did MVM begin, and what is on the horizon for MVM in the near future?

MediaVirus Magazine began in the basement of Zeno’s, a State College, Pennsylvania bar. My very good friend Stewart Grant and I were drinking and decided to start an online magazine to provide an outlet for us to publish our work as well as our friends’ poetry, fiction, art, and music. We decided to publish issues on a monthly cycle and to never have a preconceived idea of what the next issue would be, but rather to only read, review, and publish the best submissions we received. We wanted to let the writing and art speak for itself, to grab and pull us down the wormhole of an all poetry issue, artist spotlight edition, or an interview series expose. MediaVirus Magazine has published a new issue on the first Monday of the month for the past two and a half years, and no one issue has been the same; we plan on keeping it that way.

HST: You majored in English at University. Was it always your intention to pursue a writing career after you graduated? Do you fear for the current generation of graduates that are leaving University with few realistic opportunities?

Changing to a liberal arts course of study was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I didn’t necessarily decide on an English major due to career possibilities, but rather to challenge myself and to find the creative voice within my bones. Writing certainly doesn’t pay the bills, but it’s not about the income.

HST: I’m becoming obsessed with the strange escapist phenomenon of ‘Cosplay’, where geeks and attractive women dress up as computer game and comic book characters, and attend various conferences and functions. What current subcultures intrigue you?

The subculture that intrigues me the most is this, the literary underground and small press publishing. Not nearly enough people pay attention to independent authors and artists breaking the mold of what contemporary storytelling, poetry, and art is and how it is presented. There’s no bullshit in small press publishing; editors and authors tell it to your face whether you like it or not, and that pushes you to pound the keys harder. Seeing and hearing poets like Tony Moffeit perform in a corner pocket bookstore and publishing poems in magazines dropped in coffee shops around the world is engrossing, and I wish I would have wised up sooner.

HST: As an American, do you believe that the Kardashian family represent all that is wrong with your country?

The Kardashian family’s success in my country certainly is disappointing and speaks to a greater problem with American attitudes and values. I’m not a religious man by any means, but Americans have lost their moral compass and with it have guided off course into waters where our ability to intelligently reason was thrown overboard. Right now, the rampant mentality sweeping the states is “me first, screw everyone else” and this attitude is perpetually broadcast day in day out in all media and social networking sites. This constant exposure is now encouraging Americans, especially young women and older mothers, to hold individuals in our society like the Kardashian’s in high regard.

HST: These questions were written on the day that Christopher Hitchens died. He famously once said “I became a journalist because I did not want to rely on newspapers for information.” What media sources do you trust?

In today’s twenty four hour news cycle with television, radio, and internet all providing headlines and opinions, people are being bombarded with talking points and outright lies. Media outlets like Democracy Now, NPR, and local, progressive radio are doing a great job reporting on politics, the environment, and most importantly the impact these topics have on the citizens on a local and national level. It’s hard to find the truth in an industry driven by an agenda and wealth with no integrity, but turning to nonpartisan, non-secular reporting offers a certain level of comfort in honest journalism and proactive involvement.