Barrett Watten typed up several issues of Big Sky for the printers where he worked. I find that interesting. Watten attended the Iowa Workshop and self-printed his first book on a letterpress. I would guess he studied with or at least knew Kim Merker. Again I find this really interesting. The fact that Watten is a major Language poet and one of its leading theoreticians, well, not so much. In fact what I like about Big Sky is that it captures 1970s SF without being a Language vehicle. For example, I find the Clark Coolidge stuff to be tough sledding. In the immortal words of Ken Beatrice, I do not like Language poetry, I do not read Language poetry, but please read Barrett Watten I hear he is delicious. For those interested you can get a copy of Opera - Works for the price of a large order of curly fries and a Jamocha shake at Barry Streeter's Arby's. Have at it.
JB
