Cleveland: Down and Out and
Sean Santa
RoseDog Books

A lifelong Clevelander, poet and troubadour Sean Santa has something to say about his hometown. He shares personal reflections, ruminations, blue-collar tales of wayward woe and quixotic backalley reveries in his collection of poetry and prose Cleveland: Down and Out and, but it doesn't end there. He leaves the door open for the "and" as the graffiti art on the cover suggests; to wit, the collection of writing has its forlorn moments, but it can be romantic, violently honest and tender, with his two fists vying for drinking or fighting. He asks a lot of hard questions and leaves denizens of our city standing in mirrored vigil with nowhere to run to. If there's a portrait of middle America and the rustbelt to be composed solely of words, I submit that Santa's declaration could well be it.

Using Cleveland as his own personal soundstage, Santa engages the region like a spirit delirious on well drinks. In Cleveland, do you snow? he likens the fluffy precipitation to longing and invokes former mayors, the homeless, "acid rain dancers for needle-arm diggers," smokestacks and Nate Gray in a well-constructed, two-page flourish. The theme initiated here draws readers into darker corners of what it means to be a Clevelander and what that experience means, but lovingly melds them with visions of Lake Erie lightning, having an orange and brown heart, "Petey at the pawn on 185th," d.a. levy, Little Italy wine bottles, and plenty of ennui in the plumes swirling from sin-taxed cigarettes. Some of the visuals are simply arresting.

Down and Out and celebrates the exploration of the city and brings out a level of awareness that the Cleveland subconscious holds but doesn't always talk about. There's American Beauty in its ugliness, power in its cowardice, daring in its smokestack serendipity. But mostly, it's a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be from a city that has had its demise predicted without end for the last 40 years. Santa, who is currently finishing up English and Political Science degrees at Case Western Reserve University, has a way of seeing beyond the grime even if it doesn't come across with the first read.

Santa's first book Down and Out and can be purchased through RoseDog Books, Amazon.com and at AppleTree Books at 12419 Cedar Road. To read more from Santa, visit his blog the Cleveland Brawler at http://www.seansanta.blogspot.com. And for 24-hour poetry readings, or if you would like to share a poem of your own with the author, call his 24-hour poetry hotline at 337-4565 any time of day. And to repeat the author's own words, "No rhyming poetry please." Lastly, visit him at http://www.myspace.com/seansanta.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com
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