Synopses & Reviews
Fiction. LETTERS TO WENDY'S, which was excerpted for the Readings section of Harper's in March 2001, has generated the kind of anticipation rare for a small press book. Reminiscent in its humor and transgressiveness of James Tate, LETTERS TO WENDY'S takes the form of a young man's daily odes to Wendy's fast-food paradise. I was so high on Sudafed and whiskey today that I couldn't eat. I got a Coke -- actually five Cokes, as I could refill for free. It's times like this -- dehydrated, exhausted, unable to imagine home -- that your plastic seats, your quiet understandable room, set beside but not quite overlooking the source of real value, offer me a tragedy small enough to want to endure. SPD also carries Wenderoth's Wesleyan book IT IS IF I SPEAK.
Synopsis
Outrageous, brilliant and tragic, the genre-bending novel Letters to Wendy's was written over the course of a year on comment cards from a Wendy's restaurant. Through the letters, the book traces a year in the life and thoughts of an unnamed narrator obsessed not only by Biggies and Frosties, but also by consumerism, pornography and mortality.
Synopsis
Prose. "Letters to Wendy's", which was excerpted for the Readings section of Harper's in March 2001, has generated the kind of anticipation rare for a small press book. Reminiscent in its humor and transgressiveness of James Tate, "Letters to Wendy's" takes the form of a young man's daily odes to Wendy's fast-food paradise.
Synopsis
Cult favorite Letters to Wendy's has sold thousands of copies through web, direct and special orders, and will appeal to a wide variety of readers at independent and chain stores.
Description
The prose in this volume, the first of Verse Magazine's book publishing venture, were written on the "tell us about your visit" response cards available from Wendy's fast-food restaurants. Much of the subject matter concerns sexuality and the body. Many of the poems were published on Nerve.com.
About the Author
Joe Wenderoth is an American Poet from Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently an Associate Professor of English in the graduate Creative Writing Program at the University of California Davis. Wenderoth's work is widely anthologized, appearing in collections such as: The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories; Poetry 180; The Next American Essay; The Best American Prose Poems: From Poe To Present; The Body Electric; "The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology; American Poetry: Next Generation; Best American Poetry; The Best American Essays 2008. In 2003, the One Yellow Rabbit theater company performed an adaptation of Wenderoth's LETTERS TO WENDY'S. The adaptation was done by Bruce McCulloch (Kids In The Hall) and Blake Brooker, both of whom also starred in the production. In 2007, Wenderoth performed in collaboration with Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) in Brooklyn at the Issue Project Room. Other titles available from SPD are THE HOLY SPIRIT OF LIFE: ESSAYS WRITTEN FOR JOHN ASHCROFT'S SECRET SELF and NO REAL LIGHT.