Click through for my review of 3rd BED [1], the fourth in my full-press review series of Calamari books.
3rd BED [1] Contributors:
Michael Burkard, Thomas Browne, Bei Dao, Margaret Flynn, Brooks Haxton, Jame Ineiech, Bill Knott, Stacey Levine, Tuan-Li Diana Liao, Cormac Mac Carthaigh, Michael Martone, Paul McRandle, Heidi Peppermint, Christopher P. Riley-Zaleniev, Anthony Robbins, &Diane Wald (& translations of Baudelaire, Alkman, & Theokritos)
Let me just preface all of my reviews of both the 3rd BED journal series & the SLEEPINGFISH volumes by admitting that as a reader, I am not the greatest fan of literary print journals. Typically, unless enormously well done, I find them to be disjointed & often ill-focused, even if they are thematically or contextually well-endowed.
That being said, I always read with an open mind & did so with this, the first issue of 3rd BED, produced in 1999 & now a part of the growing Calamari catalog.
First of all, I didn’t know where the name 3rd Bed came from, as I came to the writing scene a bit too late to even submit to their journal or print arm. So, from the inside cover:
‘We have seen that there are three sorts of bed. The first exists in nature, and we would say, I suppose, that was made by god. No one else could have made it, could they? I think not. The second is made by the carpenter. Yes. And the third by the painter? Granted. (Plato, The Republic)
As there was no other bed-chamber in the house, the hostess, without much nicety, led them into mine, telling them, as she usher’d them in…that there were two beds in it, and a closet within the room which held another.—The accent in which she spoke of this third bed did not say much for it. (Stern, A Sentimental Journey)
This bed is just right. (Goldilocks)’
The Martone is good, the Burkard & Wald & Knott interesting, but I don’t feel like there are pieces worth quoting, going into depth with here. Overall, this volume didn’t seem to express a clear through-line to me other than classical sensibilities – I couldn’t find its express statement except to perhaps establish a presence on the scene shouting ‘we are here, we are here, we are here’ much like the Mayor’s trembling townspeople in Horton’s incapable trunk.
That’s right, Dr. Seuss.
3rd BED [1] is an artifact. I found the textual material neither riveting nor deplorable, but instead a kind of literary constant that I did not love or hate. But 3rd BED [1] is an artifact because it is a part of our history, this web-connected sometimes self-diluting pool of current literary stakes that we are in, have been in, will continue with-in.
Next up, SLEEPING FISH [0]. Stay tuned.
I really miss 3RD BED!