DAY

(Great Barrington, MA): The Figures, 2003. First edition. Near fine.. First edition of Kenneth Goldsmith's epic conceptual poem DAY, inscribed in year of publication to Anne Tardos and Jackson MacLow. DAY is arguably Goldsmith's most famous (many would say infamous) book: a precise transcription of every word from one day's issue of the NEW YORK TIMES. As Goldsmith himself described the project: "I am spending my 39th year practicing uncreativity. On Friday, September 1, 2000, I began retyping the day's NEW YORK TIMES, word for word, letter for letter, from the upper left hand corner to the lower right hand corner" (rear cover). One of the founding documents of conceptual poetry, the eight-hundred-plus-page book took more than six months of full-time effort and resulted in a work that "insists on appropriation, a strategy well established in music and visual art, as an important literary possibility" (Raven).

Inscribed to two Fluxus artists and experimental writers who helped pave the way both for Goldsmith specifically and the other conceptual poets more generally. Goldsmith has written in particular of Mac Low's influence on him and his connection to this book: "Jackson Mac Low was the most boring writer that ever lived. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. As a matter of fact, I've called myself the most boring writer that ever lived, but when I think about it, Jackson was boring in a completely different way [...] I tried my hardest over the years to bore Jackson and never succeeded. He was unborable. At a reading at The Drawing Center in New York City, Jackson was in the audience. I had my great shot and I took it, reading from my book DAY [...] After the performance I went up to Jackson, and in a teasing manner, poked him in the ribs and said, 'So, Jackson, was that boring enough for you?' He said no, that it was not boring." An unboring association. 10'' x 6.5''. Original printed blue wraps. [10], 836, [4] pages. One of 700 unnumbered copies. Inscribed by Goldsmith on title page: "Nov 30 2003 / For Anne and Jackson / On Anne's sixtieth, / with love + admiration / Kenneth Goldsmith." Trace shelfwear. Front cover just beginning to curl. Else bright, sound, and sharp.