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Joel Van Valin's love of classical literature is apparent in the very title of his first full-length collection, Boating on the Styx. The longtime editor and publisher of Whistling Shade, Van Valin wears his love of literature lightly, effortlessly moving back and forth in these poems of love and loss, family and grungy streets. The effect is to give the poems weight and perspective, as when the poet describes a bride: "The white nets of her dress / flowing behind her / like Aphrodite risen / from the foam." In Van Valin's poems, the world is everywhere-babies, whiskey, polar fleece, chicken wings, and kisses, many kisses. And he knows things, for instance, that Hart Crane's father invented Life Savers. He is thoroughly in the world, but transcendence is never far away.
-Norita Dittberner-Jax, author of World Enough and Time - New and Selected Poems
Boating on the Styx, the culmination of many years' work and experience, reflect Joel Van Valin's long tenure as editor at Whistling Shade magazine, finding the best in everything while burnishing a poetic sensibility that is both accessible and exceptional. Joel's poems are musical and sometimes formally structured, but never aloof. They dabble in everyday subjects but straddle the worlds of waking and dreaming as easily as the worlds of the present and the past. Best of all, they satisfy and deserve much re-reading.
-Julian Bernick, author of Castle Bash
What a ride reading Joel Van Valin's new book, Boating on the Styx. The most earthy of experiences are transformed by love and lust. (Robert Herrick's spirit is present in this work.) Imagine! The housepainter as lover; the everyday made fabulous. Soak up these poems in your fav chair or drinking establishment. Admire the innuendo, both current and historical. Let your heart break over the poem written for daughter Lily. You're in good hands for your ride on the Styx as you bypass dryer buzzers and drainage ditches. Van Valin's lines are stumble-proof. Your boat man is a man for love, a poet in love.
-Sharon Chmielarz, author of Duet in the Little Blue Church - New and Selected Poems
