Which Way to the River

"Outlaws in literature are rogues who carry no gun, but fire into the center of our awareness. They use the present, past, and interior world of their dreaming and living. John Dorsey has done a hell of a job! This book will give you a thought provoking introduction to Dorsey's style and talent. I find his writing clear, weirdly funny, moving, and sorrowful. If I were to compare John Dorsey to a respected literary figure, it would have to be Ed Abbey. Both were protectors and observers and laid it out to be remembered!"




-Ann Menebroker, Author of tiny teeth: The Wormwood Review Poems

R. L. Crow Publications, 2004.




"I read John Dorsey's compelling, lyrical book in one sitting. He mixes beautiful imagery, insight, candor, vulnerability and wit.

What a very cool sandwich!: )"




-ellyn maybe, Author of the cowardice of amnesia

2.13.61 Publications, 1998.







"I always know when I am reading a John Dorsey poem. His style is uniquely his. It's as unmistakable as a Greg Corso or a Kell Robertson poem. It's playful, dark, bardic and authentically American."




-Todd Moore, Author of Dillinger's Thompson

Phony Lid Publications, 2002.




"I've written about John Dorsey before. He's a vagabond angel, a word lunatic, a visionary. I saw him read at The Beat Museum and it blew me away. If Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg have a spiritual heir, it's John Dorsey. He is carrying the torch, lighting the landscape, singing alone in the wasteland. There is nobody that touches him. Nobody comes close. True genius. Every poem is a complete reward for the moments spent reading it. I feel honored to have met him. I hope to God I see him read again."




-David Barker, Author of Charles Bukowski Spit in My Face, a Memoir

Salem, Or, 1982.