Telling the Difference

Paul Watsky

Feb 2010 · Fisher King Press

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"To quote Norman O. Brown quoting Euripedes, God made an opening for the unexpected, and at long last we have what many of us have greatly desired: a collection of poems by Paul Watsky. His is a singular voice in contemporary poetry, with a range that encompasses the wry, the mordant, the laugh-out-loud funny and the deeply moving, often within the same poem. One of Ovid's earliest critics complained that he did not know when to leave well enough alone. In this he resembles the eponymous hero of Watsky's The Magnificent Goldstein, and, come to think of it, Watsky himself, for which we have cause to rejoice."—Charles Martin

"We meet an observant poet telling a story, his story: wryly perceived incidents of family and history-all given with elegance, wit, and intimacy. A concise, carefully crafted, timely view of the world." —Joanne Kyger

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A native of New York City, Paul Watsky moved to California during the late 1960's, where, after teaching for five years in the English Department of San Francisco State University, he trained as a clinical psychologist and Jungian analyst. In addition to his first book of poetry, Telling the Difference, Paul is the author of Walk-Up Music (il piccolo editions 2015). His haiku, longer poems, and translations have appeared widely in periodicals and anthologies, including Modern Haiku, A New Resonance: Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku,  Rattle, Interim, Smartish Pace, Asheville Poetry Review, and The Carolina Quarterly. He is cotranslator of Santoka (Tokyo, PIE Books, 2006), and poetry editor of Jung Journal:Culture and Psyche.