Nonfiction. Literary Criticism. In THE "FALLEN WESTEN STAR" WARS, Jack Foley documents the heated debate that surrounds literary California. When Dana Gioia, the author of Can Poetry Matter?, published his provocative essay, "Fallen Western Star: The Decline of San Francisco as a Literary Region," he knew that certain quarters would be up in arms. Prominent California literati were quick to defend the San Francisco Scene and wrote articles attacking Gioia. Others attacked the attackers. The entire exhilarating, sometimes hilarious exchange appears in this book.

"Jack Foley is doing great things in articulating the poetic consciousness of San Francisco."—Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Author City: OAKLAND, CA USA

Jack Foley is a poet and critic living in the San Francisco Bay area. Foley's radio show, "Cover to Cover," is heard every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. on Berkeley station KPFA and is available at the KPFA web site; his column, "Foley's Books," appears in the online magazine The Alsop Review. His poetry books include Letters/Lights—Words for Adelle; Gershwin; EXILES ; ADRIFT (nominated for a Northern California Book Reviewers Award); Greatest Hits 1974-2003; Ash on an Old Man's Sleeve; and "A Disordered City," chapbook included in AHADADA READER 3. His books of criticism include the companion volumes, O POWERFUL WESTERN STAR: POETRY & ART IN CALIFORNIA (winner of the Artists Embassy Literary/Cultural Award 1998-2000) and FOLEY'S BOOKS: CALIFORNIA REBELS, BEATS, AND RADICALS as well as The Dancer and the Dance: A Book of Distinctions. He is well known for his poetry performances with his wife, Adelle, also a poet. In June 2010, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Berkeley Poetry Festival.