Description:
Catapult is the magical but true story of two men, a microscopic arts grant, and the working siege weapon this volatile combination somehow produced.
Brief description: Jim Paul's poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Poetry and elsewhere. His books include Medieval in LA, Elsewhere in the Land of Parrots, and The Old English Rune Poem, a translation with commentary. He has received Hopwood Awards in poetry and prose from the University of Michigan, a Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing from Stanford University, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He earned a doctorate in medieval English literature from the University of Michigan and taught for fifteen years on the English faculty at Hunter College. As a producer and arts administrator in New York, Jim worked with Douglas Dunn & Dancers and SummerStage and headed the House Foundation for the Arts, which represents the work of singer and composer Meredith Monk. He is executive director of the Tank Center for Sonic Arts in Rangely, Colorado.
Review Quotes:
"Irresistible . . . A roller-coaster ride through the intellect and imagination of a poet in the thrall of a grand obsession . . . A book so zany in its conception, so eclectic and eccentric in its curiosities and so funny that I could not put it down." Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times
"Delightfully whimsical . . . Sneakily profound." Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
"Inspired . . . Genuinely moving . . . Tells his and Harry's story from first vision to final fine-tuning; along the way he also explores a few dozen pockets of military history." The New Yorker
"Wonderful . . . Glorious . . . Elegant . . . Eye-opening." Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
"Clever, subtle and adroit . . . A meditation on art, science, technology, fun and war." Richard Locke, The Wall Street Journal
"A unique book that is enjoyable, informative, and at times inspiring." Library Journal
"I have often wanted to lay siege to the odd fortress or encampment. Jim Paul at last has shown me how such a thing is within the realm of my abilities." Tom Hanks