Poems by Dennis Bernstein
Visualizations by Warren Lehrer
Introduction by Steven Heller
Paper Crown Press, Guttenberg, NJ, 2019, English
Nonfiction, Graphic Design
6.75 x 6.6 in., 300 pages, hardcover, quarter cloth binding, Smythe sewn, full-color cover with embossed type, metallic foil, black and white interior, printed on archival paper
Suggested Retail Price: $35.00

From the Publisher. Five Oceans in a Teaspoon is an innovative, beautiful and moving collection of short visual poems written by muckraking journalist/poet Dennis J Bernstein, visualized by pioneer designer/author Warren Lehrer.

As with his journalism, Bernstein’s poems reflect the struggle of everyday people trying to survive in the face of adversity. Divided into eight chapters, Five Oceans in a Teaspoon reads like a memoir in poems. It spans a lifetime: growing up confused by dyslexia and a parental gambling addiction; graced by pogo sticks, boxing lessons and a mother’s compassion; becoming a frontline witness to war and its aftermaths, prison, street life, poverty, love and loss, open heart surgery, caring for aging parents and visitations from them after they’re gone. Lehrer’s typographic compositions give form to the interior, emotional and metaphorical underpinnings of the poems. Together, the writing and visuals create a new whole that engages the reader to become an active participant in the navigation, discovery, and experience of each poem.

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