GLORIOUS STONE ~

 

Dream, hike, gawk, AI-it a bit

ANOTHER GREEN WORLD, BRIAN ENO TONIGHT ~

 

ARTISTS' HOMES ~

 

R E A D   M E

       Thames & Hudson, 2018

       350 illustrations

THIS MOMENT AT LONGHOUSE (NEW TITLES) ~

~

WHEN I WAS A POET IN CHINA ~ Norman Schaefer

Norman Schaefer

When I Was A Poet In China

Norman Schaefer’s long experience as a wilderness trekker in the Sierras and his admiration for ancient Chinese poets, exemplified by the ethereal presence of Li Po, informs this etude on the sights and sounds of West Coast ecology. When I Was A Poet In China is elegant yet accessible, with a deep respect for the sagacity of an ageless sensibility still relevant today. Centuries and cultures are bridged in this masterful dialogue reflecting on art, literature, and the vagaries of existence under the willows on the banks of Putah Creek.

P A T   N O L A N

Longhouse

2026

available now

New, perfect bound, 100 pages

Prose

$16.95

   $5 shipping

 NEW! ANDREW SCHELLING at LONGHOUSE ~

ANDREW SCHELLING

Wielding the Sanskrit Ice Axe 

L O N G H O U S E

 2026

$12 

   (postpaid)

New! Margaret Randall at Longhouse

Margaret Randall

Book Burning Here and Now

L O N G H O U S E

 2026

$12 

   (postpaid)

New! Jonathan Greene at Longhouse

Jonathan Greene

Thoughts to Survive Hard Times

~

L O N G H O U S E

 2026

$12 

   (postpaid)

BOB ARNOLD'S "SWWIMMER” ~

"Artists feed each other: John Cheever fed one of the best. Bob Arnold was inspired by the John Cheever’s short story.“The Swimmer” to write a fact based novel SWWIMMER (the double “W” is intentional) that honored Cheever’s achievement. In doing so, Arnold created a rare work of art: a stunning trade book that is also an artist-book, an example of masterful writing, exquisite design, and a story that takes the particulars of personal family relationships and makes them universal as they develop the themes of love, loss, abandonment, the striving to return to inner peace by finding a way outward, “swimming” into the world’s confusions and mysteries." — JOE NAPORA

A personal letter from Margaret Randall:

Dear Bob:

As it turns out, I read Swwimmer in one sitting last night. I'd intended only to glance over the book but it hooked me. I like the writing a lot. It seems a departure from your writing style in other books and particularly suited to telling this subtly complex story which--am I wrong?--seems to be modeled after your own son and his life. A very moving story. And the shape and heft of the book works well. I have been working on an essay about how these maga AI companies are buying up, scanning, and then destroying books... by the tens of millions. Part of what I am trying to transmit is the importance of the book as form as well as content. Swwimmer confirms this. And Schelling's translations from the Sanskrit, following the story of that first Everest climb and the lost codex that recorded the legend of the mountain's spirit were also fascinating. A rare jewel.

Thanks again.

Love, Margaret 

 Bob Arnold

SWWIMMER

Longhouse

a new edition, 2026

available now

New, perfect bound, 170 pages

Prose

$20

    $5 shipping

_________

Listen up!

Every book or title here are human-authored and human-designed. People made them. No part of this work may be used to train AI technologies, to develop machine learning or large language models, or for similar purposes without the clear written permission of the publisher.

Thank you! from Bob & Susan at Longhouse

Established in 1971

LONGHOUSE

P.O. Box 2454

West Brattleboro

Vermont

05303

   all photos & buildings by

   Bob & Susan Arnold

ARTHUR SZE ~

 

Into the Hush

1

A magpie feather gleams in the grass;

today you are not having open-heart surgery,

nor are you strapped to a hospital bed,

inhaling oxygen; you do not mix cement

and sand in a wheelbarrow, nor did you sleep

the night in a field off an interstate highway.

This morning you live in a sparrow's warble,

in pale green leaves trembling in sunshine.

You catch the curling wave of the day

where peas flower on a trellis, where apricot

blossoms tinge the tips of a hundred-year-old tree.

Weeding in the garden, you get stronger

as you dig; you become well, island, field;

out of nowhere, a rough-legged hawk

glides downward with outstretched wings;

aspen leaves flutter without wind.  When you've

worked this long, your art is no longer art

but a wand that wakes your eyes to what is.

_________________________________

Arthur Sze

Into the Hush

Copper Canyon Press

2025

WENDELL BERRY ~

 

W E N D E L L   B E R R Y

Louisville, Kentucky August 5, 1934  ~  August 31, 2026 Port Royal, Kentucky

HANSHAN ~

 

from Cold Mountain Zen

Father and mother having left me much to inherit,

I'm not envious of others' paddies and fields.

My wife handles her loom, clicking, clucking,

my child, playing by herself, mouth babbling, babbling.

She claps her hands, making blossoms dance,

chin in hands, she listens to birds singing.

Who will come by and admire all this?

Just a woodcutter stops by for awhile.

Since birth, for thirty years,

I've walked tens of thousands of li.

Along the rivers blue grass proliferated,

as I entered the borders scarlet dust rose.

I kneaded elixir vainly to seek immortality,

I read books to comment on history.

Having returned to Cold Mountain now,

I lie by a stream and wash my ears.

As I climb the path to Cold Mountain,

the route to Cold Mountain does not end.

The valley is long with piles of stones,

the streams smothered with grass.

The moss is smooth, not because of rain,

the pines sough, not by borrowing winds.

Who would go beyond the world

and sit with me amid white clouds?

I lie beneath heavy layers of rocks;

steamy clouds do not fade during the day.

My room is murky and dark,

but my mind rejects uproar and clatter.

My dreams go to wander in golden palaces,

my soul returns by crossing the stone bridge.

I've thrown away whatever disturbs me,

even the gourd clanking in the trees.

My house sits under green boulders;

the garden is wild but I do not cut grass.

New wisterias hang down, entwiningly;

old stones stand, rising steeply, sharply.

Monkeys pick mountain berries;

in the pond a white heron mouths fish.

The transcendental book, in two volumes,

I read under a tree, mumbling.

_C O L D  M O U N T A I N  Z E N_________________________________

Hanshan

translated by Hiroaki Sato

New Directions 2026

I've waited all my life for Hiroaki Sato to bring us Hanshan —

it was only a matter of time. Excellent footnotes accompany these

poems, so I encourage every reader to find this essential book, a

beauty, and read all the poems, all the footnotes, all the essays,

all the all. I just wanted to type out a few poems to share on a late

summer season evening.

MONK ALIVE IN ZURICH 1964 ~

 

Thelonious Monk Quartet Zurich, Switzerland 02/26/1964 Charlie Rouse (ts) Thelonious Monk (p) Edward "Butch" Warren (b) Ben Riley (d)

PAUL CELAN by ANNA ARNO ~

 

R E A D   M E

    Belknap/Harvard

     2026