A Living is Not a Life

Alan Berecka's collection of "work" poetry moves toward an ethical, even existential conclusion - honest but not brow-beating or self-righteousness. The poems unmask the false values of our work-world. Berecka's voice is not that of a lazy, jerk-off kid, but a man, now in his sixties, who has played the game with ironic, rebellious effort, in the spirit of Camus' rebel hero, perhaps even approaching the societal-resistance of Melville's Bartleby. But Berecka writes with damn-fine humor, and his work is always graced with his self-effacing style and redeemed by his soul-affirming humanity. - Ken Hada, author of Contour Feathers