Theory of Sediment

Peter Baltensperger is the editor and publisher of Moonstone Press and
the author of Arcana.

Over a quarter-century of writing, editing, performing, theorizing, and
collaborating, McCaffery has always worked at the forefront of poetic
(and interdisciplinary) expression and development. His latest work is
no exception. On the back cover, the publisher explains that “Theory
of Sediment is a sustained application of the uncertainty principle to
the phenomenon of language, wherein the process of language can only be
‘understood’ by making an arbitrary assumption that its motion is
(can be) stopped.” This brief introduction to the work is followed by
the warning, “This wild, white-water linguistic ride is not for the
faint of heart. No life jackets supplied.”

Not only is Theory of Sediment not for the faint of heart, it is
definitely only for those keenly interested in avant-garde writing and
theorizing about writing and language. A tour de force of Joycean prose
passages, prose poems, poems, and visual/concrete poetry, McCaffery’s
latest work experiments with a wide variety of styles, concepts, and
ideas, all of which require careful and painstaking attention to detail
and to “the sedimentary sweep of the continuum.” For the reader so
inclined, the book offers a wealth of ideas, intriguing and startling
discoveries, and progressive writing styles to mull over and sink
one’s teeth into, to experiment with, and to experience. But it takes
time, and a serious effort on the reader’s part.