Exstatic Almanac: A Book of Daze

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

AWOL Love Vibe is not a rap group, but a “spoken word” collective
formed by Vancouver playwright/actor Alex Ferguson, Vancouver
producer/director Kendrick James, and Montreal author/musician John
Sobol. This publication by a trio that owes more to Benjamin Franklin
than to Snoop Doggy Dogg contains 365 daily verses, supplemented with
daily trivia such as “October 2, 1890, Birth of Groucho Marx.”

The book is “alternative” in every sense. The scattered words of
John Sobol’s “december 5” entry demonstrates the collective’s
use of avant-garde forms. Unconventional attitudes are expressed in
Kendrick James’s “february 2” (Groundhog Day), which describes a
creature who resembles “Sid Vicious with a giant clothes pin from ear
to ear.” The trio’s rebel credentials are affirmed in Ferguson’s
“august 14,” also referred to as “Exstatic Cunt Day” in the

group’s accompanying “Verbomotorhead” CD’s playlist.

They are also politically radical. Ferguson’s “may 20”
commemorates Victoria Day by denouncing our British heritage: “get
fucked by a redcoat and give birth to a rape child.” He advocates the
ultimate revolt in “march 6” by honoring stampeding cattle and other
“revolutionary heroes of the animal kingdom.”

Wise critics will seek insights, not definitive judgments, from this
collective effort.