CANNED

Booted, bumped, down-sized, fired, forced out, hated, hired, jobless, laid off, let go, out of work, out-sourced, pink-slipped, terminated, sacked, unemployed

by Anthony Buccino

Non-rhyming verse about being out of work, the strains that tag along and the sinking boat you feel you're riding in.

This collection deals with a difficult subject in a very real way. Its strength is its realness and that is also its greatest weakness. It's not for the faint of heart.

A must-have for anyone who deals in human resources, personnel, recruitment, job placement, or has been fired, laid-off and is out of work.

CANNED, Booted, bumped, down-sized, fired, forced out, hated, hired, jobless, laid off, let go, out of work, out-sourced, pink-slipped, terminated, sacked, unemployed – By Anthony Buccino

Buccino's poetry collections are mostly out of print.

Special orders - send email to author.
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The poems in this book follow a rhythm all their own, charting a course through an unforgiving world.  Throughout, the speaker seems to remain buoyant, hopeful in the midst of so many illusions shattering.

A poem like "Job Rock" is one of the best here, & most emblematic of the book's concerns.  Through a kind of jangly movement, the speaker recounts how many people hope it could be, while flatly affirming that it isn't that way anymore.  And despite all of our complaints about bosses & hours, we know he's right - that all we want is a place to belong.

Though the book is broken up into sections, the poems don't seem to benefit from this -- either because poems are placed in sections in a manner that can't quite be discerned or because the sections themselves aren't thematically divergent enough.

-- Judge, Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards

Table of contents

SIDE BY SIDE

TELL THE WIFE

SADSACK

NOON CLOUDS

FIRST TIME

FIRED

FORCED OUT

YOUR ALL

TEN MINUTES

THAT STUPID JOB

GOOD THINGS ABOUT BEING OUT OF WORK

A SUCKER AND A BUCK

STATISTIC

THERE’S THAT PICTURE

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

WANT ADS

INTERVIEW SUIT

WHAT KIND OF WORK YOU OUT OF

ELEVATOR PITCH

YOU GOOD AT SOMETHING

GREATEST WEAKNESS

YOU MUST LIKE FOOD

HONEST TO A FAULT

THE FIRING MONTH

MY DAUGHTER’S JUNIOR PROM

AIN’T LAZY

WHEN I GO POSTAL

AMEN FOR OLD PLASTIC

SAVING FOR THE PLUMBER

BETTER LUCK

HOMELESS AT CHRISTMAS

EGG

HIERARCHY OF SEAGULLS

FIRING

COLD SMOKERS

BIG UGLIES

NOTHING PERSONAL

HAPLESS COMMUTERS

SEAGULLS FOR LUNCH

EVEN PRISONERS GET LUNCH

JOB ROCK

LET US COMPARE

LUNCH BOX

SNOOPY HAT

FIXING THE ROOF

HANDS IN SOCKS

MIRROR

FREE LUNCH

THE OLD GUYS HATED ME

HURLING

FEATHERING THE FORKLIFT

SHOESTORE WRITER

WAREHOUSE EYES

DEAR BOSS

FINALLY

YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

ME AND HERBIE HAVE A BET

TWO PAYCHECKS

LUCKY SURVIVOR

Where You May Have Seen Some of These Poems

Hands In Socks – Editor's Choice, 2008 ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY AWARDS, Paterson Literary Review #38

Homeless At Christmas, Lunch Box, Tell The Wife, There’s That   Picture – Rattlesnake Review (Poetry With Fangs)

Snoopy Hat – Paterson Literary Review #38

Ten Minutes – Honorable Mention, 2009 ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY AWARDS, Paterson Literary Review #39

When I Go Postal – Medusa’s Kitchen

Tell The Wife, Fired  - Caduceus

Adapted from the verse

You never forget your first time .... fired

Good things about being out of work

Comments on CANNED

“It is very lively, topical, and to the point. The poems are jazzy, imagistic, and lyrical. This was one of the best books I reviewed for this contest.

A well structured book of poetry has the following: clear and compelling cover image that draws the reader in, a table of contents, interesting back material that may included an author’s photograph and biographical note (I found the back a bit cluttered and do consider a photo), and clean typesetting. CANNED benefits from most of these.

Audience includes the general reader of contemporary poetry and of course anyone suffering from unemployment and layoffs and the general economic crisis. This book speaks to a real problem with humor and poetic technique.

“The most professional thing that any book of poetry can have is a list of magazines (print and electronic) where the poems were previously published. This shows seriousness, and a track record. And so the acknowledgements here are a terrific addition. Do consider sending a full manuscript out to some literary presses for consideration. I think this collection is publishable on that level.

In terms of the poems themselves, don’t shy away from detail or from images that use the five senses. Abstraction is interesting, but it is detail and imagery that really drive the feeling of any poem, so be specific. Also, add page numbers to the contents. Overall, however, excellent work.”

Judge: 60

19th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards

In The News

Turning unemployment into an art form The Observer

Back Cover

The CANNED blog

CANNED, Booted, bumped, down-sized, fired, forced out, hated, hired, jobless, laid off, let go, out of work, out-sourced, pink-slipped, terminated, sacked, unemployed – By Anthony Buccino

Published by Cherry Blossom Press, PO Box 110252, Nutley, NJ 07110