Hydrothermal Vents
"There was movement everywhere,
constant, undulating movement.
It seemed that the Lost City was made up of
thousands and thousands of kinetic parts
each creating ecosystem after ecosystem, rhythmically pulsating
in concert as if they were enlivened by a drumbeat
that no one else could hear, building
a steamy hothouse from which life could emerge."

POETRY
Vietnam Scrapbook
"We clipped the jungle's blooming fireballs
with safety scissors, smeared minty paste
on the screaming napalm victim's back,
pressed the blood- and mud-spattered soldiers
into clean white pages, a little ink
smudging off on our soft, sticky fingertips..."

Beanstalk Country
"You know how the mad come into a room,
too boldly,
their eyes exploding on the air like roses,
their entrances from space we never entered.
They're always attended by someone small and friendly..."

LETTERS
The King Crane Report
British Wood-Engraved
Book Illustration, 1904 - 1940,
and Testicles.

THE OFFICIAL RALPH
Paradox-of-the-Month

GENERAL INDEX
A complete list of all books reviewed in RALPH,
arranged by title, including author, subject, and publisher,
plus a listing of all readings, articles and poems
that have appeared since 1994.

A PITHY SAMPLE
of our most notorious reviews
as collected in the hard-copy
"FOLIO"

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