Behind the State Capitol

With the original remaining copies destroyed in a 1982 arson fire at the Fag Rag/Good Gay Poets offices, a beloved cult classic returns to print for the first time in five decades

Already known as a "poet's poet," John Wieners (1934-2002) moved to Boston's Beacon Hill in 1972, where he was involved with anti-war and gay liberation movements and organizations devoted to the rights of people with mental health conditions. Out of this milieu emerged Behind the State Capitol, described by its author as "Cinema decoupages; verses, abbreviated prose insights." It is the record of a poet whose life has been shattered by poverty, drug addiction and mental illness. Wieners creates a complex schizo-analysis of language, capitalism, incarceration and state power, while reflecting on unpopular themes of aging and loneliness in the gay world.

Considered by many to be his poetical masterpiece, the book was met variously with indifference and outrage when it was published in 1975. In 1982, most remaining copies of the book were destroyed in the Fag Rag/Good Gay Poets arson. Available in print for the first time in 50 years, this revitalized edition contains new afterwords by Wieners' friend James Dunn and the poet's biographer Robert Dewhurst.