#stone axe press

Staff Pick of the Week

For my staff pick, I’ve chosen Little Bullets by talented musician, author, and music professor John Kruth. Kruth is the author of several books of poetry, as well as several other books, including biographies of Townes Van ZandtandRoy Orbison. A native of New York City, Kruth lived in Milwaukee from 1986-1996, partially because the Violent Femmes told him it would be more affordable to finish his album here. 

This book features brief poems and accompanying illustrations that are all linocuts by artist Marvin Hill. Hill lived in Milwaukee and later in Johnson Creek, WI with his wife, Wendy, until his passing in 2003. Wendy carried on Hill’s legacy, continuing to print his works for many years—some are still available on their website. I found a nice piece about Hill and his work written by journalist Kevin Lynch. 

What’s impressive to me is that all of the text for this book was done as linocuts! There are a lot of really nice details in the book, like how the bullet holes on the cover line up with the exit holes on the back. I love the bright orange used for the title page and again for the background of the linocut of a rhinoceros. 

Little Bullets was published in 1992 by Barefoot Press, which remains a green printer in Raleigh, North Carolina, and apparently in association with Stone Axe Press of Milwaukee, WI, which was housed at 2720 N. Fratney St. in the Riverwest neighborhood. The penultimate page of the book has a linocut of two figures, one with a guitar and the other with a brayer, chasing a bison and says “M. Hill and J. Kruth currently pursue the bison of happiness through Milwaukee.”

I hope this book finds you pursuing your own bison of happiness.

- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager