By any measure, Gary Snyder is one of the greatest poets in America in
the last century. From his first book of poems to his latest collection
of essays, his work and his example, standing between Tu Fu and Thoreau,
have been influential all over the world. Riprap, his first book of
poems, was published in Japan in 1959 by Origin Press, and it is the
fiftieth anniversary of that groundbreaking book we celebrate with this
edition. A small press reprint of that book included Snyder's
translations of Han Shan's Cold Mountain Poems, perhaps the finest
translations of that remarkable poet ever made into English.
Reintroducing one of the twentieth century's foremost collections of
poetry, this edition will please those already familiar with this work
and excite a new generation of readers with its profound simplicity and
spare elegance.