My Books
All books are available in the usual online bookstores.
The Grail in Usk, A Novel of Sir Perceval
The boy is spoiled, willful, and grotesquely selfish. He had
been isolated from the harsh and violent world by his mother
and raised in a forest. But he comes upon knights one day
and from then on will not rest until he too wears armor and rides
a magnificent war-horse. He leaves his mother and his boyhood life
behind to set out into the great world, where he will encounter deep
mystery, violence, love, sexuality, and—the Holy Grail.
Mything You: a Brew of Stories, Plays, and Poems About Myths, Fables and Fairy Tales
You would think the god who drove the sun around the sky with horses
and gave us poetry and healing and cities and stringed instruments,
who was famous for his pretty face and balls of brass would know better than to diss that dangerous baby, Cupid! But no, Apollo, Sun-driver, Killer of Serpents, goes out of his way to mock the infant!
Of course he does, and “the infant” takes delicious revenge, and all hell breaks loose, because if anyone in the ancient pantheon of gods can cause trouble, it’s the god of love. But come to think of it, has that changed? In fact, do the old myths and fairly tales mean any less today than they did back when? Or are they still in the very marrow of our bones, albeit in somewhat different form? Through poetry, narrative, and drama, this book takes a stab at answering that question. Though it’s main purpose is and always was — to have fun!
Tristan, Isolt, and the Sea
Sir Tristan’s assignment was to convey the lovely young Isolt to her husband-to-be, the older King Mark of Cornwall. But a strange incident occurred on their voyage across the Irish Sea which transformed what might have been a quiet tale of marriage between royal houses into a complex and compelling love-story that has come down to us through the centuries in many versions. Here’s the most recent.
At one time, this book was available at the following local bookstores:
Bird and Beckett 653 Chenery St. (Glen Park), San Francisco
Folio Books, 3957 24th St. (Noe Valley), San Francisco
Pegasus Books in Downtown Berkeley, 2349 Shattuck Ave.
Pegasus Books in North Berkeley, 1855 Solano Ave.
Pegasus Books in Oakland, 5560 College Ave.
African Yamassee: an American Story
Tsombay, the African forest hunter, transported to a South Carolina plantation in 1714, has never before seen pale people with blue eyes or copper-colored people with black eyes. Even the woods are alien, as if a twisted reflection of his own beloved forst back home though he will kill his slave-driver to escape into those forbidding trees to search for his wife and son, torn from him a year past by the slave trade.
Farming in San Francisco
“Dan Richman’s urban farm grows poems–poems of San Francisco streets and backyards, city restaurants and corner markets, skyscrapers and seascapes, broken dreams and broken hearts–poems of high romanticism and poems that cast a cold eye on life and death. This book is a rich harvest.” blurb by Carolyn Miller
Myth Mess, A Rowdy Romp through Greek Myth
Not long ago, moralists and ministers and mothers steered kids away from the Greek Myths. They are too heathenish, the said. Too violent. And most of all, too sexy! But some of us read them anyway, and see how marvelously we’ve all turned out.
Simple Poems
“Sir Poet, you’re the real thing, y’know–an honest-to-God wielder of words welded into living forms that make their way straight into the hearer’s heart and mind. Thanks to you and the Muses, those lovely fierce girls.”
blurb by James Norwood Pratt, world-renowned tea expert and author of The Wine Biber’s Bible, the globally-recognized Tea Lover’s Treasury, and James Norwood Pratt’s Tea Dictionary
Toy Store, poems by Dan Richman
Remember the huge kick you got out of walking into a toy store when you were a kid? Those shelves were loaded with magical things that could provoke your imagination, whether in the tiny rooms of a dollhouse or in the vast reaches of Outer Space. If you will open the covers of this book and find what waits for you, you might hear at least the echo of the old joy.
Assorted Curiosities, New and Selected Short Stories
Through the years, I have seriously enjoyed writing these pieces. If that is a recommendation for you, please try a couple of them. If not, and we have merely brushed finger-tips on your way out the door, then vaya bien, amigo: go well.
Viking Hammer, Viking Sword, a Love Story
During the High Middle Ages the northern folk known as Vikings reached the American continent, invaded Britain, and most of Europe and sailed down the rivers of Russia, forcing her cities to trade with Vikings and only Vikings, thus causing a historic exchange of goods and cultures.
Who were these people? This short novel that deals with, some of it based on history, and some on mysticism and speculation, attempts to cast a little light on these remarkable and all-too-human people. We hope you enjoy it.
Cunning Crow Books 