Seattle Small Books Company

Ritter's Crime

James M. Brantingham

Ritter is a ditch digger in the trenches of a very wet Seattle winter. He recalls voices from poets, both classic and modern, to lift his spirits from the trash-filled ditches to payday. A very short book, but very long on literature--from Hesiod, Homer, Horace, & from Dante to Pound.

"This is a book I've been waiting for—for roughly 16 years. I was impressed back in '89 that Jim Brantingham seemed as handy with Horace as with a sawhorse. As a former member of Local 22, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, I felt deep sympathy for this gentleman/scholar. I liked the seamlessness of his erudition and his craftsmanship; he was a writer I thought I could trust. I continue to admire him for these reasons and now, of course, I admire his indomitability as well."

- Howard Junker
  Editor, ZYZZYVA