Alyce McCullough Guynn 'Deal Me In'

Alyce McCullough Guynn is a long standing, dear friend of mine from Austin, Texas. Having a reputation stretching back nearly thirty years amongst Austin's musical/literary community she has recently published her first full length collection of poetry and prose 'Deal Me In'. Her work draws deeply from the well of rock 'n' roll, country and blues music. Indeed her live poetry readings are often performed with musicians accompanying her ... freewheeling and improvisational. I myself have performed with her several times on my visits to Austin. The late, lamented Champ Hood, Marvin Dykuis and Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor are others who have fallen under the spell of her images and given their guitar magic to her readings.

'Deal Me In' is actually credited to Alyce Guynn and Jesse Taylor .... indeed, the same Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor ...( the same Jesse Taylor who played on my 'Rhythm Oil', 'Lucky' and 'Green Voodoo' albums ) this time in the guise of artist and illustrator. It's a beautiful collection of stories and pictures ... stories and pictures that invite you, force you to ... focus on memories of the Everly Brothers, jazz, love gone wrong and love gone good, cottonfields and carousels. The edition is also noteworthy for having photographs by the man who binds Alyce, Jesse and myself together as friends ... Mr. Butch Hancock.

I was honoured by being asked to contribute the foreword to this book. It was a great pleasure to write, the only problem being that I could have written a whole book myself talking about and praising the worlds and work of Alyce Guynn and Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor.

Published by Pearson Publishing Company, 711 N. Carancahua, Suite 119, Corpus Christi, Texas 78475. Tel 1 - 884 - 8820 email www.PearsonPub.US

Available in the United Kingdom from

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Reviews

Earthy, electrically visceral and unfailingly honest, Alyce Guynn's sharp observations hit you like a song you didn't know you needed to hear until the moment it starts playing on the radio. You don't have to "get" poetry - whatever that means - to get what Guynn's driving at; a working appreciation of life will do.

Patrick Beach, AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, author of A Good Forest for Dying.

With words that are as steeped in wisdom as they are wonderfully strung together, Alyce Guynn makes her mark in Texas' distaff literati. Call them naive or folk art, Jesse Taylor's illustrations give Guynn's Deal Me In a memorable, hard black edge.

Margaret Moser, AUSTIN CHRONICLE

Deal Me In is full of risky, funny heartbreaking laments that are never sentimental, always honest, and devoid of self pity. Alyce Guynn writes, "I am unwilling to walk out before the final act." Like a card player with a hard-earned reputation, she plays each hand for what it's worth. These are not poems about winning or losing. They are about "conveying us closer to the self we are seeking."

Hayan Charara, author of The Alchemist's Diary and The Sadness of Others.

Some readers reviews of 'Deal Me In' from Amazon.com

After reading this book of love poems I feel as though I've been welcomed into the author's inner circle of friends, like I've become one of her trusted confidantes. My favorite poem is "Blue Wind, Big River,"...Leaning against your resolve, I let you lead me through the mystery of no destination... Deal Me In is the celebration of life and love.

Janet Gould (Hot Springs, AR United States) 5 stars

What I love about the book 'Deal Me In' is that it chronicles the loves of the poet's lifetime. Guynn pours out her passion not just for romantic love, but for life and music as well. Two of my favorite poems are "I Found My Jazz" and "Mary Pearl", a tribute to Janis Joplin. Guynn opens her soul to the reader with such phrases as "I stepped inside the fire of you, ignoring I am wood". While this phrase shows the vulnerability of love, Guynn's overall theme invites us to keep taking the risk anyway: "...embrace the end of what is, to welcome what will be reborn." Add to this the heartfelt illustrations of Jesse Taylor, and you have a winning hand in this book.

Pamela R. Patterson (Stephenville, TX) 5 stars

NewsFlash February 17, 2006

Guitarist Jesse Taylor always pushed the limits; he still does ...
Late at night, this longtime musician trades his guitar for colored pencils ...

Here is an article that is in today's, February 17, 2006, Austin American Statesman. It is about the artist Jesse Taylor who illustrated the book published with Pearson Publishing Company in December 2005. The book is prominently mentioned in the article along with a picture of both the author, Alyce Guynn, and the artist. Great pictures of Jesse's art as well. We are in process with the new book, entitled The Other Side with Alyce writing poems to go with Jesse's art...in Deal Me In..Jesse drew pictures to go with Alyce's poems.
Click here to read the Austin American Statesman article written by Brad Buchholz.