The Geocryptogrammatist's Pocket Compendium of the United States

A sequence of 50 haiku-like poems composed in strict syllabics, Karl Elder's COMPENDIUM is the poet's ode to America, though not without a critical eye and an insightful tongue. Sometimes comic, sometimes serious, and always playful, the sequence reveals in the manner of montage a great nation's character and heritage, while the character of states is suggested through contemplation of the enigmatic qualities of states' abbreviations, names, and shapes.

Beautiful in itself, THE GEOCRYPTOGRAMMATIST'S POCKET COMPENDIUM OF THE UNITED STATES is a limited edition chapbook, a genuine object of art, with each state illustrated by hand with the aid of computer graphics.

Book designer Carrie McWithey chose to compliment visual aspects of the poems with elements or properties of physical entities often associated with the United States--its flag; a U.S. passport; and THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION, and old maps.