It almost makes me miss Jewel...

Newsrooms get innundated with CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and books that the authors, musicians, filmmakers (or, more often, their PR firms) want to see reviewed. The vast majority are by unknown artists, meaning the Features department looks at them for about as long as it takes to throw away the envelopes.

Here at the Miami Herald, they wind up on a long filing cabinet in the newsroom where grazers are welcome to scoop them up. One of the interns who's doing some support work on my beat snatched one and dropped it on my desk while I was on deadline last week - only this morning did I notice that it's a book of poetry by Billy Corgan.

Yes, that Billy Corgan - frontman for Smashing Pumpkins, who is described by the publishers as such:

Having risen to fame during the grunge era in the early 1990s, Billy Corgan is among the most respected figures of the alternative rock word - a visionary artist who, over a decade later, still commands a devoted following.

OK. I'll reserve comment on that, except to say this:

Google gives you about 72,900 hits on a "Billy Corgan" search.
It gives you about 99,200 hits for a "Tennille" search (plus another 17,200 if you misspell it as "Tenille"), so I imagine "Love Will Keep Us Together" also qualifies as visionary.

Corgan is further described as "long admired for his evocative songwriting" who is using this book of poetry to "embark on a deeper exploration of literary terrain as a poet." He is also working on his first novel, they say.

They conclude their fawning by saying that his poems "further solidify Corgan's status as the voice of a generation."

The book, blinking with fists, is not being published until later this year, and the proof asks that it not be quoted - since it came through the Herald, I'll just say: You really, really can't wait for this book.

There's a poem called "Pussywillows."