Tom Lynch

Corgan's "Blinking with Fists," his 96-page venture into poetry, falls fairly short of life-changing. Is it better than expected? Sure. But it doesn't come close to the melancholic, heart-bending quality of his wordplay on his best achievements--his records--"Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness." However, to have the guts to go ahead and leave himself open for damning criticism and mockery--shit, that's cool. Applaud him for trying his hand at something a bit more complicated than what he's used to, since he's already proven that solid songwriting comes somewhat easy to him, given his prolific nature and knack for selling millions of records. Unfortunately, the renaissance man often takes heat if all of his acts of artistry aren't on the same level, and let's face it, sometimes we ask way too much. Billy is still our town's boy.

Billy Corgan discusses "Blinking with Fists" on October 29 at Borders Bookstore, 830 North Michigan, (312)573-0564, at 5pm. Free.

(2004-10-27)

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