{"id":1031,"date":"2023-07-18T15:51:37","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T19:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/?page_id=1031"},"modified":"2026-02-09T18:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:19:48","slug":"the-electron-ghost-casino","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/poetry\/the-electron-ghost-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"The Electron-Ghost Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-normal-font-size\">Randolph Healy<br><br>March 5, 2024 <br>ISBN 978-1-881163-73-2<br>$17.00<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/book\/1144438242?ean=9781881163732\">Barnes &amp; Noble<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Electron-Ghost-Casino-Healy-Randolph\/dp\/1881163733\">Amazon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pathwaybookservice.com\/products\/the-electron-ghost-casino\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pathwaybookservice.com\/products\/the-electron-ghost-casino\">Pathway<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Comprising forty-nine units, with a bespoke porch and optional exit through a bestiary, Randolph Healy\u2019s <em>The Electron-Ghost Casino<\/em> has a d\u00e9cor ranging from the cerebral (all percentiles included) to the earthy. Notes of horror, intimacy, fractured histories, and joy echo from its chambers. Healy is the author of <em>Green 532: Selected Poems 1983-2000<\/em> (Salt 2002) and other books and chapbooks celebrated by readers throughout the Anglophone poetry world. This is his first American book publication. Are some of his tunes unfamiliar?&nbsp;&nbsp;Don\u2019t worry, or do. We may be out of time, but there\u2019s still space. Dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reviews &amp; Such<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;In these poems, we are all bodies and brains in motion, inside both language and calculation at every turn. The &#8216;electron&#8217; of Healy\u2019s title, he informs us in the preface, is an allusion to the experiment proving that what appears to us as solid stone and flesh is, in a scientific truth, empty space and electrical fields. Our perception leaps over the gaps, collaging the world into pieces that seem, for the moment, whole.&#8221; \u2013Marthine Satris, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegeorgiareview.com\/posts\/the-thrill-of-rupture-with-two-irish-poets-on-trevor-joyces-conspiracy-and-randolph-healys-the-electron-ghost-casino\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.thegeorgiareview.com\/posts\/the-thrill-of-rupture-with-two-irish-poets-on-trevor-joyces-conspiracy-and-randolph-healys-the-electron-ghost-casino\/\">The Georgia Review<\/a><\/em><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;[This] may be his best single book. Here are Healy\u2019s intellectual skepticisms and his amazement at how the world works, at &#8216;what can work,&#8217; at the fact that anything functions at all given the chaos all round.&#8221; \u2013Stephanie Burt, <a href=\"https:\/\/clereviewofbooks.com\/stephanie-burt-randolph-healy-the-electron-ghost-casino\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/clereviewofbooks.com\/stephanie-burt-randolph-healy-the-electron-ghost-casino\/\"><em>Cleveland Review of Books<\/em><\/a><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<em>The Electron-Ghost Casino<\/em> conducts sensorial\/semantic\/surprising pleasures in poems with quickness, an alert ear, and sometimes tenderness, up to the snuff of a good conversation\u2014digressive, propulsive, slapstick.&#8221; \u2013Sean Pierson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryinreview.com\/reviews\/electron_ghost_casino.html\"><em>Restless Messengers: Poetry in Review<\/em>, August 2025<\/a><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;This collection, the most unequivocally joyful book I read this year, is propelled forward by the sheer glee of babbling language.&#8221; \u2013Lily N\u00ed Dhomhnaill, <a href=\"https:\/\/stingingfly.org\/review\/irish-poetry-2024\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/stingingfly.org\/review\/irish-poetry-2024\/\"><em>The Stinging Fly<\/em>, December 2024<\/a><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reviewed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryireland.ie\/publications\/poetry-ireland-review\/current-issue\/\"><em>Poetry Ireland<\/em>  Issue 143, August 2024<\/a><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Healy is a mathematician and treats maths and logic as languages to be used in poetry like any other, and through this asks us to reconsider what language, and, by extension, poetry is and can do.&#8221; \u2013Billy Mills in <a href=\"https:\/\/ellipticalmovements.wordpress.com\/2024\/05\/27\/recent-reading-may-2024-a-soundeye-special\/\">Elliptical Movements<\/a>.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sheenaghpugh.livejournal.com\/164235.html\">Sheenagh Pugh review of <em>The Electron-Ghost Casino<\/em> \u2014 LiveJournal<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cRandolph Healy has great sympathy for the only contingently coherent, whether it&#8217;s language, splintering into letters and sounds which seldom agree (but their argument is poetry), or his mother, who thankfully didn\u2019t get parsed to atoms while working in a munitions factory in WW2. He\u2019s a poet for whom the alarming, the utterly hilarious, and the loving are faces of the same dice, and his poems move by a series of joyful and mischievous flips whose logic eludes me and convinces me, every single time.\u201d <br><strong>\u2013Peter Manson, author of <em>Poems of Frank Rupture<\/em><\/strong><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Randolph Healy shrinks the scale of the world and life, and every idea, image, and word becomes delicious. When you read the poem<br>&#8220;Solation,&#8221; notice how the \/l\/ sounds lull you into its ripples, and how the sharp \/n\/ sounds in &#8220;Ashen Riot&#8221; pierce the atmosphere. I feel tingling and alive while reading <em>The Electron-Ghost Casino<\/em>. It\u2019s a gift to be given the grace to feel and experience so deeply.&#8221;<br><strong>\u2013Steven Dunn, author of <em>Potted Meat<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>ran\u00b7dolph\u00b7in<\/strong> (r\u0103n-d\u014flf \u2032 \u012dn)\u00a0n.\u00a01. merman tailwalking in\/on Dublin Bay\/Bray\/Bay of Biscay. 2. Poet with conical teeth. 3.a. Keeper of the wolf from the door. b. Or the wolf. c. Or the door. [OE. Randwulf &lt; ON. Rann\u00falfr : rann, house or shield or rim + \u00falfr, wolf (see Old Norse R\u00c1N [\u02c8r\u0252\u02d0n] goddess, personification of the sea; Old Irish\u00a0RANN, RAND,\u00a0quatrain, stanza of Irish poetry)].<br><strong>ran\u00b7dolph\u00b7ing<\/strong> (r\u0103n-d\u014flf \u2032 \u012dng)\u00a0v.\u00a0-dolph\u00b7ed,\u00a0-dolph\u00b7i g,\u00a0-dolphs\u00a0\u2014intr.\u00a0Executing linguistic, mathematical, poetical, typographical, fantastical high jinks in a consummately low-key way.<br><strong>ran\u00b7dorph\u00b7in<\/strong> (r\u0103n-d\u014frf \u2032 \u012dn)\u00a0n. 1. Any of a group of miniature brainy peptalks that activate receptors, causing an analgesic effect. 2. The whole box of chocolates. 3. The cat\u2019s pajamas. 4. All your birthdays coming at once. 5a. Ne rotransmitter of liveliness. b. An abundance of which the reader takes away from this book.<br><strong>\u2013Mair\u00e9ad Byrne, author of <em>You Have to Laugh: New &amp; Selected Poems<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-normal-font-size\"><br>About the Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Randolph Healy was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1956. Looking back in time, his family tree expands, while the population of the planet contracts. Thus he has a vast number of relatives, at various distances. He has written books and his work has appeared in magazines and anthologies. He founded Wild Honey Press in 1997. His average density is slightly less than that of water, which enables him to float when required. He is currently preparing a paper on &#8220;Sisyphus and the Importance of Routine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-704x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of The Electron-Ghost Casino by Randolph Healy\" class=\"wp-image-1065\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-704x1024.jpg 704w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-768x1117.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-1056x1536.jpg 1056w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-1408x2048.jpg 1408w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_-600x873.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/07\/healy.cover_.jpg 1650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Randolph Healy\" class=\"wp-image-1053\" style=\"width:384px;height:512px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/files\/2023\/06\/R_Healy_image-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Randolph Healy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Randolph Healy March 5, 2024 ISBN 978-1-881163-73-2$17.00Barnes &amp; Noble | Amazon, Pathway Comprising forty-nine units, with a bespoke porch and optional exit through a bestiary, Randolph Healy\u2019s The Electron-Ghost Casino has a d\u00e9cor ranging from the cerebral (all percentiles included) to the earthy. Notes of horror, intimacy, fractured histories, and joy echo from its chambers. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":995,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1031","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/995"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1031\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/miami-university-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}