“Even when all possible scientific questions have been answered,” wrote Ludwig Wittgenstein, “the problems of life remain completely unanswered.” Forbidden Fruit is not only a collection of poems on science and nature, but also a meditation on the problems of life. It has been described by Beat poet Michael McClure as “a collection of inspirations … as rich and dark as wasp honey”.
Williams has created a unique form of polemical poetry with which to attack the vast political and social forces which overshadow, grind down, and poison our lives: militarism, big business, consumerism, the sensationalist media, dehumanizing technology—all those things embraced by corrupt governments and used to strengthen the modern megalomaniac state.