Poet be like God : Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance / Lewis Ellingham and Kevin Killian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ellingham, Lewis

Contributor:

Killian, Kevin.

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Spicer, Jack.

Blaser, Robin.

Homosexuality and literature--California--Berkeley--History--20th century.

Homosexuality and literature.

American poetry--California--Berkeley--History and criticism.

American poetry.

Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988--Friends and associates.

Duncan, Robert.

Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988.

Friends and associates.

History.

Berkeley (Calif.)--Intellectual life--20th century.

Berkeley (Calif.).

Poets, American--20th century--Biography.

Poets, American.

California--Berkeley.

Blaser, Robin--Friends and associates.

Gay men--United States--Biography.

Gay men.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xviii, 439 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Hanover, NH : Wesleyan University Press published by University Press of New England, [1998]

Summary:

Jack Spicer, unlike his contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder, was a poet who disdained publishing and relished his role as a social outcast. He died in 1965 virtually unrecognized, yet in the following years his work and thought have attracted and intrigued an international audience. Now this comprehensive biography gives a pivotal poet his due. Based on interviews with scores of Spicer's contemporaries, Poet Be Like God details the most intimate aspects of Spicer's life - his family, his friends, his lover - illuminating not only the man but also many of his poems. The resultant narrative of the San Francisco Renaissance and the emergence of the North Beach gay scene during the 50s and 60s will be indispensable reading for students of American literature and gay studies.

Contents:

"Poet, Be Like God"

Prodigy Gone Wrong

After Berkeley

The Poet in New York (and Boston)

"The Whole Boon of His Fertility"

Honey in the Groin

"The Hell of Personal Relations"

Heads of the Town

The Holy Grail

The Long Silence Crisis

"The Chill in My Bones"

Last Summer.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [377]-416) and index.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy has dustjacket retained.

ISBN:

0819553085

OCLC:

37864582