The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen

by Philip Whalen, Gary Snyder (Contributor), Leslie Scalapino (Contributor)

One of the most path-breaking and creatively radical poets of the San Francisco Renaissance, Philip Whalen was part of the 1955 Six Gallery reading where the West Coast Beat movement famously began. Working alongside Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Jack Kerouac, Whalen developed a conversational and visually unorthodox style that is unique in contemporary poetry. His lifelong engagement with the impermanent and sensuous, concerns deepened by his commitment to Zen Buddhism, are on rich display here, along with his warm humor and original illustrations. This Collected Poems rightfully places Whalen among the foremost poets of his time, offering readers a truly major body of American poetic work.

Genres: Poetry

932 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Philip Whalen was born in Portland, Oregon on October 20, 1923. He roomed with future poets Gary Snyder and Lew Welch at Reed College in Oregon.

Whalen did not pursue a career in poetry, but fell into it after Snyder asked him to take part in the famous Six Gallery poetry reading in 1955. A good portrait of Whalen, Snyder's slightly older and chubbier Zen-poet friend, appears in 'The Dharma Bums' by Jack Kerouac (the character's name is Warren Coughlin).

Like Snyder and Kerouac, Whalen took Buddhism very seriously, and also like them he found spiritual enlightenment as a fire lookout in the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Whalen published many highly respected works of poetry, as well as two novels, "You Didn't Even Try" and "Imaginary Speeches for a Brazen Head". He was ordained as a Zen monk in 1973. He suffered from severe eyesight problems in his later years. He lived as a Buddhist in San Francisco until he died on June 26, 2002.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_...

Reviews

[C.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed a copy of ON BEAR'S HEAD years ago from a friend and simply REFUSED to return it! Actually he had a couple of copies, but my theft is beside the point. How easy is it to LOVE Whalen's poems? His work is something I put on like a pair of comfortable socks, or shirt, OR UNDERWEAR! Why NOT UNDERWEAR is my question!? The BEST poetry SHOULD BE like a nice pair of underwear, holding your genitals in the harsh angle of the fucking undertow we call present day Planet Earth. Whalen is for Lovers more than Virginia!

Peace to ya poets!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com

[Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

800 pages is a lot of anyone, even a poet as great and under-read as Whalen, and the gain in information comes with a corresponding loss in shape. Whalen's refusal to separate writing from the business-as-usual work of living gives his poems their special tension--the "nerve movie" that's at once transcription of mind moving and competitive bid to be Art--but also invites sameness and slack, a problem more apparent here than in previous collections, especially On Bear's Head, where the batting average dazzles. Reference-wise though, having this book is like owning a wing of the Beat Louvre, and I wouldn't trade it for all of Mexico City or its blues.

[Edmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could Philip be the oddest of the beats? He has works of all shapes and sizes. A lot of great short poems. He seems (this is an off the top of my head thought) to be buddhist more in approach than in exposition, which I think makes his forms and leaps really interesting and makes his work have a great mysterious technical edge on his contemporaries (and ours? His ability to seem removed from his work is not antiseptic or overwrought). The problems with the book for me are: that Leslie Scalapino overdoes the intro so that it's more about how she reads it rather than an exploration of Whalen's approach to poetry; and I personally don't see the benefit of chronological ordering to the book. On Bear's Head has a great charm and I think it would be more interesting to see Whalen's book-to-book poem ordering—especially considering how hard his books are to come by. That said, a million thanks and praises to Scalapino and editor Michael Rothenberg for bringing about this great treasure.

[Sam]

I realize that Whalen was probably a better poet
than some of his other beat contemporaries

[James Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with a large chunk of Ginsberg's verse, Snyder's poetry (especially MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS WITHOUT END) & Kerouac's works, this is probably the greatest literature to come out of the Beat Generation. Whalen was a genius, and his ability to write in such a conversational and informal style really sucks you in. Each poem is like talking to an old friend. His erudition is impressive but unpretentious. Highly recommended. I return to this massive, definitive collection again and again. Michael Rothenberg did a great editing job, and the reproductions of some of Whalen's calligraphic script and sketches is exquisite.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

plum tree sits on my head when reading whalen

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just got this in the post yesterday. One of my favourite poets. Wanna read everything!!!

[Timothy Green]

If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all...