American Magus Harry Smith: A Modern Alchemist

by Paola Igliori (Editor)

Smith, Harry

Genres: Biography, Occult, Art, History, Nonfiction, Music, Film

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Damian Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and have continued to dip into it on a regular basis ever since. To this day it remains one of my favorite books. Harry Smith was a direct manifestation of pure, unfiltered, uncontrollable genius. Even more than in his art, this came out in his personality, to which this book is a testament.

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite book of mine. Harry Smith was a polymath madman sort of guy. He created the Anthology of American Folk Music in the 50's, which as I understand was an enormous inspiration to the young Bob Dylan and other legendary folkies. The anthology was re-released on CD about 10 years ago and is still fantastic.

Smith is known today mostly for this anthology, but he was also an innovative experimental filmmaker, a painter, collector of string games and paper airplanes, a Magician (as in Aleister Crowley Magick Magickian), Shaman in Residence at the Naropa Institute, and on and on and on. He also tried to put together an anthology of Native American peyote ceremonies in Oklahoma in the early 70's, but it never worked out. He considered this incomplete work way more important than the folk anthology. Too bad it doesn't exist.

So it should be clear he was an incredibly fascinating guy, but he was also apparently incredibly self-destructive. The photographer Robert Frank, who was friends with him, praises his genius in the book but then wonders why he chose to sleep in dumpsters. Harry Smith was a very strange man of mystery.

The book was obviously a labor of love, and does its best to be a far-ranging document of a very elusive subject. It includes interviews with Smith along with interviews with people who knew him, loads of stills from his films, Ginsberg's photographs of him, and a detailed list of the contents of some of the hundreds of boxes of his books and collected objects.

Too bad the book's out of print and so expensive now; it's highly recommended.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a jackass

[Lucifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A seemingly little known giant and polymath. Harry Smith is famous for bringing folk music through anthology recordings. Field recordings that captured the American magic of traditional cowboy/folk songs that would inspire the likes of Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, and countless more. Smith was also a creator of the first 'trip' videos, creating music with film visuals, often by playing multiple tracks, mixing multiple turntables and film projectors creating visuals experiences which inspired generations to come, such as the music video makers in the early days of MTV (and continues his influence ripping through to today) . This text is wealth of information that brings you through the life and world of a sometimes paranoid, always eccentric, ingenious genius of infamous repute. Harry Smith, as the title denotes, was an anthropologist-magician, one that took a realistic/holistic view of this patternized planet and its universe. With a keen sense of his embedded reality his astute senses able to recognize such things as the rise and fall of the death rattle in hospices, corresponding to the dawn like some circadian rhythm. If any of these subject matters are of interest to you then its a must read book to pick up. There is so much more to talk about, but I will let you discover the magic for yourself.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book, but, first off, it was a book of interviews with people about Harry Smith, as well as some interviews with him, not a biography. Then, the interviews were all across the board. Personally, what I was interested in was his occult ideas as well as his film work, and these were only represented by a few of them. This is understandable, because his work documenting Native culture as well as doing things like the American anthology of folk music were what he was mostly known for, but still, I would have preferred more about this side of Harry Smith.

[Isodore Ducasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not just because of Harry Smith, but because of learning about the lifes of the person's interviewed, aswell as the scene and city it's worth a read. The way each interview somehow shows as much pf the person as of Harry, what they value, how they idolize or have disillusions are extremely interesting.
The way you go from questioning Harry's actions which often are beyond normative or appropriate, to accepting or understanding him.
There were many storys that were just out of world hilarious like him collecting thousands of Ukrainian eggs that because of the rotting procedure could explode any second in his crowded appartment if someone moves to much.
The material presented through notes, collected poems, cross references and images are a lovely addition to make open the cosmos that had been opened.

The second last ( or last ) interview of Paola Igliori herself is maybe with the one of Ziprin the most memorable.

[Hex75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

harry smith è noto soprattutto come compilatore dell'"anthology of american folk music", leggendaria serie di 6 dischi che fu fondamentale per lo sviluppo della musica americana (e non solo) e la cui influenza arriva fino a noi.ma questo è stato stato solo un aspetto della personalità di questa incredibile figura: pittore astratto, regista di cinema d'avanguardia, collezionista di aspetti considerati minori della cultura popolare (dalle uova nuziali ucraine alle coperte indiane, passando per le figure di corda), esperto di esoterismo e di parecchie altre cose...insomma, una personalità davvero poliedrica, quasi un personaggio rinascimentale capitato nella controcultura beat prima e 60s poi.

personaggi così sono difficili da non ammirare, e mi stupisco di quanto in realtà sia poco noto, anche negli ambienti "controculturali"...

[Melting Uncle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too bad this is out of print. These interviews with Harry's friends and acquaintances paint a vivid portrait of a very strange magical little man.

Harry comes to life as a fountain of creativity and inspiration. Between this book and "Avant-Garde in the American Vernacular", it's obvious that Harry's singular works as a visual artist/filmmaker deserve a wider audience.

The definitive Harry Smith book has not yet been written/published but until then this is one of the best HS resources. Thank you interlibrary loan!

[Zach Werbalowsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a solid introduction to harry smith but the interviews could of had more guidance as opposed to just asking the same questions and getting similar answers. curious about the bio to see it all put in order.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Larry-bob Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Smith was a lot weirder than I realized. Yes, he knew about a lot of arcane stuff. I could go on but I'm reviewing the book, not Harry himself.

The book contains a series of interviews with people who knew Harry Smith; as the interviews progress the interviewer applies what was preveously learned to questions. I saw the author's film about Smith a few years back and this is far better organized.

Not much about Smith's sexuality - he is presented as asexual tending towards homoexual.

[jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

genius. check out one of anthology film archive's screenings of Smith's hand-painted animated fims, Magic Lantern shows. he did everything, he knew everybody, he compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music which piqued a young bob dylan's interest in music... great insight to the artistic mind.

[Robert]

I know this is hiding in a box somewhere in my back room - so, now I just gotta find it. I've recently rediscovered M. Henry Jones thanks to "Sweat" and Y__T___ and now (like, now) really want to read his contribution.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled across Harry Smith while reading a book of stories concerning the Chelsea Hotel. Harry Smith was many things and this book is a series of interviews with the people that knew him best. If you like the Beat culture, I think you'd like this book.

[Jeffrey Bumiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of interviews with and about Harry Smith. I would have enjoyed it more if I was better informed about Harry Smith from the start (all I knew of him was the Anthology of American Folk Music).

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

GENIUS.