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Off the Wall: Interviews with Philip Whalen
Book by Philip Whalen
- GenresPoetry
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Philip Whalen
92 books16 followersLibrarian 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_...
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_...
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
April 6, 2023
A close friend of mine is an expert on the beats and was fortunate enough to know Philip Whalen during his lifetime. He told me he was a lovely man but boring.
Well, I unfortunately never met Philip Whalen, only finding out about his work about 10 years ago, but what I can say is that this collection of interviews with the San Francisco-based Zen beat poet is anything but boring. What a fascinating mind this dude had. He comes across as one of the best-read and coolest of the beats, not cool in the hip sense (like his friend Lew Welch) but cool in the goofy sense like he never took life or himself too seriously.
This book has made me want to check out Whalen's poetry again, especially On Bear's Head, a seminal collection of beat poetry, a beat classic some might say.
His comments on Kerouac were especially revealing, in particular Kerouac's approach to writing novels sounds right on the ball (incidentally, Whalen also tried his hand at writing novels and was quite good at it....). I think I'm beginning to understand why Lew Welch, another extremely talented beat poet, called Whalen "the smartest poet in America" for their time. A lightning-quick mind, perfectly suited for mulling over koans and the other complexities of life.
Well, I unfortunately never met Philip Whalen, only finding out about his work about 10 years ago, but what I can say is that this collection of interviews with the San Francisco-based Zen beat poet is anything but boring. What a fascinating mind this dude had. He comes across as one of the best-read and coolest of the beats, not cool in the hip sense (like his friend Lew Welch) but cool in the goofy sense like he never took life or himself too seriously.
This book has made me want to check out Whalen's poetry again, especially On Bear's Head, a seminal collection of beat poetry, a beat classic some might say.
His comments on Kerouac were especially revealing, in particular Kerouac's approach to writing novels sounds right on the ball (incidentally, Whalen also tried his hand at writing novels and was quite good at it....). I think I'm beginning to understand why Lew Welch, another extremely talented beat poet, called Whalen "the smartest poet in America" for their time. A lightning-quick mind, perfectly suited for mulling over koans and the other complexities of life.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review