What do you think?
Rate this book
Kenneth Patchen: A Collection of Essays
In this collection, Richard Morgan has brought together all the important essays and reviews on Patchen written from 1941 to 1976. Also included are a chronology, a number of illustrations, a selective bibliography of additional sources and a forrword by his wife, Mariam Patchen.
262 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1978
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 11, 2016
Sometimes it’s better to read a compilation of writings about a writer instead of reading a biography on them, which in this case refers to the legendary poet Kenneth Patchen. What emerges from Richard Morgan’s collection of essays (as well as a transcribed radio interview) is an artist unjustly neglected as one of the greatest poets of all time.
A former steel worker from Ohio and college football star, he was permanently sidelined by a crippling spinal injury which confined him to bed, where he wrote several books simultaneously. His realist poetry predates the Beat Generation by a good twenty years, and he was among the first to read poetry to live jazz combo accompaniment.
The great irony is that he had nothing but contempt for the Beats, calling them a disgusting carnival sideshow. Perhaps some of his spite came from a lack of recognition by the likes of Kerouac and Ginsberg, but it doesn’t matter. In Richard Morgan’s collection is an essay by Henry Miller where he lavishes phenomenal praise on Patchen, so much so it’s the stuff of any writer’s wet daydreams.
I also enjoyed a lot of accounts from jazz musicians about their experiences working with Patchen and how he aced a recording after getting major dental surgery in the middle of the session, blood flowing out of his mouth as he recited his hardcore prose.
And hardcore prose it is:
“Anger won’t help – I was born angry,
Angry that my father was burned alive in the mills,
Angry that none of us knew anything but filth and poverty,
Angry because I was that very one somebody was supposed
To be fighting for”.
A former steel worker from Ohio and college football star, he was permanently sidelined by a crippling spinal injury which confined him to bed, where he wrote several books simultaneously. His realist poetry predates the Beat Generation by a good twenty years, and he was among the first to read poetry to live jazz combo accompaniment.
The great irony is that he had nothing but contempt for the Beats, calling them a disgusting carnival sideshow. Perhaps some of his spite came from a lack of recognition by the likes of Kerouac and Ginsberg, but it doesn’t matter. In Richard Morgan’s collection is an essay by Henry Miller where he lavishes phenomenal praise on Patchen, so much so it’s the stuff of any writer’s wet daydreams.
I also enjoyed a lot of accounts from jazz musicians about their experiences working with Patchen and how he aced a recording after getting major dental surgery in the middle of the session, blood flowing out of his mouth as he recited his hardcore prose.
And hardcore prose it is:
“Anger won’t help – I was born angry,
Angry that my father was burned alive in the mills,
Angry that none of us knew anything but filth and poverty,
Angry because I was that very one somebody was supposed
To be fighting for”.
October 13, 2010
Some criticism on Patchen, that was sometimes good but just as often quite dry. Some biographical elements and interviews that left me blown away at what true hero this guy was!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews