A Life of Kenneth Rexroth

by Linda Hamalian

“Linda Hamalian is to be saluted for the sheer amount of detection and unraveling she has brought to her life of Kenneth Rexroth. It’s the kind of information everyone seems to take for granted, but which would still be covered by the desert sands of time except for the biographer’s herculean labors.” ― Washington Post Book World A poet and activist, Kenneth Rexroth is a central figure in the San Francisco literary renaissance. But his nature and love poetry have left their mark on several generations of modern poets, from Beats to Denise Levertov, Carolyn Forché, and Jessica Hagedorn. A complex person, Rexroth was a self-taught man of great knowledge, a consummate storyteller, a man who could be thoroughly charming one day and who could take your head off the next. In the definitive and only biography, Linda Hamalian explores Rexroth’s life and work in all their depth.

Genres: Biography

468 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jay Callahan · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the great literary crimes of the 20th century.

A hatchet job by a person who was really creating an fawning autobiography of themselves through building a very negative picture of a public figure. Hamalian the narrator and commentator is wise, mature, reasonable, enlightened and liberal....all the things she sadly concludes that poor Rexroth was not.

Try his own Autobiographical Novel for his early life.

[David Rullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great bio that explores the personal and public life of Kenneth Rexroth. A solid primer, perhaps slightly light on poetry analysis, but a good book.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll pretty much go with the top Goodreads review: 'A hatchet job by a person who was really creating a fawning autobiography'. Sadly it's the fullest account of KR's life, nonetheless, with basic biodata, some interesting details, and some scholarship intact. I don't remember exactly what Robert Bly said and can't be bothered to track it down but it was something about feeling sorry for a man whose biography was written by a woman whose infatuation and spurned sexuality had turned to hatred. Sometimes Hamalian's animosity toward her subject leads to funny anecdotes and the odd repeatable line, but mainly it ruins what could have been and I wish were a sound biography.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography of a character who had the capacity to re-invent and self-justify his excesses and wide-ranging interests. The biographer was clearly admired him yet by the time she was done she was holding her nose, yet kept her anger about R.'s mysogyny in check, providing a rather unbiased portrait.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the troubled life of a poet who was not always a nice man. Although I enjoyed reading it, I don't remember one thing from it anymore.