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Catholic Practice in North America
Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax
An illuminating biography of the minimalist poet Robert Lax, a man who embraced simplicity, humility, and poverty and found the pure joy, peace and love he had long sought.
Pure Act tells the story of poet Robert Lax, whose quest to live a true life as both an artist and a spiritual seeker inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, William Maxwell and a host of other writers, artists and ordinary people. Known in the U.S. primarily as Merton's best friend and in Europe as a daringly original avant-garde poet, Lax left behind a promising New York writing career to travel with a circus, live among immigrants in post-war Marseilles and settle on a series of remote Greek islands where he learned and recorded the simple wisdom of the local people. Born a Jew, he became a Catholic and found the authentic community he sought in Greek Orthodox fishermen and sponge divers.
In his early life, as he alternated working at the New Yorker, writing screenplays in Hollywood and editing a Paris literary journal with studying philosophy, serving the poor in Harlem and living in a sanctuary high in the French Alps, Lax pursued an approach to life he called pure act--a way of living in the moment that was both spontaneous and practiced, God-inspired and self-chosen. By devoting himself to simplicity, poverty and prayer, he expanded his capacity for peace, joy and love while producing distinctive poetry of such stark beauty critics called him "one of America's greatest experimental poets" and "one of the new 'saints' of the avant-garde."
Written by a writer who met Lax in Greece when he was a young seeker himself and visited him regularly over fifteen years, Pure Act is an intimate look at an extraordinary but little-known life. Much more than just a biography, it's a tale of adventure, an exploration of friendship, an anthology of wisdom, and a testament to the liberating power of living an uncommon life.
Pure Act tells the story of poet Robert Lax, whose quest to live a true life as both an artist and a spiritual seeker inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, William Maxwell and a host of other writers, artists and ordinary people. Known in the U.S. primarily as Merton's best friend and in Europe as a daringly original avant-garde poet, Lax left behind a promising New York writing career to travel with a circus, live among immigrants in post-war Marseilles and settle on a series of remote Greek islands where he learned and recorded the simple wisdom of the local people. Born a Jew, he became a Catholic and found the authentic community he sought in Greek Orthodox fishermen and sponge divers.
In his early life, as he alternated working at the New Yorker, writing screenplays in Hollywood and editing a Paris literary journal with studying philosophy, serving the poor in Harlem and living in a sanctuary high in the French Alps, Lax pursued an approach to life he called pure act--a way of living in the moment that was both spontaneous and practiced, God-inspired and self-chosen. By devoting himself to simplicity, poverty and prayer, he expanded his capacity for peace, joy and love while producing distinctive poetry of such stark beauty critics called him "one of America's greatest experimental poets" and "one of the new 'saints' of the avant-garde."
Written by a writer who met Lax in Greece when he was a young seeker himself and visited him regularly over fifteen years, Pure Act is an intimate look at an extraordinary but little-known life. Much more than just a biography, it's a tale of adventure, an exploration of friendship, an anthology of wisdom, and a testament to the liberating power of living an uncommon life.
472 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 19, 2017
Robert Lax, poet, was an unfamiliar name to me. Still, when I read a review of this book here on GR, I was intrigued--chiefly because Lax lived a somewhat monastic life alone on a Greek isle. Plus he was a good friend of Thomas Merton's.
I fear Lax had to spend most of his life being more famous as "a good friend of Thomas Merton's," too, but in the end, he overcomes, becoming famous in his own right as a "concrete poet" who writes these long, Slim Jim poems where "lines" often consist of one word and often even one syllable. It's an acquired taste, if examples in the book are any indication.
For author McGregor, the hero worship is clearly sincere. Trouble is, Lax lived a rather staid, low-key life. An indecisive type, he was gentle as a lamb, a great lover of mankind, too--especially simple folk, like the fishermen or sponge divers he met and photographed and wrote about on Greece.
Unfortunately, he also embraced the minority Turks on the Greek isles, and when tensions mounted between the two enemies (Greece, Turkey) in the 80s (remember Cyprus?), poor Lax was considered a spy because America sided with the more-politically important country of Turkey (some things never change).
A slow, gentle read about a gentle man, the book requires patience. Still, there are gems along the way. Merton, yes, but we get a cameo by Jack Kerouac, too, who befriended Lax (success did old Jack in, as we know).
Merton and Lax were also huge James Joyce fans. What fascinates me is that their favorite Joyce work was Finnegans Wake, which they read aloud to each other early and often. Lax, who was also a fan of Samuel Beckett and Asian philosophy and poets (Lao-Tzu, too), would never lose his love for old Finnegan. And here I thought that book was a joke, written off even by Joyce scholars, but no. Little things like that made it cool. You know. An Irish wake where you don't expect one.
Thanks to this, I might check out more of Lax's poetry. Especially his earlier, less experimental stuff. Something called The Circus of the Sun (Lax loved the simple folk who populated circuses, too, don't you know... ). Hey. At least he's on my radar now....
I fear Lax had to spend most of his life being more famous as "a good friend of Thomas Merton's," too, but in the end, he overcomes, becoming famous in his own right as a "concrete poet" who writes these long, Slim Jim poems where "lines" often consist of one word and often even one syllable. It's an acquired taste, if examples in the book are any indication.
For author McGregor, the hero worship is clearly sincere. Trouble is, Lax lived a rather staid, low-key life. An indecisive type, he was gentle as a lamb, a great lover of mankind, too--especially simple folk, like the fishermen or sponge divers he met and photographed and wrote about on Greece.
Unfortunately, he also embraced the minority Turks on the Greek isles, and when tensions mounted between the two enemies (Greece, Turkey) in the 80s (remember Cyprus?), poor Lax was considered a spy because America sided with the more-politically important country of Turkey (some things never change).
A slow, gentle read about a gentle man, the book requires patience. Still, there are gems along the way. Merton, yes, but we get a cameo by Jack Kerouac, too, who befriended Lax (success did old Jack in, as we know).
Merton and Lax were also huge James Joyce fans. What fascinates me is that their favorite Joyce work was Finnegans Wake, which they read aloud to each other early and often. Lax, who was also a fan of Samuel Beckett and Asian philosophy and poets (Lao-Tzu, too), would never lose his love for old Finnegan. And here I thought that book was a joke, written off even by Joyce scholars, but no. Little things like that made it cool. You know. An Irish wake where you don't expect one.
Thanks to this, I might check out more of Lax's poetry. Especially his earlier, less experimental stuff. Something called The Circus of the Sun (Lax loved the simple folk who populated circuses, too, don't you know... ). Hey. At least he's on my radar now....
December 18, 2020
This biography was my introduction to Robert Lax, who interests me as a contemplative poet. His biography intersects with that of Thomas Merton; their friendship and correspondence has been documented in other volumes. Though Lax began his career at the top with The New Yorker, he was unable to adapt to the culture of mid-century urban America, eventually taking on a life of wandering and poverty. Born a Jew, he and Merton cemented their friendship by converting to Catholicism at a similar time in their lives.
Lax sought a quiet home among authentic people and found it in the Greek islands, first Kalymnios, then Patmos. He lived in a seaside village and mingled with sponge divers and fishermen. Donations from family, friends, and admirers kept him afloat. As a poet, he gained an international reputation for his experimental works, but there was no money in it.
At first I was unsure of Lax's intensely narrow and vertical poems. His line endings--sometimes in the middle of a word, seemed clumsy to me. But McGregor prepared me for them, mentioning their musicality, their connection to abstract art, and I read them out loud, and a beautiful world opened. A sun rose and filled empty space with red light. It's a remarkable experience.
I finished the book without really grasping how Lax lived out his Catholicism. He seems saintly because he was kind to others and owned almost nothing. But that is not a way limited to Christians. Perhaps if I read his journals and correspondence, especially that with Merton, I will be able to fill in the portrait more fully.
Lax sought a quiet home among authentic people and found it in the Greek islands, first Kalymnios, then Patmos. He lived in a seaside village and mingled with sponge divers and fishermen. Donations from family, friends, and admirers kept him afloat. As a poet, he gained an international reputation for his experimental works, but there was no money in it.
At first I was unsure of Lax's intensely narrow and vertical poems. His line endings--sometimes in the middle of a word, seemed clumsy to me. But McGregor prepared me for them, mentioning their musicality, their connection to abstract art, and I read them out loud, and a beautiful world opened. A sun rose and filled empty space with red light. It's a remarkable experience.
I finished the book without really grasping how Lax lived out his Catholicism. He seems saintly because he was kind to others and owned almost nothing. But that is not a way limited to Christians. Perhaps if I read his journals and correspondence, especially that with Merton, I will be able to fill in the portrait more fully.
October 9, 2016
It is difficult to describe how this book affected me. My throat was thick and my eye slightly wet when I finished - maybe that will do it.
I'm sure the book won't affect many others in the same way. It got a lukewarm review in the NYT. But I'll say this - if you have significant interest in any of the following things, I believe you will find the book to have significant personal impact: poetry, simplicity as an approach to life, solitude, spirituality, Merton, monasticism, inner life, or searching to understand something more than what is on sale at the mall.
Well-written, McGregor managed to pull together a revelatory picture of one of the most interesting literary figures of our time.
I'm sure the book won't affect many others in the same way. It got a lukewarm review in the NYT. But I'll say this - if you have significant interest in any of the following things, I believe you will find the book to have significant personal impact: poetry, simplicity as an approach to life, solitude, spirituality, Merton, monasticism, inner life, or searching to understand something more than what is on sale at the mall.
Well-written, McGregor managed to pull together a revelatory picture of one of the most interesting literary figures of our time.
October 10, 2025
Life lived as poetry. Lax’s trajectory - early, careerist literary ambition, fleeting brushes with fame, an eventual flight into Catholic devotion - becomes a slow-motion choreography of brilliant, ascetic intensity. Wonderfully balanced between biography, life philosophy, and the evolution of his aesthetics, this is a sharply observed portrait, with McGregor tracing Lax from Olean to the circus, from NYC to Patmos, and everywhere in between.
The text overflows with remarkable moments. I’m struck in particular by the depth of Lax’s connection with Merton, his decision to flee New York to avoid materialism, and his turn away from money, from jobs that stifled him, and from the demands of consumerism.
I found Pure Act a potent reminder of what has been lost over the past century due in no small part to the ceaseless proliferation of technology: the discoverability of the world, of art, and of one’s own voice. It reminded me how much harder such things are to find today: wonder, stillness, and the space to know oneself.
The text overflows with remarkable moments. I’m struck in particular by the depth of Lax’s connection with Merton, his decision to flee New York to avoid materialism, and his turn away from money, from jobs that stifled him, and from the demands of consumerism.
I found Pure Act a potent reminder of what has been lost over the past century due in no small part to the ceaseless proliferation of technology: the discoverability of the world, of art, and of one’s own voice. It reminded me how much harder such things are to find today: wonder, stillness, and the space to know oneself.
October 14, 2017
I thought I would love this book as I thought I would be entranced by Robert Lax. Instead, I often found myself mildly annoyed by him, the first person I've encountered (if only in print) who, literally, seemed to believe that the world owed him a living.
As portrayed in this book, Lax was, unfortunately, the shining star in high school, and never that effortlessly excellent again. He met a group of like-minded friends at Columbia (including the monk/poet/social activist Thomas Merton), as well as life-long mentor Mark Van Doren. After graduation, it took him decades to hit his stride. He wanted to write, but only what he wanted to write: a job at the New Yorker led to a breakdown by requiring that he write about things that did not interest him.
Lax had a transformative experience in touring with a troupe of acrobats. The perfect alignment of talent and task, the way they completely entered into their work and the seamless way it was integrated into their lives led him to formulate an ideal which he called pure act. He spent decades seeking his "pure act," ultimately finding it in by immersing himself in the daily life of a series of Greek islands: walking around, engaging his neighbors, observing, journaling and writing poetry. Along the way he developed a style of poetry as an inspiration for "concrete poets" that was reductive to the extreme
a
few
words
or
many
words
dripping
down
the
page
like
this
So, what was not to love about this book?
Well, first, my principal interest in Lax was as friend of Merton and mystic. But, though he kept a journal all his life, it apparently recorded things he observed, but revealed little of his inner life or spiritual journey. A disappointment.
Second, the author as a young man wandering around Europe sought Lax out as a wisdom figure, and his hero worship drips off many a page. He constantly interprets everything in the most pro-Lax light possible. (Doubt this ? He relates that Lax, while staying gratis at a Cistercian monastery, refused to honor the monks' hour of siesta and prevented the abbot from resting by his incessant typing. When they gently ask him to leave, the author complements Lax on not getting angry...)
Third, there are way too many "might have," "may have" "could have's"...which leads to ...Fourth: the book was longer than necessary to tell the story of a man who wrote poetry dripping down the page, hung out on islands and avoided gainful employment for the greater part of his life.
As portrayed in this book, Lax was, unfortunately, the shining star in high school, and never that effortlessly excellent again. He met a group of like-minded friends at Columbia (including the monk/poet/social activist Thomas Merton), as well as life-long mentor Mark Van Doren. After graduation, it took him decades to hit his stride. He wanted to write, but only what he wanted to write: a job at the New Yorker led to a breakdown by requiring that he write about things that did not interest him.
Lax had a transformative experience in touring with a troupe of acrobats. The perfect alignment of talent and task, the way they completely entered into their work and the seamless way it was integrated into their lives led him to formulate an ideal which he called pure act. He spent decades seeking his "pure act," ultimately finding it in by immersing himself in the daily life of a series of Greek islands: walking around, engaging his neighbors, observing, journaling and writing poetry. Along the way he developed a style of poetry as an inspiration for "concrete poets" that was reductive to the extreme
a
few
words
or
many
words
dripping
down
the
page
like
this
So, what was not to love about this book?
Well, first, my principal interest in Lax was as friend of Merton and mystic. But, though he kept a journal all his life, it apparently recorded things he observed, but revealed little of his inner life or spiritual journey. A disappointment.
Second, the author as a young man wandering around Europe sought Lax out as a wisdom figure, and his hero worship drips off many a page. He constantly interprets everything in the most pro-Lax light possible. (Doubt this ? He relates that Lax, while staying gratis at a Cistercian monastery, refused to honor the monks' hour of siesta and prevented the abbot from resting by his incessant typing. When they gently ask him to leave, the author complements Lax on not getting angry...)
Third, there are way too many "might have," "may have" "could have's"...which leads to ...Fourth: the book was longer than necessary to tell the story of a man who wrote poetry dripping down the page, hung out on islands and avoided gainful employment for the greater part of his life.
July 6, 2020
Well written and documented biography that captures an exceptional spirit; Robert Lax was best known for his minimalist poetry, and his close friendship with Thomas Merton. What I most loved was how he was able to pare down so much in his life, to find the kernel that was most essential and thus was able to be present to his own longings and gifts, to those who came to him for friendship and advice. He had humor, grace, and generosity - someone you'd love to know. I borrowed the book, but have ordered my own copy because I know i will want to reread it.
August 10, 2023
“All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. All you have to do is desire it.”
November 27, 2022
I have been on a personal oddysey with Lax this year, who came into my life when I needed him most with a vital reminder to slow down. I might spend the rest of my life trying to be as slow and deliberate in speech, in act, in love, as he was. I think it's a grave injustice that Lax has been so overshadowed by his friend Thomas Merton (though Lax would certainly disagree here). Merton may not have amounted to very much without Lax's influence. This lovely book does something to address that imbalance.
June 2, 2016
Like many people, my introduction to Robert Lax was through Thomas Merton. I knew he was Merton's best friend, the one who introduced him to Olean and St. Bonaventure. The one who told him to be a saint. I knew he was poet. But that's about where my knowledge ended. I can't remember where I heard about this book -- NPR perhaps? But I knew I had to read it. Why it took me so long to get to it, I have no idea.
On to the actual book.
McGregor does a masterful job of weaving together the biography. He includes his personal connection to Lax. In some writers this is an obnoxious trait (see! I knew him personally!) but McGregor avoids that, instead using his remembrances of time with Lax as a way for the reader to get to know Lax intimately as well. Or at least feel as if we were getting to know him intimately.
McGregor does a great job of drawing contrasts between Merton and Lax. Merton was searching for answers and always concerned about writing for publication. Lax became very comfortable with the questions and wanted to be able to write for writings sake, if only that pesky thing of needing money for rent and food didn't get in the way.
What comes across again and again is this push-pull between commercial success (even in the form of a regular, adequate paycheck) and Lax's desire to simply live. To read, write and go for walks -- that's how he wanted to live out his days. That's the way I would choose to live out my own if I didn't need that pesky thing called money as well. Perhaps Lax and I are kindred spirits. What seems at the heart of Lax's world view is that each of us is called to live out our best selves. Our selves. Our journey. No one way is right. In fact there isn't even one way for each person. You don't need to search. You simply need to be.
“Just life – a simple loving of existence and one’s own part in it," is how McGregor described Lax.
Some of my other favorite lines:
•Lax letter to his dad on conversion to Catholicism: “I don’t think you convert people by preaching at them. I think if you live well yourself they may ask you what you believe, and then you can tell them.”
•Lax: “What we are doing doesn’t matter so much as what we’re pretending to do.”
•“He wasn’t giving up on being himself, only on the mistaken belief that there was some single way of being himself he had to pin down.”
•“He no longer had to find the right way to live; he just had to live – fully and openly – and let others live according to their understanding. The goal, if there was a goal, wasn’t to see something we don’t see but simple to understand and appreciate the beauty and inherent meaning of what we see all around us.”
•Lax on writing: “it hasn’t anything to do with money or prestige: it’s more like trying to get a hearing for your own view of the world, and that’s a pure motive and a good one.”
•Lax: "Be, hope to be, hope to get to be, the person you were created to be."
•Lax: “Being exactly the kind of nut you were meant to be: do you think that’s a good thing?”
On to the actual book.
McGregor does a masterful job of weaving together the biography. He includes his personal connection to Lax. In some writers this is an obnoxious trait (see! I knew him personally!) but McGregor avoids that, instead using his remembrances of time with Lax as a way for the reader to get to know Lax intimately as well. Or at least feel as if we were getting to know him intimately.
McGregor does a great job of drawing contrasts between Merton and Lax. Merton was searching for answers and always concerned about writing for publication. Lax became very comfortable with the questions and wanted to be able to write for writings sake, if only that pesky thing of needing money for rent and food didn't get in the way.
What comes across again and again is this push-pull between commercial success (even in the form of a regular, adequate paycheck) and Lax's desire to simply live. To read, write and go for walks -- that's how he wanted to live out his days. That's the way I would choose to live out my own if I didn't need that pesky thing called money as well. Perhaps Lax and I are kindred spirits. What seems at the heart of Lax's world view is that each of us is called to live out our best selves. Our selves. Our journey. No one way is right. In fact there isn't even one way for each person. You don't need to search. You simply need to be.
“Just life – a simple loving of existence and one’s own part in it," is how McGregor described Lax.
Some of my other favorite lines:
•Lax letter to his dad on conversion to Catholicism: “I don’t think you convert people by preaching at them. I think if you live well yourself they may ask you what you believe, and then you can tell them.”
•Lax: “What we are doing doesn’t matter so much as what we’re pretending to do.”
•“He wasn’t giving up on being himself, only on the mistaken belief that there was some single way of being himself he had to pin down.”
•“He no longer had to find the right way to live; he just had to live – fully and openly – and let others live according to their understanding. The goal, if there was a goal, wasn’t to see something we don’t see but simple to understand and appreciate the beauty and inherent meaning of what we see all around us.”
•Lax on writing: “it hasn’t anything to do with money or prestige: it’s more like trying to get a hearing for your own view of the world, and that’s a pure motive and a good one.”
•Lax: "Be, hope to be, hope to get to be, the person you were created to be."
•Lax: “Being exactly the kind of nut you were meant to be: do you think that’s a good thing?”
November 27, 2016
Robert Lax's poetry about selfhood and inner peace became increasingly spare as he grew older. This biography puts his life work in a historical and personal context.
At college, he met the well-known Catholic theologian Thomas Merton, and they became close friends. After graduation, he briefly worked for the New Yorker, but struggled to meet the precise demands of the job as he struggled with his own literary artistry. While the Second World War was on, Lax was a pacifist in a detached sense. He did not want to actively make peace or worry much about a minority group in Europe grouped more by ethnicity than by faith ("Jews in nose only") with which he did not identify. Of his journal entry on the subject, McGregor says: "He seems insensitive at best. What is truly astonishing, though, given how he went on to live his life, is the dedication they reveal to an absolute view — and absolute faith in that view — of what a person who loves God should and shouldn’t do in this world." Before the war was over, Lax converted from Judaism to Catholicism. Merton was more inclined toward solitude and later he lived abroad, so Lax saw him infrequently.
At college, he met the well-known Catholic theologian Thomas Merton, and they became close friends. After graduation, he briefly worked for the New Yorker, but struggled to meet the precise demands of the job as he struggled with his own literary artistry. While the Second World War was on, Lax was a pacifist in a detached sense. He did not want to actively make peace or worry much about a minority group in Europe grouped more by ethnicity than by faith ("Jews in nose only") with which he did not identify. Of his journal entry on the subject, McGregor says: "He seems insensitive at best. What is truly astonishing, though, given how he went on to live his life, is the dedication they reveal to an absolute view — and absolute faith in that view — of what a person who loves God should and shouldn’t do in this world." Before the war was over, Lax converted from Judaism to Catholicism. Merton was more inclined toward solitude and later he lived abroad, so Lax saw him infrequently.
Anyone who’s read about Merton’s last days knows that he was looking for somewhere new to live — somewhere where he could be a hermit without a monastery nearby. What few know is that Merton and Lax discussed moving somewhere together. The many disturbing events of 1962, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy (which happened just two days before their last time together) weighed heavily on their minds. Few countries seemed safe or even quiet, least of all America or Greece.
* * *
The most intriguing possibility involving Lax came in a letter Merton sent on August 22, just two weeks before leaving Gethsemani for the West Coast and Asia:I got one last idea just one last idea for a place for a quiet life and no dam disturbances and less police sta[t]e. The Leper Colony on Molokai. Serious. It is on a point that can only be reached by helicopter. And all the nice lepers scare shit out of tourists, guaranteeing peace and quiet.
Think it over. It may be where I end up.
This is my favorite story:
In the first story [of two that Lax told about traveling with Slate], he and Slate were on a train passing through the Alps. Out of boredom or mere goofiness, they’d taken to barking whenever their train went through a tunnel. At one point they were having a high-minded discussion with a young German when a tunnel appeared. At the tunnel’s end, the German said, ‘You know very well the method of barking.’
(Slate became a traveling salesman, and for years he would call Lax from wherever he was and bark into the phone. Lax would bark back and Slate would hang up without ever speaking.)
April 27, 2018
It is intensely good to have at last this book, a life of Robert Lax, who wrote the sparest poetry imaginable and lived half his life as simply as possible on several small Greek islands. Despite often being called a hermit or recluse, his kindness and warmth was ever-apparent to those around him as he sought to live, to the highest degree, a life of love. Jack Kerouac called him a saint. To read this book is feel that current of devotion, of purity, move through you. I've been a fan of Lax for more than 20 years, ever since I read a profile of Lax in 'Poets & Writers' that was, it turns out, also written by McGregor. A bow of gratitude is in order.
This biography is also a memoir, McGregor’s account of his friendship with Lax. After climbing a hill, McGregor write, “On the way back down, I stopped to visit Lax, feeling the neighbor boy who comes to watch you work on your car.” For the most part, this strategy, this pose, succeeds beautifully. The key, it seems, is to remain ‘the neighbor boy’. It is overall a well-done account, a labor of love, with some chapters that are downright sublime -- the chapter on sponge-diving is ravishing, rich in both practical detail and emotion.
I had one quibble, a point that seems to me worth arguing. When I saw that this book was in a series called “Catholic Practice in North America”, I worried, “Oh no! Will it be churchy?” In general, it is not, but when it is, the results are jarring. The way McGregor dismisses Kerouac and the Beats can sound as over-simplified and condescending as a Fifties housewife wishing they’d cut their hair. As a Buddhist, it is predictable that I find his suggestion that Kerouac was destroyed by Buddhism particularly bizarre. Addiction hollows one out -- has Mr. McGregor never met a drunken priest? The judgments he makes are so oddly heavy-handed and out of place that -- it seems as though he has momentarily forgotten he is writing a life of Robert Lax.
Aside from this, the book is so rich and so welcome, presenting so many memories, letters, so much material from Lax’s notebooks. (Why hasn’t a selection of Lax’s journals been published? I stand ready to agitate for that book!) Reading it alongside the new-ish ‘poems (1962-1997)’ was -- a little bit of readerly paradise, perhaps a rock garden with scarcely a stone out of place, a joy and a solace.
This biography is also a memoir, McGregor’s account of his friendship with Lax. After climbing a hill, McGregor write, “On the way back down, I stopped to visit Lax, feeling the neighbor boy who comes to watch you work on your car.” For the most part, this strategy, this pose, succeeds beautifully. The key, it seems, is to remain ‘the neighbor boy’. It is overall a well-done account, a labor of love, with some chapters that are downright sublime -- the chapter on sponge-diving is ravishing, rich in both practical detail and emotion.
I had one quibble, a point that seems to me worth arguing. When I saw that this book was in a series called “Catholic Practice in North America”, I worried, “Oh no! Will it be churchy?” In general, it is not, but when it is, the results are jarring. The way McGregor dismisses Kerouac and the Beats can sound as over-simplified and condescending as a Fifties housewife wishing they’d cut their hair. As a Buddhist, it is predictable that I find his suggestion that Kerouac was destroyed by Buddhism particularly bizarre. Addiction hollows one out -- has Mr. McGregor never met a drunken priest? The judgments he makes are so oddly heavy-handed and out of place that -- it seems as though he has momentarily forgotten he is writing a life of Robert Lax.
Aside from this, the book is so rich and so welcome, presenting so many memories, letters, so much material from Lax’s notebooks. (Why hasn’t a selection of Lax’s journals been published? I stand ready to agitate for that book!) Reading it alongside the new-ish ‘poems (1962-1997)’ was -- a little bit of readerly paradise, perhaps a rock garden with scarcely a stone out of place, a joy and a solace.
April 20, 2022
Robert Lax: Thomas Merton's best friend, lifelong friend of Ad Reinhardt, Jack Kerouac's buddy, wanted to be a saint, and figured the best way there was to admit it, and turn his life over to God. He did that, and he wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and on the way there developed his form of vertical and concrete poetry that could put four of the same words over as many pages, and have them make an aural and visual sense.
His life was peripatetic, and uncommon, and it seems he made it a work of art, and left a body of work that I appreciate, enjoy, and wonder at.
Michael McGregor befriended Mr. Lax and got quite a bit of the story from the horse's mouth. He also examined the archives, and though I found the book a little long, it certainly gives of the life, and is worthwhile as a read, and as a study.
His life was peripatetic, and uncommon, and it seems he made it a work of art, and left a body of work that I appreciate, enjoy, and wonder at.
Michael McGregor befriended Mr. Lax and got quite a bit of the story from the horse's mouth. He also examined the archives, and though I found the book a little long, it certainly gives of the life, and is worthwhile as a read, and as a study.
May 19, 2019
The best friend of the much better known Thomas Merton. Lax was such a unique person. He was both a secular monk, living so many years on the Greek Islands, but also so completely immersed in the world. His grave is just a short distance from where my wife and Lax both grew up in Olean, NY. The inscription sums up his life in his unique vertical poetry style:
slow
boat
calm
riv
er
qui
et
land
ing
slow
boat
calm
riv
er
qui
et
land
ing
February 28, 2024
The audible version was a little brutal. The life of Lax was a little confusing about his passions and ambitions. I’m also not a huge poetry fan so I’m not sure I would ever read his works. There are some nuggets in here worth recording. Probably wouldn’t recommend the book but it was ok to read/listen to.
December 29, 2017
Well done and very interesting too. I've long been a fan of Merton but knew little of Robert Lax. This is a very thorough and thoughtful book about him and I'm grateful that I got to read it.
August 24, 2018
Well-written and well-researched, this book was a pleasure to read.
May 3, 2020
A great read on the life a very special poet
Want to Read
October 12, 2022Richard's list
February 2, 2024
This is how one could live one's life. I also feel now like I have a basis for delving into his poetry, which had previously seemed a bit abstruse.
July 30, 2015
This is a beautifully written and languid book about the poet Robert Lax. McGregor met him, and his reverence for the poet and the man come across very strongly. But this isn’t a hagiography, McGregor is trying to set the life of the man in the context of his life and I believe he succeeds. The book follows Lax from America through Europe and into his little house on the Greek island of Patmos. The author has been going to Patmos for many years and captures the solitary life of Lax very well. The book also includes excerpts from his letters and his journal and excerpts from the journals and letters of Thomas Merton.
Lax was living a simple life in a tiny house in the beautiful Greek islands but he was not a hermit. He participated in the village and welcomed people to his home. He liked the silence and the peace but he also liked people. His personality comes over very well. But I think the thing I liked best about this book is the way it uncovers and illustrates Lax’s attitude to poetry and how he writes. Writers and poets often enjoy reading about other writers/poets craft. McGregor is very good at letting us look over his shoulder at his fascination with Lax and share the delight.
Merton is mentioned often but the book would be interesting to people with no knowledge of Merton. If, like me, you enjoy Merton’s writing then the connection to Lax adds interest to both lives. Lax loved writing letters but towards the end of his life it became a burden, as Merton fans in particular demanded more of his time. His to do list for November 22nd 1996 had 65 people named as waiting for letters with notes of items to send or subjects to mention.
My only criticism of the book is that McGregor moves around chronologically and sometimes I had to check back to see whether the paragraph followed or if the author had doubled back. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book though. There is an extensive index with notes showing where to seek further information.
The book is recommended for people who enjoy the writing of Lax or Merton or people interested in the pursuit of poetry and poetic language.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Lax was living a simple life in a tiny house in the beautiful Greek islands but he was not a hermit. He participated in the village and welcomed people to his home. He liked the silence and the peace but he also liked people. His personality comes over very well. But I think the thing I liked best about this book is the way it uncovers and illustrates Lax’s attitude to poetry and how he writes. Writers and poets often enjoy reading about other writers/poets craft. McGregor is very good at letting us look over his shoulder at his fascination with Lax and share the delight.
Merton is mentioned often but the book would be interesting to people with no knowledge of Merton. If, like me, you enjoy Merton’s writing then the connection to Lax adds interest to both lives. Lax loved writing letters but towards the end of his life it became a burden, as Merton fans in particular demanded more of his time. His to do list for November 22nd 1996 had 65 people named as waiting for letters with notes of items to send or subjects to mention.
My only criticism of the book is that McGregor moves around chronologically and sometimes I had to check back to see whether the paragraph followed or if the author had doubled back. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book though. There is an extensive index with notes showing where to seek further information.
The book is recommended for people who enjoy the writing of Lax or Merton or people interested in the pursuit of poetry and poetic language.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
September 13, 2023
A Beautiful book about a beautiful man.
I didn't know anything about Robert Lax until I read Thomas Merton's Seven Story Mountain. This poet, seeker and unique individual unfortunately slipped below the radar of too many of us. Mr. McGregor introduced him to me, which I consider now to have been a gift.
I didn't know anything about Robert Lax until I read Thomas Merton's Seven Story Mountain. This poet, seeker and unique individual unfortunately slipped below the radar of too many of us. Mr. McGregor introduced him to me, which I consider now to have been a gift.
December 1, 2015
Great read on an under recognized great Poet. Has far too long lived under the shadow of being Thomas Merton's best friend. He is an amazing person in his own right and McGregor lyrical writing brings Lax's Pure Act of living to life.
September 21, 2015
A very interesting and well-written biography of a poet with whom I was not familiar.
September 13, 2025
First-rate biography of first-rate experimental poet.
2nd reading 2025. Fine biography of the important writer.
2nd reading 2025. Fine biography of the important writer.
March 28, 2017
Lax was a lovely man, if sometimes scattered and awfully lucky to have landed the opportunities and chances he did. He is not as inspiring as his dear friend, Thomas Merton, but reading this book gave me a better sense of Merton's life and circumstances.
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April 13, 2018Made me hunger for the simple quiet life of the poet/contemplative. SO hard in the modern world.
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