Specks

by Michael McClure

Legendary poet Michael McClure expands upon Charles Olson's proprioceptive poetic with Aristotelian metaphysics, Lorca's duende, environmental awareness, and biological exploration.

88 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1985

About the author

Michael McClure (born October 20, 1932 in Marysville, Kansas) is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums. He soon became a key member of the Beat Generation and is immortalized as "Pat McLear" in Kerouac's Big Sur.

Reviews

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Specks is even more disparate and disconnected than Scratching The Beat Surface.

While the latter is more a manifesto of biophysical poetics, Specks showcases McClure's new style which slowly emerged from the 80s up until today.

Some of the poems in here are highly charged lines of energy while others are more random abstractions. In any case it offers us a fascinating peak into a highly original and deep mind.

This book was like a good glass of Scotch - the aftertaste is even better than the first sip and tempts you to come back for more.

[Mills College Library]

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